Buying a Green Terror

[balton777]

First of all, if you want one that will color up, you need a male. As mentioned, look at the dorsal fin and tail. The females won't have much pattern if any. Males have the more defined intricate pattern on theirs. Once you've pinpointed which ones are males, look at body shape, size and attitude. Bigger than the rest equals more dominant and better eater.

Too bad you don't live near me. I have F2 GT's coming out of my ears. I have about a hundred .75-1" fry left that I'm using as feeders. And the parents are rearing wrigglers again. A couple of weeks after the fry are free swimming, the parents will usually lay eggs again.

man i wish i was near you, GTs look awesome especially some of those F2 must be real winners

Maybe one day but they're too small for now.
I posted a Vid of them if you want to see it.

Click below:
VIDEO-GT's protecting teensy weensy fry from previous fry.

 

[knifegill]

I have had bad times with GT's, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

No matter what, make sure you have the pet shop feed the GT's. Watch them and pick from the greediest eaters. Don't get a fish that doesn't sprint at food. These fish can be fussy eaters and mine was on a permanent hunger strike, so it would be nice to help you avoid that.
Don't be afraid to stare at the gravel and look at the poo. Any white, stringy poo is a message to get out of that store and look elsewhere. All the GT's in my area are affected with the white poo syndrome, so I really have no chance of getting a good one. So I quit trying.
Antiparasitic meds did nothing. Antibiotic foods did nothing. I quarantined, salted, temperature bumped, detoxed that stupid critter so hard it should have died. That was after I had tried everything else gentler. I got him eating for a whole week once, then he quit again. I bought him at about 2", he grew to 4", then shrank down to around 3" and I returned him so I wouldn't have to see him die.

 

[McFall]

Balton great looking fish...

 

[Sarah88]

yeah GTs look very plain when little and dont even have the gold fringe until a bit bigger, you just have to find one that has design within its fins and more color than the others (but not more blue on the cheeks) and that should be a male, and with good diet and water it should color right up for you once it gets a bit bigger, and as others have said keep an eye out for white poo and its especially important with these guys to quarantine before adding to display tank, and veggies in their diet is a must