Foods that bring out coloration?

mudfrogk5 · Post by **mudfrogk5** » 11 Nov 2005, 18:02

Are there any foods (veggies / fruit / etc..) that will bring out the coloration in plecos? My newly acquired pleco has red stripes but they are semi faint, I would love to get these bright red and ensure that it does not lose them on the journey to adult hood. Any ideas?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 11 Nov 2005, 18:36

Ok, so this post belongs in the Loricariidae section, so maybe someone with privileges can move it...

Natural colours, suchas Carotene may help bring out colours, so carrots and pumpkin for instance would be a good plan. So will some of the other generic fish-foods, such as Tetra Bits for example. However, this is a high-protein food, so you don't really want to give a lot of this to the Pleco. Shrimps also bring pink colour to fish, but again isn't suitable in anything but small quantities to a herbivore.

In general, a fish that is fed a varied diet and that is in good health will show good colours.

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Mats

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 11 Nov 2005, 18:40

If you say newly acquired, I take it you don't have the fish for so long. As you may know, colouration in most fish depends on mood. Perhaps if you wait a while and let the fish settle in, its colours will return when it feels at ease.

mudfrogk5 · Post by **mudfrogk5** » 11 Nov 2005, 19:24

Ah sorry bout that, didn't see where it said Pleco's.

I've only had him a few days but I constantly hear about pleco's losing their color when they reach adult hood. Just trying to prevent this if it were to happen.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 11 Nov 2005, 21:51

mudfrogk5 wrote:Ah sorry bout that, didn't see where it said pl*co's.

I've only had him a few days but I constantly hear about pl*co's losing their color when they reach adult hood. Just trying to prevent this if it were to happen.

Well, they CHANGE colour when they as they mature, which may be less colour or more, depending on specie, just like humans change when they reach/pass puberty, like men start getting facial hair, girls get bumps in places, etc. This, you can't prevent, since it's part of the maturity of the fish, and it's just going to happen.

[I guess that some sort of hormonal (or ANIT-hormonal) treatment may cause the fish to not mature properly, but you wouldn't want that, whould you?]

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Mats

mudfrogk5 · Post by **mudfrogk5** » 12 Nov 2005, 01:42

Don't get me wrong, I want it to be as healthy as it can be, although I would be interested if any "natural" foods helped with making his colors brighter.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 12 Nov 2005, 04:41

As I stated above, foods that contain carotene will help colour the fish. Such foods are carrot and pumpkin, just to give a couple of examples. Other foods that could help would be red sweet peppers (bell peppers) and tomatos.

But in general, if the fish is happy and healthy, and given a varied diet, it should help to make it's colour more clear too.

You have read my feeding guide, right? You can find it in Shane's world, to which there is a link at the top of the page.

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Mats