feeding for color / growth ..?

[ronnieroach]

hello my fishy friends,

i have an african cichlid tank w/ colors ranging from black to yellow to blue to pink & so on. OBVIOUSLY i want them to be healthy but i really want to get the colors of all my fish to POP!! specifically the blues & reds/pinks.

i know what to feed for reds but is there a food to help w/ blues or anything that works extrordinarily well for overall color enhancing?

ALSO - if i fed frozen or a pellet for growth, would growing faster hurt their brightness / coloring?

ALL HELP IS APPRECIATED!!

THANKS!!

 

[JacksonJigsaw]

I know that live food gets there colors going, idk much about africans, but im sure that they would tear into ghost shrimp.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Many people recommend New Life Spectrum as it's high quality, especially for African cichlids.

 

[JacksonJigsaw]

Also the substrate, backround and lighting you have affect the way there colors look.

 

[Ant329]

Agree NLS food worked for me..i used 2 50/50 bulbs for african
cichlids, it made them show off there beautiful colors..you will be amazed!

 

[Fishguy2727]

Agreed. NLS would be my only choice for nutrition, but there are other factors.

The background and substrate should be dark (black, substrate at least half black). This can actually cause the fish to not only look better, but produce more pigment. Water quality is essential.

In order for them to look and grow their best they need to be in the best conditions. The best food with black everything will not produce colorful fish if the water quality is low. Big weekly water changes should take care of this.

I also use 50/50 bulbs in my freshwater tanks. They bring out all the colors, not just the red end like many freshwater bulbs.

 

[JacksonJigsaw]

completly agree with Fishguy

 

[ronnieroach]

ok well first i should say my fish all have great coloring & scales, i just want their colors to be the best they can be. & i do weekly / biweekly water changes & replace all my pads every 2 weeks so we're good in the parameters department.

secondly, i have a dark background so we're good there. i have a few lighter green plants w/ one dark one. i also have a formation across the majority of the tank made of petrified wood, which is dark.

HOWEVER, i currently have dolomite as my subtrate but i was all ready thinking of adding black or purple or both to it. would the purple help w/ the black or could it hold back their color?

now, as far as lighting goes - my lid has a single florescent bulb that came w/ it. i dont know the difference between mine & a 50/50 bulb....? my bulb is very bright though, whether that helps or hurts my cause haha

THANKS AGAIN FOR THE HELP

ANY MORE WOULD ROCK !!

 

[Fishguy2727]

A dark purple should be just as effective as black.

Any type of bulb (T8, T5, T12, compact, any length, etc.) comes in many colors. Those colors are expressed as a kelvin color, defined as 'the color a black object would glow if heated to that temperature kelvin'. Kelvin is like degrees Celsius but you don't say degrees and there are no negatives, 0 kelvin is absolute zero. What this actually means for us is that the lower the kelvin color, the redder the color. Eight bulbs can all be 'white' but still be different kelvin colors (3500K, 5000K, 6500K, 10,000K, 14,000K, etc.). Natural sunlight (the sun) is 6500K. This appears as a slightly reddish white. Lower than that and it is redder. A higher kelvin color takes the white to a bluer white. You may not see a difference unless the lights are used next to each other or you change bulbs. 50/50 means half white (not necessarily an exact kelvin color, that depends on the company, usually 6500K or 10,000K) and half actinic. Actinic serves to bring out blues and purples. The white part brings out everything else. Overall you get a bluish white that brings out all colors.

 

[Ant329]

Your bulb should have some kind of writing on it, what does it say? IMO lighting is the best way to enhance the colors of your fish..For 15$ get that 50/50 bulb if you dont already have it. Trust me your african cichlids will show off its colors!!

 

[ronnieroach]

the bulb is 8000k .. thats good if the sun is 6500, right? lol

 

[ronnieroach]

but it sounds like the one i want is the actinic unless what i have is doin what i need..?

 

[Ant329]

You have a single bulb fixture, the actnitic bulb wouldnt look right by itself it would be too blue and too dark....either change your light fixture to a 2 bulb setup or get the single 50/50 bulb.


6700k + actntitic = nice color light
10000k + actnitic = nice color light( have a slight blueish look to tank

Or

50/50

 

[ronnieroach]

hahahaha omg im an idiot!! i have the actinic light already just not using it now!! obv w/ just the one fixture the whole tanks blue w/ it in but wowww i am such a putz!! hahaha thanks for all the help guys!!

 

[jstubbs87]

depending on your location i agree if you can get your hands on some ghost shrimp they will help provide viberant colors. feeder guppys do also, just be careful with them they are parisite prone. i always buy them a couple days prior to feeding and treat them for parisites in a med tank.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I don't recommend any live foods. High quality pellets provide complete and balanced nutrition. Live foods can introduce pathogens, are nutritionally incomplete and unbalanced, and increase aggression. They provide nothing that a high quality pellet can't (except for pathogens).

 

[ronnieroach]

i think as far as feeding goes, i'll stick w/ pellets. ive seen what parasites can do to a fish at my buddy's crib & i dont wanna lose any of mine.

MIGHT add some black or purple to the dolomite though. Kinda dont want to lose the somewhat natural feel it has.

ive attatched a picture of what the tank looks like now. ANY AND ALL SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME!!

 

[ronnieroach]

heres a clearer picture

 

[Fishguy2727]

Adding black sand will keep it natural and still help darken it.

 

[ronnieroach]

black SAND? on TOP of the dolomite?

& if i were to add sand, does the gravel vac suck it up? lol