When I first received this pair of A. diplotaenia, I've been feeding them frozen blood worms and mysis shrimp mixed with spirulina and bbs. Recently I was taken aback when I noticed red markings on the side and underneath of the cheeks. There are 2 red prominent spots on the end of the gills cover. Compare both photos and you will see the difference. I'm in love with this pair. Even my A. hongsloi who doesn't have red cheeks now showing some red but minimal. I'm guessing the spirulina has some credit.
Photo taken today on 8.06.2007
Photo taken back on the 23.03.2007
Last edited by leeruisheng; 8th Jun 2007 at 18:13.
God will make a way, where there seems to be no way
Interesting observations.
I believe celticfish also coat his bloodworms and other frozen foods with spirulina powder. Also some dry foods like Hikari also contain spirulina in their list of ingredients. Some vegetable is good for health to fishes too.Not just humans.
So eat your vegetables!
interesting observation. Have you tried feeding them with spirulina alone? Will they take to that?
No, the spirulina came in powder form. Celticfish did mention about feeding them spirulina through another form of media and it's via bbs consumption.
Some crs breeders that i know of are also using spirulina meant for human consumption. They only use the best.
Last edited by Quixotic; 6th Jun 2007 at 12:12.
God will make a way, where there seems to be no way
i have alot of spirulina in powder form that i use to mix into discus beefheart...how should i go about mixing it into the food?
spirulina just mixed with the frozen food.
wow lee... using spirulina for human....
I did a test just now. Fed a small bit of spirulina wafer to my Breithbinden and to my surprise, it whacked everything.
Nicholas
Newbie en el cichlid enano
For mine, I marinate the frozen mysis shrimp/ blood worms. Add a pinch of spirulina powder in the thaw ms/bw and stir until uniform. Since one cube can last for 3 days or more, I believe it buys enough time for the food to absorb some of the spirulina nutrients. Maybe you can do something like that.Originally Posted by illumnae
oh? Am I referring to you? Read in other forumwow lee... using spirulina for human....
God will make a way, where there seems to be no way
how do you store the thawed mixed frozen food ah? in the fridge or back into the freezer to refreeze? i'm considering mixing into cubes of frozen brine shrimp...maybe i can mix in astaxathin too, which i have even more of than spirulina, to make my cacas more red
I did the mixing in the plastic cube and refreeze them. I think astaxanthin can also be mixed. This nutrient is also found in discus pellets. That's why some are feeding apistos with red discus pellets.
God will make a way, where there seems to be no way
Quality Apistogramma through Line Breeding
I have kept a few pairs of Apistogramma Diplotania before and the reddness on the check of the male seems to develop over time as the male gets older..
Regards
Milk
Really? What about A. Hongsloi? (Will post a photo for comparison later.)
Last edited by leeruisheng; 6th Jun 2007 at 00:01.
God will make a way, where there seems to be no way
astaxathin is actually a natural red colouring that is a byproduct of processing certain forms of algae by fish, including spirulina...adding spirulina to fish food actually results in a very small amount of astaxathin being given to your fish, which might explain the increase in red pigmentation that you're experiencing...adding pure astaxathin just increases the amount given to fish and adds a greater red enhancing effect
discus keepers have been using both spirulina and astaxathin to enhance discus colours for a long time now, and they're tried and tested to be effective without harming your fish like hormone treatments will...they act just like how beta-carotene would (which, incidentally is another good source of red enhancer, and one of the reasons i wanted to produce cherry shrimp to feed my apistos with since shrimps/prawns are one of the best sources of beta carotene for fish)
Quality Apistogramma through Line Breeding
That's what i have observed from all the Apistogramma Diplotania that i have kept..I have not kept any Apistogramma Hongsloi as yet..Therefore i cannot comment on it..
Regards
Milk
If spirulina really contributed to the redness, then this seems like an advertisement with before and after testimony.
God will make a way, where there seems to be no way
My A. hongsloi also now spots red markings on the face. Previously only have yellow cheeks with blue crystals. Not sure if you guys can spot the red markings on the face. The red is minimal. Sorry guys that's my best shot.
Photo taken today on 6.06.2007
Photo taken back on 9.02.2007
Last edited by leeruisheng; 6th Jun 2007 at 17:49.
God will make a way, where there seems to be no way
I just bought a pack of Sera's Spirulina tablets for a try.....lets see how it goes
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spirulina per se is not a colour enhancer. it is a food that helps improve the health of the fish. as the health of the fish improve and the fish are happier, so do their colouration. it must be noted that a small amount of astaxathin, which is a red colour enhancer, is produced when spirulina is metabolized, but it is quite a negligible amount. the main reason why spirulina fed fish get better colouration is their improved health and happiness.
colour enhancers per se have no other purpose but to enhance colours. examples would be astaxathin and beta carotene, which enhance red colours. the colours are enhanced because of pigmentation found in these foods, and are a natural way of enhancing the colours in livestock. unnatural ways that are harmful to livestock include hormone injection and the use of dyes, which is NOT recommended. fish fed with astaxathin and beta carotene are not harmed in any way - there's no beneficial nor harmful effect on the fish, just enhanced pigments/colours. if you read the ingredients in most "colour enhancing" dry fish foods, you'll probably find either astaxathin or some form of beta carotene in it.
the only other natural colour enhancer besides red that i know of is paprika for yellow pigmentation. other colours like blue or green i'm not sure how to go about enhancing except through the proper care of fish and additional measures such as spirulina or vitamin supplements to make the fish healthy, happy and thus better coloured =)
Last edited by valice; 7th Jun 2007 at 11:40.
I have split out the discussion on retention of red colouration and line-breeding into here. It is very good discussion in there.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=30024
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