Hello cichlids

[newcrap]

Hi Folks

I'm new starter of aquarium fish tank/ I have a 90Gal for cichlids. Some of them is electric blue, ruby red & taiwan reef and strawbery, I have them for 6 months. I have unknown much about them, you guys can help me how to get color for Taiwan Reef & Ruby Red? I'm appreciated very much.

[FishyFishy!]

Color realistically comes with age. The older they get, generally the better looking they get. You can try "color ehancing" food, but realistically... has anyone actually proved that they work? I sure haven't seen any results from color enhancing food.

Another easy trick is good lighting. A high output T5 lighting system with 6000-10,000 K lights will enhance the color of the Taiwans easily. I find a combo light with an actinic light works the best (this is what I run on most of my tanks, freshwater or salt)

Other tricks include using dark colored backgrounds/substrates/decore to "trick" the eyes, and make them stand out better.

The bottom line is that there isn't much in the way of additives or chemicals that will actually "enhance" the color of fish.

Hope this helps

Edited May 27, 2010 by FishyFishy!

[jzz30tt]

Hi, just wondering how old are the fish? what approximate length and do you know if they are male or female?

There are a few things that will affect the coloration of the fish including gender. Females will tend to be drab and males the brightly colored ones. Additionally if they are exclusively males putting in a female or two will cause them to wear a lot brighter colors to impress.

Finally in conjunction with the substrate color what is your lighting like? Some cichlids dislike bright lighting and will dull their own colors to blend in better with a bright environment.

Just a few things to consider.

[newcrap]

thanks for recommends, my fish is around 8 months & I thought I got 2 male + 2 female for taiwan reef, and ruby red I got 4 but have no clue about them(sex) all fish is about 3 inch. Do I need turn on the light for during the day or just when I feed them. is it light really important for getting color? and could you tell me which cichlids dislike bright light? oh, my light is some kind of aquarium, once again thanks for helps.

[jzz30tt]

Ok, at 3 inches they should definately be showing color. My dominant male Red Empress is starting to color at about 2 inches and a couple sub dominant are starting to show too.

Definately have your lighting on during the day for whatever time period you choose. Mine are on from 4:00 pm to 10:30 pm. If you don't regularly have the lights on the fish will be scared of them and prone to hiding and dimming their colors.