How to Enhance The Color of Aquarium Fish: 7 Best Ways
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Every beginner fish keeper wants their aquarium to be full of colorful fish. However, the colors of fish will be vibrant & magical if you follow some simple ways.
Almost all types of pet fish need to intake a combination of high-quality food i.e. live foods (brine shrimp, bloodworms), green food (vegetables, rice) & commercial food (pellets, flakes) to enhance their color. Moreover, good water quality, medium light, presence of live plants are required to enhance the color of the fish. However, this depends on the species to species.
To enhance the colors of aquarium fish you don’t need to go through any complex process, rather you can apply these simple 7 ways which we are going to discuss in this article. So without wasting time let’s dive deep into the topic.
7 best ways to enhance the color of aquarium fish
Each type of fish that is kept in the aquarium has a natural color, since the fish are born, the color of the fish gradually increases as the fish grows. This color of the fish is in the genes of the fish.
However, 99% of the colorful fish we keep in the aquarium are normal colors. Most of the time, the color of the colorful fish you keep in the aquarium fades or becomes lighter. The fish don’t look good anymore.
To prevent this from happening to your favorite fish, there are some measures to take. If you follow these rules, the color of your aquarium fish will be good and will be enhanced.
1. Use proper light in the aquarium
Light is the most important for maintaining the good body color of aquarium fish. If the amount of light in the aquarium is low, the color of the fish will gradually fade.
All types of fish that we usually keep in aquariums will fade in color if the aquarium is kept in a dark condition. However, the dark condition doesn’t mean black water so don’t be confused between these two.
The amount of this light should be such that a live plant in that aquarium can photosynthesize well. The color of light is another parameter here too because live plants can’t photosynthesize with any color of light. An aquarium must have that kind of light to enhance the body colors of fish. (It doesn’t matter whether your aquarium has live plants or not).
Caution – Don’t keep the aquarium in the sun because it will increase the temperature of the tank. Always try to maintain a distance.
Not only that but you must remember that 8-10 hours of lighting is good for an aquarium. After that, you must turn off the lights. Excessive light may help to grow algae immensely.
Note:- There are some fish that don’t need light to be colorful. These are Arowana, catfish, etc.
2. Quality food is essential for color
Food quality is another essential factor that helps to enhance the body color of fish by multiplication. Aquarium fish must intake good quality food. If the food quality is not good, the color of the fish may fade or place quickly.
There are many different types of food made by good companies available at aquarium stores today. Special foods are also available for purchase to maintain the color of the fish. You can choose fish food from among them. Feed the fish a variety of foods, rather than feeding them one meal at a time.
You can give a small amount of boiled rice as cheap quality food once or twice a week instead of commercial food. A point to remember is not to give them the congee rice anyhow. The grain of rice should be a bit hard. Otherwise, it may foul the water of your aquarium. Do you want to know how long a fish live without food? Click the link to know more.
A small piece of carrot, tomato, and cucumber boiled once a week can be given to the fish. But take the uneaten portion after 1/2 hour. Otherwise, the water may go bad.
Precaution – Always provide such an amount of food that can be eaten within two minutes. Excessive food may help to deteriorate the water quality. Provide a pinch of food twice a day depending upon fish quantity in aquariums.
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3. The right environment of the aquarium
If you don’t implement the natural habitat in captivity then the color of the fish will start fading. For example, if you wanna keep neon tetra, snake tetra, angel, discus, etc. then live plants are a must in the aquarium. Otherwise, the color of all these types of fish fades a lot.
Secondly, if you want to keep African cichlid fish, the color of the fish will be better if you decorate it with some large stones inside the aquarium. It is because they belong to some lakes in Africa (Malwai, Victoria & Tanganyika). So it is better to imitate captivity like that type of lake. At that time fish will automatically show vibrant magical colors.
Caution:- Some fish like flowerhorn, jaguar cichlids, etc are too much aggressive. So don’t try to imitate their natural habitat in captivity. They may destroy the decoration. So do your own research before putting any kind of fish in the aquarium.
