RTC with Light Pink Tail

[MoNsTeR FiS]

Hi,
I have a 18" rtc that lives in a 300 gallon cattle trough that i got a few years ago. It had a light red tail when i got it 2 years ago, and just the other day i noticed how light the tail is. He eats talapia fillets almost every 3 days. (and every once in a while i buy him convicts or african cichlids to eat at an auction.) The fish is doing great and is not sick, but i was just wondering if there was any way to make the fish look nicer with red fins. Thanks.

 

[Ihsnshaik]

feed him krill

 

[MoNsTeR FiS]

I will try that.
When i looked it up i read paprika will in hanse the color red on fish. Ist that r=true and safe to do to your fish.
also, how long will it take to make the color stronger.
Thanks.

 

[Ihsnshaik]

I will try that.
When i looked it up i read paprika will in hanse the color red on fish. Ist that r=true and safe to do to your fish.
also, how long will it take to make the color stronger.
Thanks.

I use papkrika when Im cooking a catfish and enhances the taste lol but all jokes aside I fed mine krill his red popped. This is a picture of my 500 gallon I had years ago. I had two RTC in there.

You can see how his tail is super red/orange

 

[kno4te]

Paprika is safe to use for fish. Mix with food. Follow dosing instructions. But giving krill will help too.

 

[MoNsTeR FiS]

Thanks. I fed him a handful of krill and he seemed to love it.
By the way, that is a beautiful fish.

 

[Chicxulub]

Krill is the go to treatment for improving reds. However, there is quite a bit of natural variety of reds in RTC, and your fish appears quite healthy, just on the paler side of the color spectrum.

 

[MoNsTeR FiS]

At a lake by my house there are invasive species of crayfish called rusty crayfish that i feed to my turtles. I have 10 pounds of the crayfish my freezer for my turtles and can easily get a 10 pound bag of them in 20 minutes. Would those be good making him less pale because they are related to krill? Thanks

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Agree with the guys above. Paprika is fine just don't OD.

Any crustaceans would benefit your RTC because its diet, it appears, could be improved. On the other hand, I'd not let crustaceans to account for more than 1/4-1/3 of the diet.

Tilapia fillets offer very little of anything nutritious other than protein. To assimilate protein well, any living organism needs a lot of other stuff - vitamins, minerals, macro elements, micro elements, trace elements, enzymes, co-factors, etc. Colorants also come from diverse foods, even medium priced pellets have them aimed for koi but also catfish, trout, etc.

 

[MoNsTeR FiS]

Thanks. I will try to improve his diet, and see what happens.