when it gets about 3 inches you could tell. My little jack dermpsey has only developed a solid butiful color recently. Before his color changed to dark a lot and did not have a stable color. in my experience with my jack demsey when they get 3 inches they start to get a sold colr paddern... It is hard to tell now... my jack dempsey used to be bland and dark but know it is light, butiful and high quality... give it some time, even if it does turn out bad it is not a big deal, all that matters is that you like the fish... right now too young to tell.