What is best foods, etc. to enhance cichlid color

[Freshy]

Hikari cichlid gold is good.
My nicaraguensis's color is showing nicely

 

[at2]

i mix hikari gold/bio gold plus/staple and FD shrimp. just started adding hikari carnivore pellets. seems to work pretty good

 

[Bogwoodbruce]

I use Hikari gold and this works brilliantly on my Baysnooks and RTGG.

 

[tapeworm]

Another good trick is to rub market shrinp in paprika(sp?) it's harmless, natural, and helps enhance colors...especially reds...in fish.

Does that really work?

 

[Modest_Man]

My secret weapon. Makes red vibrant.

Rambo here ate several of them per week (usually about 6-10). Live. Along with Hikari cichlid gold.

 

[tapeworm]

Does you RD struggle to eat it? Or does the crawfish (?) just get eaten in one clean gulp? It seems like your fish might get pinched from time to time or just have a hard time digesting it. . . But its been working eh? . . .

 

[Druu]

Another good trick is to rub market shrinp in paprika(sp?) it's harmless, natural, and helps enhance colors...especially reds...in fish.

Slightly off topic, but does paprika have other benefits? Would it's color enhancing properties work with other species?

 

[John Rambo]

I don't know much about the paprika, but a major reason other than basic nutrition, that the hikari works is the Astaxanthin and spirulina. These are naturally occuring food ingredients in the wild that only some fishfood brands mix in. In high concentrations your fish store them resulting in more deep reds and blue-greens. Hikari is not the only brand that has it, infact Chingmix has it in very high concentrations. Flowerhorn keepers who care about their fish use it in place of dyes and hormones because it is safe. I use it on all my sa and ca cichlids and it has given lots of color to even the young 1" fish.

 

[tapeworm]

I'm curious what else people feed., free bump for you!

 

[QueenslandeR]

i feed my fish nls chiclasoma pellets, hikari cichlid biogold +, frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, beef heart and earthworms.. getting good results