# What makes fish colours realy pop??



## toadass (1 Mar 2013)

Hi guys
When visiting different stores and looking at there Cardinal Tetra, some stores seem to make there colours stand out alot more than others.
Is this down to what lighting is used? As some people say it's the health of the fish that make the colour stand out!
I'd like to buy some cardinals as they look superb when grouped together and the colours are realy showing.
I have x2 daylight bulbs from Lampspecs, if i replace the front bulb would this make the colours show?
If so what bulb would be best to use?
Lampspecs do a blue tube Coloured T5 24W,	or would a Reef bulb be the best option, white blue, moonlight ect??

Many Thanks


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## Alastair (1 Mar 2013)

Hi mate. 
Certain foods can really bring out there colours as can various light tubes mainly any that have red in them. The gro lux tubes make them stand out well.
Tetra prima colour etc are good as is the jbl grano colour


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## Alastair (1 Mar 2013)

Ps also live foods help too.. banana worm, micro worm etc


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## dw1305 (1 Mar 2013)

Hi all,


Alastair said:


> also live foods help too.. banana worm, micro worm etc


 Live food is definitely the one for me, I feed some Grindal/Banana worms every day, but particularly crustaceans like _Cyclops_ and _Daphnia _enhance colour.

cheers Darrel


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## MARKCOUSINS (1 Mar 2013)

Feed them live baby brine shrimp(artemia naupli)easy to breed at home and keep the tank heavily planted.Cheers mark


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## plantnoob (1 Mar 2013)

good water first and foremost


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## Manrock (1 Mar 2013)

Anyone know a good source/shop for live daphina to grow on and breed? Is it better to buy a culture or pond dip?

Cheers


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## Iain Sutherland (1 Mar 2013)

if you just throw any live daphnia you can get into a dustbin with straw in the bottom it will just keep going all year round.  Its too easy. As a bonus through spring/summer months you will get mosquito larvae, blood worm and all sorts of other live critters your fish will love!


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## Willard (1 Mar 2013)

Hi Iain, re your bin suggestion, I was considering something like this, but what kind of minimum tempertures can daphnia tolerate?


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## Iain Sutherland (1 Mar 2013)

well my bin had 6 inches of ice on it over winter and im still scooping daphnia out today.
I believe the straw stops the boom and bust that some experience and maybe helps them during colder temps too??


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## Willard (1 Mar 2013)

Thanks Iain, surprised to hear they can survive such low temperatures. Im going to start my own little breeding program.


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## NatureBoy (1 Mar 2013)

Iain Sutherland said:


> if you just throw any live daphnia you can get into a dustbin with straw in the bottom it will just keep going all year round. Its too easy. As a bonus through spring/summer months you will get mosquito larvae, blood worm and all sorts of other live critters your fish will love!


 
I'm gonna do this with my water butt I reckon...do you have a lid on your bin or just leave it? is rainwater sufficient or do they need a bit of TDS?

cheers


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## Iain Sutherland (1 Mar 2013)

never touched it since i started it, rain tops it up and no lid.. all sorts fall in it and it just keeps going.
Everyone with the space should do it, it initiates great spawning behaviour too.


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## kassiel (2 Mar 2013)

Do you have to feed them anything?  Or is it literally just leave them to it?


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## Iain Sutherland (2 Mar 2013)

Nothing at all, the bin needs to be in the light though so green algae forms which I guess feeds the daphnia.


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## Ed Seeley (2 Mar 2013)

The right lighting and good food as others have said.  I've fed red granular crumb for years and it really enhances colours imo and is cheap too.


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## dw1305 (6 Mar 2013)

Hi all,


NatureBoy said:


> I'm gonna do this with my water butt I reckon...do you have a lid on your bin or just leave it? is rainwater sufficient or do they need a bit of TDS?


 Same as Ed and Ian says all you do is get a container of water and put a few grass cuttings in, you want it in a light place, but not 100% sun, to encourage "green water" algae. The grass releases nutrient from the cut ends, and as it decay it produces algae and rotifers etc that the _Daphnia_ etc. eat.

I don't add any TDS, but it is all limestone around me and our rain-water has about 100microS conductivity. If I was just culturing live food (I use the water for water changes) I'd add some "Oyster Shell" chick grit to raise dGH/dKH.

In the summer the same containers will produce mosquito larvae, these breathe air, so they do well even in polluted, de-oxygenated water (but I would be wary of getting too polluted), where you can get huge numbers build up. Blood-worms (non-biting midge larvae), are slightly less pollution tolerant, but can survive in polluted water because of the haemoglobin they contain. _Daphnia_ actually need quite good water quality, and if the water becomes too polluted they will die (this is why you tend to get "boom & bust" in tank cultures).

Again as Ian says you can harvest Daphnia and Blood-worms in the winter, even though the productivity drops off.

Ed's method works really well, but I'd still add some dried grass for  the reason Ian suggests. There is a really useful article about using hay as a long term food source for _Daphnia_ on the caudata.org forum < Results from experimentation with Daphnia Cultures- Alternate Feeding - Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Forum>.

This is something I've noticed myself from my Blood-worm/Mosquito Larvae buckets, where I add grass cuttings. In these buckets the _Daphnia_ remain productive for long time periods, without the problems of "boom and bust" cultures.

The only other thing is that the female mosquito needs somewhere to perch when she lays her egg raft. A wine cork works really well.

cheers Darrel


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## NatureBoy (6 Mar 2013)

Cheers Darrel

I'll definitely give this a go, though I'll keep the fact I'm rearing a horde of bloodsuckers next to the bedroom window quiet...

What's best for the starter culture - pond dip, lfs or biology grade? I've stopped buying live food from fish shop for fear of introducing intestinal nasties, should I be cautious with my starting point or not too fussed?

many thanks


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## dw1305 (6 Mar 2013)

NatureBoy said:


> pond dip


Pond dip. Mosquito and Chironomid midges ("blood-worm") fly in, it is worth having _Asellus_ and snails as well as _Daphnia _in the culture_._


NatureBoy said:


> I've stopped buying live food from fish shop for fear of introducing intestinal nasties, should I be cautious with my starting point or not too fussed?


Not too fussed, it should be fine, it is fish free zone, so even if fish parasites are introduced they won't persist.

cheers Darrel


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## NatureBoy (6 Mar 2013)

dw1305 said:


> Pond dip. Mosquito and Chironomid midges ("blood-worm") fly in, it is worth having Asellus and snails as well as Daphnia in the culture.
> 
> Not too fussed, it should be fine, it is fish free zone, so even if fish parasites are introduced they won't persist.
> 
> cheers Darrel


Many thanks 

I tried out a few chopped up earthworms the other day and everything went crazy for them, even the ember tetras were getting stuck in, looking forward to a varied free supply of live food

thanks for the links


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## NatureBoy (20 May 2013)

Just a quick update, my fish are having a daily daphnia starter followed by a main course of small earthworms, and a dessert of New Life Spectrum cichlid formula. 

The bleeding hearts are also partial to the little "land hoppers" that bounce around everywhere when you lift a pot. I think this is the best diet I've ever given my fish, so thanks for all the ideas about culturing daphnia - everyone should give it a try, it's so simple 

Only had the bleeding hearts a couple of days, 2 males and 3 females and they are already starting to develop some really rich colours, such a cool fish.


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