# Not very red.



## JMurphy97 (Mar 23, 2005)

My red bellies are about 4-5in now and they don't really have any red. Now I've pics of others on the site and they look like they are bleeding they are so red. I feed them smelt and prawns(big shrimp) with the shell on. They don't really eat the shell though. But when they were younger I fed them bloodworms and kril. But they are too big for the little kril I have. I also fed the some squid a couple times. What should I do to help bring out the color?


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## oojit (Feb 24, 2005)

Try nightcrawlers if they don't eat the shell. But later on when they are bigger try the shells again.


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## Joga Bonito (Oct 30, 2004)

do you have a dark gravel?


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## JMurphy97 (Mar 23, 2005)

I forgot put nightcrawlers before. I fed them those too. My gravel is natural looking, mixed colors. I got it from Wal-Mart.


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## Joga Bonito (Oct 30, 2004)

can u take a pic of your reds


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## JMurphy97 (Mar 23, 2005)

I have no camra and no scanner for regular pics. My girlfriend has one I coule use but that's not for a couple days.


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## Killa RedZ (Apr 10, 2005)

feed them shrimp with the shells


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## oojit (Feb 24, 2005)

Piranha Kings said:


> feed them shrimp with the shells
> [snapback]1086236[/snapback]​


Did you not read? He said that his p's spit out them shell.

Read before you post.


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## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

try giving them more natural sunlight.... my room is in the front of my house, and in the morning is when the sun hits my room... my caribes always looked their reddest in the morning with all that sunshine


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## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

ohh... and make sure your water is clean


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Try feeding thawed krill. 
Also, check your water parameters and post them.
What are you using for tank lighting?


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## clintard_leonard (Mar 24, 2005)

i have heard that tank bred reds arent ever as colorful as wild reds. Pics would really help, what kind of lighting do you have? i just switched to some florescant and it shows there colors a lot better.

My reds werent very colorfull but i started making my own food and now there colors have come out a lot. What i did was mixed up a bunch of different foods, krill, color flake, earthworm skins, all kinds of stuff and blended it up, then dried it in the dehydrator. Sometimes the food sinks, sometimes it floats, but they love it. I also feed them minnows as live food. there colors are amazing for piranhas that cost me 5$


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

clintard_leonard said:


> i have heard that tank bred reds arent ever as colorful as wild reds.[snapback]1086706[/snapback]​



View attachment 67163

Tank-raised Reds, 8-9 inches in size, and although it may not show that well on the picture, their bellies are deep (blood) red.

Certain foods (like krill, shrimp, earth worms, color-enhancing pellets) will have an affect on the coloration of your fish indeed, but it's not the key factor. The things that affect a fish's coloration most are pristine water and a stressfree environment: as long as these conditions aren't met, you can stuff your fish with color-enhancing foods all you want, but the effects won't be optimal.


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## JMurphy97 (Mar 23, 2005)

I have 80 watts of lighting but I'm gonna be going to 160 in a couple days. They don't look stressed because they have plenty plants to hide in. The water is good I just got it checked.


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## Killa RedZ (Apr 10, 2005)

try to feed them krill or shrimp it brings out theeir color


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## zygapophysis (Jul 16, 2004)

Piranha Kings said:


> try to feed them krill or shrimp it brings out theeir color
> [snapback]1087891[/snapback]​


Did the trick for me. Also if they are stressedthey will lighten up completely and even almsot turn all white sometimes..


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