Astaxanthin Powder
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chriscoli
Administrator
A few folks on here have used it but I won't speak for them. Repashy makes a food additive called Red Rum that I've inconsistently used.
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Localzoo
Board of Directors
I have made food from marigold powder. It really helps with oranges and reds. Never used astaxanthin but I guess they are similar.
I've shared it with old school and another Chris I forget his screen name they liked it and helped some fish more than others. But your fish need good genes to begin with.
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I've shared it with old school and another Chris I forget his screen name they liked it and helped some fish more than others. But your fish need good genes to begin with.
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JLW
CCA Members
I've used astaxanthin rather a lot; it really brings out the red in the fish. However, you want to be careful feeding too much, as it just isn't good for the fish's kidneys to have it constantly.
I use it as a growth food for fry, especially. You can put it on the surface of a microworm culture and create deep red micrworms which are fantastic for fry. It can also be fed to Daphnia.
I use it as a growth food for fry, especially. You can put it on the surface of a microworm culture and create deep red micrworms which are fantastic for fry. It can also be fed to Daphnia.
Localzoo
Board of Directors
I think Zack has done that. I think with his micro worms when he was breeding angels.
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Greengirl
Members
I also created my own food with this powder to bring out the reds in my red koi angelfish. It worked great!
lkelly
Members
chriscoli
Administrator
My only complaint....and this is 100% personal opinion....is that sometimes I see fish being sold that are unrealistically amped up on reds and oranges. People oooh and aaah over them in their bag on the auction table, but in the back of my head I'm thinking that once they get home and don't feed to retain the color, they'll eventually be disappointed.
Anyone know how long it takes for the color to fade from a cichlid (koi are a little different, I've heard) after you stop feeding a color enhancer?
Anyone know how long it takes for the color to fade from a cichlid (koi are a little different, I've heard) after you stop feeding a color enhancer?
Lord Fauntleroy
Members
I just reading up on this yesterday. I ordered some from YFS. I'll know if it works shortly.
dogofwar
CCA Members
Couple of weeks to go away... and a couple of weeks for it to really work.
A lot of foods already have it added.
Matt
A lot of foods already have it added.
Matt
zackcrack00
Members
Yep! I must give credit to Alexandra, though. She gave me the idea. However, it did work! The babies retained the color throughout adulthood, which I found interesting. The adults don't retain the color. As Matt has explained, it fades over a few weeks.
AndyNarwhal
Members
I mix a bit of astaxanthin in with my Repashy foods. I used to use the Naturose product but it's discontinued so I switched to their human grade alternative Bioastin. A little bit goes a long way. I probably have a lifetime supply.
I never heard about using it with microworms. I will have to try it. Thanks for the idea.
Andy
I never heard about using it with microworms. I will have to try it. Thanks for the idea.
Andy
JLW
CCA Members
Alexandra got the idea, and the powder, from me. 
I don't think it's really objectionable to sell fish that are amped up on vitamins, proteins, etc. , provided it is something that is not unhealthy for the fish. If you want them to look that good, feed them that good.
There's a line, though, that things like hormone additives etc. crosses. That's no longer healthy for the fish, and not generally widely available.
I don't think it's really objectionable to sell fish that are amped up on vitamins, proteins, etc. , provided it is something that is not unhealthy for the fish. If you want them to look that good, feed them that good.
There's a line, though, that things like hormone additives etc. crosses. That's no longer healthy for the fish, and not generally widely available.
I'm slowly upgrading my fish gene pool, these threadfins at least have a good body shape and body striping, but the red is very washed out. They also came from wetspot with a lovely case of ich so there's also going to be a bit of health to get into them.
I do have some very nice lake ayatino bosemanis so the marigold powder is pretty cool sounding, did you use something like 1 part per 500 like the astaxnthin recommeds?
Also, how do I figure out how to do 1 part per 500 when using with flake? Any advice from anyone.
neut
Members
Bit of a gimmick imo, unless you're making up your own foods... even then, not necessarily needed with the right ingredients. Also, my question would be whether the astaxanthin is synthesized (common as an isolated supplement) or from a natural source. If you read ingredients labels and know a little bit about what you're reading you can get it naturally in your feed. Natural astaxanthin comes from ingredients like salmon (especially the skins, which are included in Omega One Color pellets), krill (NLS and others), and spirulina.
Don't let the blue green color fool you, spirulina has a lot more yellow/orange carotenoids than some people imagine, and can color "enhance" more than just blue fish. Besides astaxanthin, spirulina has zeazanthin (yellow), b-carotene (orange), lutein (yellow), etc.
The other thing people do is equate the color of a food or nutrient with the color of the fish (for example, thinking spirulina is blue-green, so it must be good for blue fish but not so much for red fish), but it's not that simple. For example, astaxanthin (red) is expressed in lobster as blue and in other animals can be expressed as blue, green or purple. What a pigmented nutrient does in the animal is all about how it processes it, how it combines with other nutrients, and the overall effect on health and body chemistry. For example, in lobsters astaxanthin is bound with proteins, creating a carotenoprotein (crustacyanin) that looks blue.
Anyway, not pushing one or another food or ingredient, but imo fish color is more about overall nutrition, health, and water quality and I prefer to get color enhancing nutrients as a natural part of the food ingredients, as opposed to buying and tinkering with a single supplement... just my opinion.
What I've found is color quality according to food varies with species. For example, while the difference is subtle, my rotkeil severums seem to have a more electric red on NLS, while my red head geos are slightly more red on Omega One. My kapampa seem to be equally blue on either one.
Don't let the blue green color fool you, spirulina has a lot more yellow/orange carotenoids than some people imagine, and can color "enhance" more than just blue fish. Besides astaxanthin, spirulina has zeazanthin (yellow), b-carotene (orange), lutein (yellow), etc.
The other thing people do is equate the color of a food or nutrient with the color of the fish (for example, thinking spirulina is blue-green, so it must be good for blue fish but not so much for red fish), but it's not that simple. For example, astaxanthin (red) is expressed in lobster as blue and in other animals can be expressed as blue, green or purple. What a pigmented nutrient does in the animal is all about how it processes it, how it combines with other nutrients, and the overall effect on health and body chemistry. For example, in lobsters astaxanthin is bound with proteins, creating a carotenoprotein (crustacyanin) that looks blue.
Anyway, not pushing one or another food or ingredient, but imo fish color is more about overall nutrition, health, and water quality and I prefer to get color enhancing nutrients as a natural part of the food ingredients, as opposed to buying and tinkering with a single supplement... just my opinion.
What I've found is color quality according to food varies with species. For example, while the difference is subtle, my rotkeil severums seem to have a more electric red on NLS, while my red head geos are slightly more red on Omega One. My kapampa seem to be equally blue on either one.
mchambers
Former CCA member
One of our members, Bob Bock, has a nice explanation of color enhancement on his web page:
http://www.sonnysfishroom.com/?page_id=252
http://www.sonnysfishroom.com/?page_id=252
Vinh2o
Members
I think the best way to get good color is to start with a good strain.
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Sonny Disposition
Active Member
I make my own fish food frequently. I bought some astaxanthin powder awhile back at a club function and add astaxanthin to most of the food I make. In my experience, color enhancers work better with some species than others. On balance, I think it works the best in bringing out reds of just about anything available. (Beta carotene and similar compounds are probably better at oranges.)
Here's an old blog post of mine that you mind find helpful:
http://www.sonnysfishroom.com/?page_id=252
Here's an old blog post of mine that you mind find helpful:
http://www.sonnysfishroom.com/?page_id=252
