# gut loading for color??



## BigFishy (Oct 21, 2013)

So does anyone try to gut load there FF's to enhance dart coloration? I have kept fish for most of my life and have noticed that yellow can be altered to orange by increasing the carotene in the food source. Has anyone tried this with darts?


----------



## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

BigFishy said:


> So does anyone try to gut load there FF's to enhance dart coloration? I have kept fish for most of my life and have noticed that yellow can be altered to orange by increasing the carotene in the food source. Has anyone tried this with darts?


Some members dust Repashy Superpig, or Naturose on their FF's. As for "gut loading" I believe Repashy Superfly media has some beta carotene in the mixture. Not sure though if the FF's are able to transfer carotenes or not.


----------



## Soldier17 (Mar 26, 2012)

I was curious about that as well. I know some people add paprika to make the red more vibrant. I am interested in trying super pig.


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

It is hard to gut load fruit flies per se.. they have a gut transit time of 6 hours so the time frame is pretty small. If the media has high levels of carotenoids then they can be uptaken and stored in the fat bodies in the flies and what ever is left after pupation can be passed along (it is metabolized and converted to rhodopsin in the eyes). 

With respect to paprika, this has been an idea that has been passed around the hobby for a long time but since the reds in paprika are polar, they do not mix well with the fat globules to cross the intestional wall so their value is limited. Astaxanthin and canthaxanthin appear to be much better choices for this purpose. 

Some comments 

Ed


----------



## BigFishy (Oct 21, 2013)

yea I was curious the gut time frame and 6hrs seems a little tricky. But doing a powder coat may work. I know a few people that order Astaxanthin powder and add it to fish food to increase the orange brightness in clownfish.


----------



## dan d (Aug 9, 2008)

Interesting topic, I look forward to more replies.


----------



## zonz540 (Feb 8, 2012)

Ed said:


> reds in paprika are polar, they do not mix well with the fat globules to cross the intestional wall so their value is limited. Astaxanthin and canthaxanthin appear to be much better choices for this purpose.


I guess that ends my including paprika in my cultures.


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

BigFishy said:


> yea I was curious the gut time frame and 6hrs seems a little tricky. But doing a powder coat may work. I know a few people that order Astaxanthin powder and add it to fish food to increase the orange brightness in clownfish.


Increasing the carotenoid levels via dusting can work. As for just using astaxanthin, this helps reds but doesn't do anything for yellows and to some extent yellows. Superpig is a better option for that application. 

Some comments 

Ed


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

zonz540 said:


> I guess that ends my including paprika in my cultures.


That does add beta carotene which can help with yellows. 

Some comments 

Ed


----------



## LoganR (Oct 25, 2013)

Do FF maggots retain the various color enhancing chemicals?


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

LoganR said:


> Do FF maggots retain the various color enhancing chemicals?


See post number 4 in this thread. 

Some comments 

Ed


----------

