[RML] Astaxanthin in Aquaculture?

Gary Lange (gwlange at stlnet.com)
Fri, 3 Apr 1998 22:42:49 -0600

Astaxanthin is a natural carotenoid that is in the diet of many crustaceans.
It is now being used to help put the red back in farmed salmon. It is being
farmed from algae from several companies around the world now for that purpose.
It also supposedly helps with the fertility of hens and increases the colour
in the yolks (supposedly favored by northern europeans). This is also supposed
to enhance the effectiveness of the immune system.

I think this is also one of the compounds that is found in brine shrimp and
things like daphnia and other "wild" critters.

My question is: has anyone tried to use this in an aquaculture type setting
to put brighter colors (naturally) on tropical fish? If this is one of the
main carotenoids that produces the great colors of outdoor fish then this might
be a good thing to be adding to our food for our indoor fish.

Gary Lange
gwlange at STLNET.com
Rainbowfish Study Group of North America
http://home.stlnet.com/~gwlange/rainbowfish.index.html