Micro nutrients affect roaches

Matt K

Matt K

Eurycotis
Here we take some normal Lucihormetica verrucosa and feed them a diet high in beta-carotene.

Started:

Lverrucosapair.jpg


Some weeks later yellow spots turned orange:

Lucihormeticaverrucosamale.jpg


This happened also with L. subcincta.

Interesting!

 
So are you saying you fed them carrots and the spots turned orange? I've fed them carrots and didn't notice a color change, I'll try it again.

 
Orin McMonigle said:
So are you saying you fed them carrots and the spots turned orange? I've fed them carrots and didn't notice a color change, I'll try it again.
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Well, no. Though carrots are included, mostly from a color enhancing fish food that has carotenes, stabilized vitamin C, riboflavinoids, vitamin A, and some other goody. I thought I would try this instead of the usual 'regular fish food' thinking it interesting to see if anything changed colorwise and it backfired a bit. I had hoped for no change or enhanced color, and what I got was an increased orange in anything that would otherwise be amber or yellow. Other colors are unaffected. Last week I have switched back to an 'everyday' fish food.

Hoping the orange wears off... I don't care for it.

 
Very very interesting! If this is the case, then you could feed canary food designed to turn their plumage red, I think it contains canthaxanthin, another carotene, and turn them red or pink! Food containing canthaxanthin is also used in salmon farms, to "dye" the salmon whatever color you want it - a grocery store in Minnesota called "Lund's" used to have swatches of color (not unlike paint swatches at a paint store) at the fish counter for farm-raised salmon that you could order to your liking (I guess to match your dishes, or furnishings for the dinner! :blink: ), with about 20 different shades from greyish-white to red.

Kinda makes me wonder...Thanks Matt for piquing my curiosity!

 
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Crepsis, they also use Astaxanthin in most "color enhancing" fish foods. Unfortunately, it's been linked to vitamin overdoses in the deaths of many of our pet fish over the course of around a year or so.

 
Orin McMonigle said:
Did the orange ever wear off?
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I have found that once a color-enhanced roach reaches maturity the color is there permanately. But if the roach is still a nymph then the color wears off in two molts usually. This was most obvious on tiger hissers (b&w G.grandidieri) and a few others. With the tiger hisser case, the white had turned dark amber with the color enhanced foods, and with the corrected diet the dark amber turned back to white in two molts. Fully mature adults with the color remain non-white.

 
Matt K said:
I have found that once a color-enhanced roach reaches maturity the color is there permanately. But if the roach is still a nymph then the color wears off in two molts usually. This was most obvious on tiger hissers (b&w G.grandidieri) and a few others. With the tiger hisser case, the white had turned dark amber with the color enhanced foods, and with the corrected diet the dark amber turned back to white in two molts. Fully mature adults with the color remain non-white.
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Hi Matt,

I was asking about the 'glow spots' coloration. Since they changed to orange post molt did the 'glow spots' ever fade back to yellow?

 
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