Peppering In Planted Tanks

[TW]

Hi there

Every now & then I have read in a post or a book that a discus may get extra peppering, just because he is in a community or planted tank, but I have never understood why this is so.

Could someone pls explain why a planted tank would do this to the discus?

Thanks in advance for any info.

[the german]

im not sure its only a theorie but i think it has to do with their natural instincts to get one with the background like a kind of camounflage(hope thats spelled right :oops: )

[Merrilyn]

It appears to be linked to the amount of light in the tank DW.

A fish kept in a brightly lit tank, with a bare bottom or light coloured substrate and light background will show very little peppering.

Put the same fish into a heavily planted tank, with lots of shaded areas, dark substrate and dark background, and within a few weeks or months the peppering will become more obvious.

Naturally, only fish carrying the pigeon blood gene will pepper. It makes little difference to the colour of say, a blue diamond or turquoise, except that they may become a little darker overall.

Some asian breeders even keep their pigeon blood fry under lights 24/7 from the time they are free swimming, believing that if the fry don't learn to pepper in the first 6 months of their life, they will never pepper. It's an interesting thought.

[TW]

Thanks for that.

Sorry to learn then that my 2 red melons will likely pepper up then. One currently has no peppering, the other only a very little. They are in a planted tank, so I guess they a destined for a look I don't like so much.

I don't know too much about discus as yet, so sorry if this is a silly question. What about Alenquer or the turks - do they have the pigeon gene?

[Merrilyn]

No pigeon blood genes in alenquers or turks, and it's definately not a silly question. I'm sure lots of people have wondered the same thing.

As for your melons, it's possible they may not pepper any more than they are now, so don't be too worried. You can always give them a light coloured substrate and light background if you're concerned.

I really don't mind a bit of peppering on a red fish. It gives them a bit of character :P