Is it possible to make baby clowns colors pop

[leo12345]

Hey guys so i got some regular Ocellaris clowns the other day and i was so excited I really didn’t even pick out ones I wanted and the ones i got are babies (around 1.3inches long)so there colors aren’t that great there tops really brown and there belly’s are yellow instead of orange, so i was wondering is there something i can feed them or put in the tank that will make them more orange and there black outline come out more, or is there nothing i can do and i just have to wait until there older?

 

[KrisReef]

Try a food made from krill.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Anything with astaxanthin should be able to help (including the krill mentioned above):

Astaxanthin is a red pigment found in Tigger pods, some shrimp, pacific salmon, etc. It's what give them the reddish/orangish/pinkish coloration. So, as shown in the study above, it does impact color - and it is found naturally in many fish foods in the ocean - but I'm not sure if it would improve all fish colors, or just those with red/orange/pink coloration (such as the clownfish studied above).

Interesting thing to learn about either way though.

It won't let me quote the comment with the study mentioned in the other thread, but it's a study about the effects of astaxanthin on clownfish coloration, and it basically shows the more astaxanthin they consume, the deeper their coloration.
The thread:

Food to improve fish colors

What fish foods are you familiar with for improving fish colors? My understanding is that different foods will target different colors. I'm having trouble with online searches for this, so I though I'd better ask the community!

www.reef2reef.com

As a side note, foods with spirulina in them are supposed to do the same thing with blue/green colors (and according to one company in Japan, yellow too).

 

[leo12345]

Wi

Anything with astaxanthin should be able to help (including the krill mentioned above):

It won't let me quote the comment with the study mentioned in the other thread, but it's a study about the effects of astaxanthin on clownfish coloration, and it basically shows the more astaxanthin they consume, the deeper their coloration.
The thread:

Food to improve fish colors

What fish foods are you familiar with for improving fish colors? My understanding is that different foods will target different colors. I'm having trouble with online searches for this, so I though I'd better ask the community!

www.reef2reef.com

As a side note, foods with spirulina in them are supposed to do the same thing with blue/green colors (and according to one company in Japan, yellow too).

Will it still work even though there so young

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Wi

Will it still work even though there so young

I would imagine so, yes - it's really just the food contains a pigment that they absorb when they eat it that darkens their colors, so age shouldn't (in theory) change how it effects them.

 

[leo12345]

I would imagine so, yes - it's really just the food contains a pigment that they absorb when they eat it that darkens their colors, so age shouldn't (in theory) change how it effects them.

Will putting astaxanthin powder on some krill work, if it does will any astaxanthin powder work or some are better than others?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Will putting astaxanthin powder on some krill work, if it does will any astaxanthin powder work or some are better than others?

In theory, yes. Krill alone should theoretically work too. Any pure astaxanthin powder should work - I'd just make sure it doesn't have any unwanted ingredients mixed in with it, as these could potentially be harmful to the fish.

 

[leo12345]

In theory, yes. Krill alone should theoretically work too. Any pure astaxanthin powder should work - I'd just make sure it doesn't have any unwanted ingredients mixed in with it, as these could potentially be harmful to the fish.

Thank you