[Gibbs]

Just want some of you good people to add what you think about feeding hormone based color enhancers.

Good feed back to if you use the stuff

Personally i cant stand the stuff but recently i have been told by a few LFS owners that they add it to their display tanks and on more then one occassion i have been advised to feed it to my own fish...........NO WAY!
If anyone knows any of the side effects and so on

My local LFS has about 40 cichlid tanks and about 95% of the fish are males and are all coloured up totally even the 1 inch Electric Blues, it is really sad and i'm pretty sure illegal.

Should i name and shame, i do want to :x

 

[MalawiLover]

My local LFS has about 40 cichlid tanks and about 95% of the fish are males and are all coloured up totally even the 1 inch Electric Blues, it is really sad and i'm pretty sure illegal.

They are not likely all males. The females will color up the same (since the hormone used is testosterone). Unfortunately it can make the sterile and I do belieive stunts growth and shrotens their lives (both sexes).

It would be like giving a class of 1st graders steroids everyday.

Unfortunately it is probably not illegal (unless you can get it in under false advertising or something). But I bet your local animal rights people would have a field day with this info.

Edit****
A quote from an NLS webpage-looks like it is illegal!! (you may want to mentio it to them)

In the United States the use of male hormones (testosterone) in fish foods is highly illegal, and for good reason. Long-term use of steroids in fish food has been associated with skeletal deformity, increased susceptibility to infections, and pathological changes in the liver, kidney, and digestive tract. Females that are fed sex steroids will "color up" to the same degree as their male siblings, and juvenile males can become fully colored at a very early age. The downside is that once removed from a diet supplemented with hormones, the females will lose their color, possibly become sterile, and often times the males will also lose much of their color, and never regain it.

 

[Gibbs]

Yeah i really want to. i haven't stepped foot in the place since and when i did confront them about feeding such a thing the guy gave me a stuttering response as if he did have something to hide.
He then went on to admit that they feed Super G and Super R to their juvies so they can determine which breed they actually are.
He then went on to argue with me that the females will never colour up as males that is impossible he said.
The fact is i no the what this stuff does to the health of the fish and to think that they are willing to sell these fish to us is shocking.

Anyway the name of the Store: Aquotix in Canningvale Perth WA Australia.
I hope i don't get in trouble for that but never buy anything from that shop!!! :fish: