4 replies to this topic

[Josh Blaylock]

I have never been into breeding fish.  I once bred SRBD by accident, but that's it for me.  Last week, I was look through some of the junk we acquire as fish keepers and ran across this product (which seems discontinued).

 

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Some type of color enhancer for tropicals.  I started adding a few drops in my 55 here and there, and with feeding.  It says the active ingredient is basically a type of algae.

 

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Within a few days, I have tubercles on the Bluehead chub, Alabama & Tricolor shiners. 

 

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Now, it could have been coincidence, as we had some very cold days here in KY (15-20degrees) followed by some warm days (50-55).  That tank is in an unfinished part of my basement.  The temps in there do swing, not to extremes, but unlike the rest of the house.  So, it's possible this was coincidence.  Nevertheless, I wondered if fish pheromones can be used to start the breeding process, and if it's common for major breeders to do this.

 

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[Michael Wolfe]

Maybe your yellowfins are always happy, but they look good too.  I think its an interesting experiment.

[gerald]

Careful with that powerful stuff -- it can make pelvic fins fall off.  I had a Hematococcus bloom once in a styro box (daphnia culture) on my porch, after lots of mulberries fell in.  The daphnia all died - not sure if Hematococcus was the cause, or too much rotting mulberry did them in.  It looked like "red zinger" tea.

 

But seriously, I think temp, photoperiod, and biological clocks are probably more at work in your tank than dead algae extract.

 

https://www.scienced...s/haematococcus

[lilyea]

I am familiar with haematococcus pluvialis / astaxanthin used as a color enhancer for both fresh and saltwater fish (especially to bring out the red and orange colors; e.g., discus, shrimp, clownfish, etc.), but have never heard that it was used as a breeding trigger.

[Josh Blaylock]

I am familiar with haematococcus pluvialis / astaxanthin used as a color enhancer for both fresh and saltwater fish (especially to bring out the red and orange colors; e.g., discus, shrimp, clownfish, etc.), but have never heard that it was used as a breeding trigger.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure if there are other ingredients or 'pheromones' actually in it, or if that's marketing hype.