Getting them to color up question

[Madaboutdiscus]

So I have a question about my reds. I have 3 reds I guess they're pigeon blood but they were sold to me as super red hi fins. Anyway I have 2 that are rather large now at 8 months old they are nearly the same size. They eat well and are healthy so it's not a disease question. My question is how to get them to get their full color and keep it. Right now one is orange and one is kind of orange but more whitish pink. These 2 are from the same batch and I can't really figure out why one is very orange and one is almost white especially when they both are supposed to be red. The parents were very red. They eat beef heart, granules, fdbw daily. I do buy the fdbw with the extra stuff in it Al offers too. I'm just blown away by the pattern on the whitish one as well. I've stuck some pics here sorry they're blurry but you can get the idea. The one does have a short gill plate due to my ignorance when they were tiny and not changing enough water. But I learned my lesson and they get changed daily now. Thanks for your help. I'm not terribly concerned about they're color just curious as to why this is happening.

-Victoria

[OC Discus]

Foods labeled "color enhancing" can help bring out red pigments. I avoid this food because I don't want my yellow to turn orange.

[Madaboutdiscus]

Well the granules are color enhancing and I think the fdbw have some sort of color enhancer as well.

-Victoria

[SortSay2003]

Hi Victoria,

I've used Tetra Color Bits (granule) and that turned my barbs and red based discus a deeper red than normal.
I don't use it anymore so the blue in my Galaxy can come out also.
From the little I know and researched, one of the red enchancer ingredient is paprika.

Sera makes granules, red and blue enhancer especially for discus. I have never used tem myself.
I would suggest getting a hold of Al and inquire about his FDBW with red enhancer also. My discus LOVE the FDBW, all type.

Myself, I use: Al's FDBW, BH, Hikari FBW, Bio-Gold, and Hans Pellets and Flakes.

[Madaboutdiscus]

Oh all mine loves Als. The one blue I have gets mad and refuses to eat if he doesn't get his fdbw lol. Al uses natural color enhancers to the best of my knowledge. They don't care they eat them up. As far as I can tell the granules do nothing anyway lol. They just pick at them and they're not exactly excited about them.

-Victoria

[SortSay2003]

Oh, you're already on the ins with AL's.....lol

Look at it this way, when we are really hungry, we will eat almost anything. They're no dif.
I had to put mine through eat or die...and let them decide:). No. Not that bad.
I just drop the granules in and walk away. Came back a little and it was gone:)

[sdrexler078]

Are those from Gargas? One of my friends has some super red hi fins from him but are more orange also.

[Madaboutdiscus]

Yeah they are from gargas. I'm not sure if they'll ever be red but they're nice looking fish and haven't had many health issues other than flukes once.

-Victoria

[OC Discus]

My Stendeker Fire Red is really orange with some yellow. I think that is standard for the Stendeker Red


Yeah they are from gargas. I'm not sure if they'll ever be red but they're nice looking fish and haven't had many health issues other than flukes once.

-Victoria

[Madaboutdiscus]

It's possible I'm not sure how he got his so red unless he used hormones hopefully not though.

-Victoria

[John_Nicholson]

Lots of things can enhance the red but I would suggest just waiting a few more months. The difference between 8 and 12 months can surprise you.

-john

[Madaboutdiscus]

Oh I hope they do go ahead and color on out. The orange is pretty but I wanted red lol. Anybody know why the one is lighter color than the other 2?

-Victoria

[dogeatdog3]

The omega one makes a flake with color enhancer Al Johnson recommended to us it's called super color

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[Rudustin]

I have rafflesias and fire reds together in one tank. I feed them Al's FDBW with color enhancer and they are very red. The rafflesias came already very red but the fire reds were more orange until I started feeding them Al's stuff. They are now almost as red as the rafflesias.

[mountain_bike]

I feed krill made by hikari a few times a week, on the package it claims to have natural color enhancing effects. I have noticed my discus are better looking than ever, and have read krill is quite nutritious so its a win win for me.

My fish used to only nibble at it, but I started mixing with spirulina brine shrimp and now they love both just the same.

[Ryan]

Krill naturally contain astaxanthin, which is what gives things like salmon, krill, and various shellfish their red color. That's probably why the reds look better after feeding krill. You can also buy things like NatuRose, which is astaxanthin harvested from microalgae, to mix in your homemade beefheart and seafood mixes. It's also found in a lot of the commercial color-enhancing fish foods on the market.

[Madaboutdiscus]

I wish I was able to make my own beef heart but I cannot find anyone within 40 miles of me that will sell me beef hearts. I'm stuck buying it and I hate it but no other choice. I did find a website that I can buy it from but websites are ify if you don't know them.

-Victoria

[walton321]

I wouldn't be surprised if most of these 'super' colorful discus imported these days are hormoned. So many wild looking colors of discus appearing on the market all the sudden in recent years. You can actually buy hormones off the counters in Asia if you know where to find them. They sell them according to colors.

[Madaboutdiscus]

These guys came from Florida. Hopefully they weren't hormoned but you never know lol.

-Victoria