Mike19

Hello everyone,

I have seen many different types of fish food that are suppose to do different things. I saw one type of fish food that was meant to be color enhacing.

Is this fact or fiction?

Mike

CHoffman

Depending on the food it could be either..Some say that, but are made out of low quality ingredients. Some say that and work. I would think the better quailty of food and nutrition they are getting the better color they would have.

Nick G

I use colour enhancing food. JBL Novo Color.It contains a specially balanced combination of high-grade natural raw materials,carotinoids and unsaturated fatty acids which naturally enhance the brilliant colouring of all Tropical Fish. Well thats what it says on the box anyway!

Mike19

If someone has bought this type of food to increase the coloration of their fish let me know on the outcome.

Nick G

I've always used it and my fish are much more colourful than when I bought them, this could be the better conditions they live in now though!

Shawnie

imo the color enhancers just color the water ...I agree with the that in good water conditions, and proper diet, the fish will have amazing color anyhoo...with my cichlid pellets, ive used both to see if there was a difference...I used the colored ones for two months ...saw no change in color in my fish just my tank water...

Alasse

I used to use colour enhancing pellets when i had oscars, i noticed a difference after feeding for a few months, their colours were beautifully vibrant. I had no water colouration though thankfully

Steve113

I agree with Shawnie.

It's a gimmick to sell you the food.

The colours will be vibrant if the fish is healthy.

Healthy = well fed and in clean water with no stress.

It's that simple - works with people too, when we are ill, we look pale and unwell we don't need special food additives, we just need good healthy food and a healthy lifestyle - Fish are no different.

sirdarksol

There is something to it, but...
The "color enhancers" are likely a small amount of spirulina, which is known to give fish brighter colors (the local zoo puts a ton of the stuff into their reef tank food to give the fish the brightest possible colors).
But... all of the really high quality fish foods have spirulina in them, even if they don't brag about "color enhancers."

Toxic

I have always looked at flake as a basic food source, I raise brine shrimp to adults to feed my tank, and by the way the go after them, they must be tasty !

Pandora

A lot of the colour enhancing foods contain pigments like carotenoids and astaxanthin that the fish can incorporate into their tissues and will enhance certain colours, usually reds. If you don't feed the right pigment for the colour to enhance it won't do anything, and can sometimes enhance the wrong colour (i.e. causing red wash to show more strongly in bettas where red isn't desired).

Butterfly

Omega One includes the skins of the fish they use for fish food as color enhancers. As SDS said spirulina is another. You just have to be careful some foods add dyes(the reason the water turns colors) and that doesn't do any good.
Carol

FL CommunityFans

On the money here. Depending on the food given and the fish eating it, the fish can look more red/blue/green depending on the contents of the food. Different food products change their colors, hence when you feed fish crawdads/brine... they get a deeper/brighter red color. I've seen folks sue a blue seaweed based diet on their herbivorous cichlids and they have some of the strongest blues I have seen.