How to get my ember tetras vivid

[shramp]

Hi all!

I have 3 ember tetras that were given to me by a friend when she had to move. While researching their care I realized how absolutely gorgeous they can get color wise. Mine look ok but they are not that deep almost red sparkly orange that I have seen.

I know that right now they are not in ideal conditions. I have them in an overcrowded 5 gallon tank currently because that was how I received them. However I do intend to move them to the 37 gallon tank I bought and planted once it has stabilized from the shrimp I added, and I plan to get 9 more embers so I have a school of 12 total.

As for diet I try to rotate out regular fish flakes with spirulina, plankton and bloodworms. They seem to really like the plankton, it really helped them sparkle more. I was curious as to if there is anything else I can add diet wise to help their coloration or if it's just a matter of waiting until I get them into their big tank with their school?

Interestingly, I also noticed that the duration the light is on seems to effect their coloring too. One day I was out of town and had not been able to turn the light on that morning and when I came back they were completely clear (gave me a heart attack) until I turned on the light upon which they regained color. I started experimenting and keeping the light on for 12 hours at a time vs the 8 hours I was doing seems to give them better color as well. I don't know how that works but it's just an observation. Anyone else notice this?

Thank you in advance for any advice!!

[Aiken Drum]

You are going in the right direction.

Good quality, varied diet. Better living environment. Keeping a good number of social fish together.

Yes, fish colouration will wash out when the lights go off. It returns pretty quickly when the lights come back on. 12 hours a day is a bit much though. This will promote algae growth and green water. 8 hours a day is plenty, or go 4 hours on, 4 off, 4 back on.

And remember that those online photos are fish at their absolute best and photos can be enhanced too.