Rate these two fish
- Thread starter Gajzila
- Start date
They are very good looking. Once they go yellow, I’m not sure if they can become orange (but the yellow is not nearly as common so a score imo).
As for if they are true Midas, without knowledge of the parents, and their parents, etc. the best you can do is a guess and to take the owner’s word for it.
As for if they are true Midas, without knowledge of the parents, and their parents, etc. the best you can do is a guess and to take the owner’s word for it.
The true Midas, is Amphilophus citrinellus.
But these days, the term Midas seems to be a catchall generic term for any of the gold (yellow, pink) morph Amphilophines from the great lakes region of Nicaragua. About 8-10% of all Amphilophines of the lakes have the ability to be this color morph.
There are at least a dozen Amphilophine species that exhibit the golden/orange morph.
Add to that....aquarium strain hybrid "midlevels" that have been around for decades, and are almost indistinguishable.
So as Deadeye said, its almost impossible to know (especially in a few photos) one from another, unless the seller got them from a reputable source, that knew what lake they came from.
If from a LFS you can almost be assured they are midlevels.
When young they all look like thsis.
and change color as they mature, but their colors are usually set by about 5"-6" .
But these days, the term Midas seems to be a catchall generic term for any of the gold (yellow, pink) morph Amphilophines from the great lakes region of Nicaragua. About 8-10% of all Amphilophines of the lakes have the ability to be this color morph.
There are at least a dozen Amphilophine species that exhibit the golden/orange morph.
Add to that....aquarium strain hybrid "midlevels" that have been around for decades, and are almost indistinguishable.
So as Deadeye said, its almost impossible to know (especially in a few photos) one from another, unless the seller got them from a reputable source, that knew what lake they came from.
If from a LFS you can almost be assured they are midlevels.
When young they all look like thsis.
and change color as they mature, but their colors are usually set by about 5"-6" .
I disagree on the good looking part. Regardless of colour, they look sickly and very, very skinny. Maybe just being underfed for a long time, maybe internal parasites, who knows...but personally not fish I would buy myself.
Totally missed how thin they are - you are right on that. Not necessarily sickly yet but definitely need to fatten up a bit.