4. Fish’ color depends on water parameters
Water plays a very important role in maintaining the color of the fish. Different species of fish prefer different types of water parameters. The water parameter should depend on what types of fish you want to keep in the aquarium.
Fish like neon tetra, angel, etc. prefer low pH. So to keep this type of fish, soft water should be provided in the aquarium. There are some species of fish i.e. guppies, mollies, platies, etc. that like high pH. To keep those fish, you have to maintain high pH or hard water in the aquarium. There are some ways to lower the pH level of water. Click this link to know comprehensively.
pH level is not the only factor you have to check. There are tons of other factors too to check the water quality of an aquarium. Fast and foremost you must check the chlorine & chloramine level of your water. Aquarium fish can’t tolerate high chlorine levels. To fix that you can leave water outside for 24 hours.
Another parameter is the ammonia level. You must know the ammonia level should be zero in aquariums. Otherwise fish will start losing their color and die off.
After knowing well what type of water a particular fish prefers to live in, you should buy fish from the local fish store. if you maintain the right water parameters in the aquarium, the color of the fish will grow quickly.
Caution:- Tap water contains chlorine. Therefore use this after fixing the chlorine issue. It’s better to use 1/4th of pond water in aquariums. It will help to build bacteria quickly and maintain healthy water for your pet fish.
Read More:- How Much Important The pH Is for A Fish Tank? & how to control it
5. Put male & female fish both
You don’t believe fish have emotions too like other animals. Maybe this isn’t the way you think. To keep fish colorful you must keep the female fish with the male fish of each type of fish in the aquarium.
You may ask what’s the big deal of it? However, you must know any type of female fish isn’t good to see. It means they aren’t attractive. All colors & wavy fins or tails you see are only for male fish. So apparently it may seem worthless.
However, males become happy if you keep females with them in the same tank. They make pairs (for example angelfish). Otherwise, they look pale and die off. Some fish prefer to live in a shoal (for example neon tetra, discus, and guppies). They don’t make any pair but rather a shoal. However, you must maintain a good male vs female fish ratio in the tank depending upon species. A general thumb rule is 1:3 (It is not for all fish).
Precaution:- Put one male fish with 2-3 females depending upon species. More than one male can lead to unnecessary aggression and fighting.
6. Fish show vibrant colors with age
If your fish isn’t showing vibrant colors after checking all parameters that are discussed here means there is a possibility that the fish isn’t adult enough.
As the age of the fish increases, the skin color becomes darker. When the age of the fish is less, the color of skin of the fish is much less or lighter. As the fish matures, the skin color of fish becomes darker as it ages.
So if you want colorful fish you must purchase an adult mature fish. However, it is mandatory to get ideas about the lifespan of different fish species. Don’t be confused the aging fish with their size. It is because there are lots of types of fish that grow less than 1.5 inches.
Caution:- There is a possibility of potential disease if fish are in dark color. Some fish i.e. discus show dark patches if they aren’t comfortable in the tank. So you have to observe your fish first before drawing any conclusion.
7. Fish show vibrant color during breeding time
There are certain species of fish whose skin color becomes most vivid when it is time to lay their eggs. There are many other species of fish like Remy Rosy, Rosy Barb, Tiger Barb, Jewel Cichlid, Convict Cichlid, whose skin color becomes very bright when it is time to lay eggs.
Remember that this bright color of the fish is only seen during spawning. Other times they don’t look so bright. So if you want to make your tank colorful then you have to purchase the right kind of species. Otherwise, it is not possible to see colors all the time.
Precaution:- If you see any of your fish are pregnant then you must set up a breeding tank immediately. Don’t keep mother fish with her babies for more than one day depending upon species.
Read More:- 9 Best Aquarium Fish To Breed For Profit
Final Thoughts
Here this article has discussed the top 7 ways to enhance the colors of aquarium fish. Some of these ways are obvious ways which you must follow. Rest is some kind of general knowledge mixed with observation. This skill will grow gradually to enhance the fish’s body color.
As a beginner, you can just follow the first 5 ways which are discussed here. These basic five elements help fish to be happy & healthy and a happy fish means more vibrant colors which make a tank magical.
Best of luck & happy fish-keeping.
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