Gday all,
ok i have some pics to show a few differences between the EBJD and the normal JD when very young, approx 10mm in length and around 2-3 weeks old. at this stage they are showing the thin vertical black bars and are very different to the normal JDs to the trained eye. the EBJD's i have noticed, stick closer to the bottom and are starting to get out competed for food by the others. they usually stick together and should be separated as early as possible.
the first 3 images show both a EBJD (thin vertical stripes) and the normal or "splits" with the blotchy pattern. its quite noticeable in these pics.
In the following 3 pics, it shows the same batch at approx 8weeks old and 3cm in length. they have grown remarkably fast and are very aggressive feeders. at about 2.5cm to 3cm they will start showing the blue sheen, maybe even earlier in a display tank. as our tanks are bare for cleanliness, they would show colours better with some darker gravel, plants driftwood etc.
for the most part, they haven't seemed to be the quiet and scared little things that everyone makes them out to be, yea sure they are a bit more reserved then the JD but nothing to the extent of what is out there on the net. they are messy eaters and especially with things like beef heart, so make sure you have good sized filters to grow them out.
one last thing, that i could go on for hours about is the genetics behind getting the most EBJD's from a spawn. i have read a lot of articles on them and spoken to a few very knowledgeable people involved in breeding them. i have been told that trying to strengthen the blood line by adding in new lines, isn't really necessary. over here in Australia they are few and far between anyways and not allowed to be imported either, so that makes it hard.
as for your spawn that you have had in the past, have they all been the orange that you have said about earlier in this topic? it could certainly come down to what you feed, brine shrimp will bring that colour in them for sure. keep up your water quality, as they are messy fish. also make sure that you separate them when you can, then they wont be out competed for food and you'll get the best out of them growth wise.
i hope that this info helps, sorry to ramble on haha. fish are something i am very passionate about and would to love talk all day about the subject!
cheers