# give my rb's some color?



## pedman (Apr 19, 2007)

I have a few questions to ask and I know this is not the section for all of them but I will make one thread for simplicity.

1. what should I feed my guys to brighten up their bellies? Ive been feeding them mostly goldfish, chicked breast, and probably a nono but hotdogs too. also what temp is best for optimum color? its been at 80.3 for months now and is very consistant.

2. can rb's grwth be stunted? I kept mine in a ten gallon untill they were about 3-4 inches ( 7or8 months old) and aquaired a 55 for christmas and they have only grown I would say an inch in the 6 months theyve been living in there.

3. can I add a couple neons with them in the 55? and how big would you say they need to be before I can to this? they are about 5 inches now.

4. and why the hell is the smallest one the bully. I should have mentioned this before but I have 3 p's, 2 are about 5 inches and the smallest one is about 3-4 inches and much skinnier? the runt is constanty chasing the other two to the left side of the tank and leaving fin and scale nips on the other 2. he is the same age, and is always eating more than the other ones. sex difference possibly?

thanks for reading.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

1.) Nothing that you've been feeding them is either good for them, or condusive to color enhancement.
Try feeding them pellets like Hikari Gold or shrimp.

2.) They can absoltuely be stunted, as you've witnessed. If my math is correct, your fish are a little over a year old. They should be at least 6-7" by now. 10 is way too small, and 55 is too small for any number of fish.

3.) I wouldn't add neons right now, you have more pressing matters to deal with first before considering dither fish.

4.) As for the aggressivness of the one fish, this is normal despite the size difference.
Do you have a picture of your setup? I'm interested in your decor layout.


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## FRANK194 (Apr 25, 2008)

Complety agree with piranha man. You need more room and hikarii gold pellets works great i also hear that the shell from feeding them shrimp is good for there color. Post some pictures of what you got.


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## razorback182 (Apr 27, 2008)

growth can definitely be stunted by lack of space. last march i bought my first rbp pair. both of them were 1-inchers. I kept them in a 5 gallon tank while i negotiated with my dad over garage space. that lasted for 3 months, and the pair only grew 2 to 2.5 inches. fortunately i was able to get them a 75g last May. a month ago i bought another pair, again 1 inchers. since the Pfury team advised me to keep them apart from the older pair, i decided to put them in a 20g in the meantime. and now they've grown to 2.5-3 inches in just a month.


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## john1634 (Mar 22, 2005)

goldfish stunt growth and life span. use shelled shrimp for better coloration. they grow at different rates and there is no real way to determine which is male or female. stop using their current diet. getting shrimp will last a long time. i got a pound of fresh shrimp at walmart and ive been using it for maybe a month now and still almost a half a bag. i use tetramin fish flakes, and pellets, tilapia cut in cubes, and some crab meat.


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## pedman (Apr 19, 2007)

thanks for the replys guys, I will get some frozen shrimp and hikari (Sp) pellets tomarow along with some pics of my setup.


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## jayjulesjohn (Jun 5, 2008)

nice pic please...oh yeah the set too


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

pedman said:


> 1. what should I feed my guys to brighten up their bellies? Ive been feeding them mostly goldfish, chicked breast, and probably a nono but hotdogs too. also what temp is best for optimum color? its been at 80.3 for months now and is very consistant. *Dont feed that crap to them. Stick with f/t fillets (shrimp,, talapia, silversides, cod...) in addition to pellets (hikarki gold/biogold) if you can get them to eat them.Tempurature is fine since it will make them eat and grow more.*
> 
> 2. can rb's grwth be stunted? I kept mine in a ten gallon untill they were about 3-4 inches ( 7or8 months old) and aquaired a 55 for christmas and they have only grown I would say an inch in the 6 months theyve been living in there.*Five inches in over a year is a bit small, however with proper care m sure you can get them back up to a normal size. A 55 is still to small for reds for life. How many are there?Better filtration, better feedings and more frequent water changes will help them to grow faster.*
> 
> ...


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## leviathon13 (Sep 11, 2006)

it might sound like a pain , but, making your own fish food and adding color enhancers will help with color. cyclop-eeze is excellent. but your fish won't eat it at that size. they're tiny arctic crustaceans with the highest known concentration of astaxanthin ( red cartenoid) mix the freeze-dried version with anything you wanna put into the mix in a blender add some clear gelatin (as a binder) and freeze it. i use shrimp, catfish nuggets, tetra jumbo-min (large carnivore sticks) cyclop-eeze, carrot juice and pulp, and a few drops of garlic extreme.my reds and caribe colored up after feeding it for about a week. but i ran out so i never got to see the full effect.i'll make more and post pics in the near future.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

Shrimp, squid and krill! All great for colour and healthy for them too.


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

P-man and the rest hit the nail on the head there. It seems to all be sound advice


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