Astaxanthin (red colour enhancer)

[Ben]

I was wondering if anyone uses this product to enhance thier red coloured fish? and if there are any side affects. I believe the most common brandname is "NatuRose"

also what natural product is used to enhance blue coloured discus?


cheers,

Ben

[Merrilyn]

Good question Ben, I'd like to know the answers too.

[mtchye]

Hi guys,

The subject of colour in fish has been surprisingly relatively widely researched from an aquaculture perspective. They use this stuff to colour up prawns and salmon flesh etc to a nice saleable reddish colour.. :)

The use of carotenoids is warranted because these cannot be manufactured internally by the fish. From my limited memory these carotenoid and precursors are generated within plants and algaes which is why they need to be ingested in the diet. As with anything overdoseage can cause side effects but its pretty hard to do so compared to some substances out there.

Good sources of carotenoids include the astaxanthin algae derivatives, spirulina, etc and you can get purer manufactured stuff too from aquaculture places. However if your fish get a good diet they will probably get a good amount, eg from prawns, paprika additives , carrots, capsicums etc which we add to our homemade beefheart...

I guess you just have to be careful because some of the side effects, though not fully harmful to the fish, may be undesirable e.g. my yellow fish are more orange or red because I added spirulina to my last fish food mix.. and I only feed it a couple of times a week too...

On another note these substances can degrade rapidly also so sometimes you see lots of fish who are deficient in them do not colour up quite as nice.. simply because they cannot synthesise the red pigments due to lack of basic building materials.

If you google carotenoids, astaxanthin, carotene supplementation in aquaculture etc you will find more articles than you can poke a stick at.

The REALLY interesting stuff is the positive health effects that carotenoids (as a Vitamin A precursor) can have. They have an antioxidant effect as well. So I guess if you fish are eating old foods or foods deficient in certain vitamins you will certainly see differences in growth rates, health, and shape etc.

http://www.aquafeed.com/article.php?id=584&sectionid=

Above is a reasonably good article with references for you all to enjoy :) Long reads but worth it to better understand nutrition in your fish.

[Ben]

Cheers mtchye,

thanks heaps for the infomation!

One question though, what are the affects astaxanthin has on blue based fish?


Ben

[Mattzilla]

do a search on google for astaxanthin or carophyll pink or carophyll red and you should find all the info you need to know

hth
matt

[Ben]

very intersting astaxanthin with red coloured fish!
Most likely the salmon we eat is coloured with astaxanthin!!

I am still none the wiser though when it comes to blue fish and natural coloring....

Is there something that can be used to "high light thier blue colour"?

From the infomation i have found on the net astaxanthin used on blue coloured fish will make them go purple!!!


Ben

[Mattzilla]

sera sell a blue colour enhancing food/granule

http://www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com.au/

in the food section
then in the sera food section


hth
matt

[Ben]

Cheers Matt,

thanks for the info,

i will have to try a bottle and see the results.

I wonder what is in it....


cheers,

Ben

[Mattzilla]

let me know the results you find as i was considering buying some and trying it

perhaps you could do a product review

[Mattzilla]

i found a good artical (in pdf format) about the use of astaxanthin in aquaculture

if you would like to read it, pm me and i'll email it to you

it's about 2.2meg in size and is very informative

[Supersnake]

Colouring agents are always hot topic for breeders - everyone wants positive info and feedback. Even experienced discus keepers in Australia have little knowledge on the subject.

Regards
Norm

[Ben]

Hi Peoples,
I just got my self a cannister of the sera discus colour blue food, i will do a trial on it soon and post up results and photo's.

cheers,

Ben

[Mattzilla]

why not counduct a product review???post results like colour, appetite, growth etc

[Ben]

The review has started!