Coloring up my Synspilum?

[nickbachman]

So I got this ~3" synspilum about 3 weeks ago, and expected it to start to color up after it got into my care, but it really hasn't yet. I know they're late bloomers, but shouldn't it have a little more color by now? If not by now, when, and what's the best diet for a happy syn? This is him/her about 3 weeks ago, it looks the same to this day.

When can I expect to see something like this?

That fish doesn't look that much bigger than mine. Clearly genetics have a lot to do with it. Since I got my fish, I've been feeding it a lot of Veggie/Spirulina pellets and some African Cichlid food, with a good balance of krill and spirulina. Mostly veggie pellets though, as I've read they respond well to that. Any suggestions? Or ideas as to when I'll see some results?

 

[suPaduPA]

ur at 3inches..so its going to start to color up when it hits around 5-6inches..

 

[nickbachman]

Excellent. At least that means it still has a chance of looking good. Any thoughts on the diet?

 

[nickbachman]

I just realized that I have a video of one of the fish's actual siblings from the same batch, and it looks like she's got some non-synspilum looking facial markings, sort of a green pearling. Check out the video at around 30 seconds. Could it, and my fish, be a hybrid? Looks like hartwegi markings, but the body is more synspilum? Thoughts?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVk8rbi4zo

 

[Modest_Man]

They don't really "bloom" until 8" +. Feed a diet high in carotene to bring out the reds. I've never fed much veggie matter to my guy, and he looks fine, though he was always a bit darker than his siblings.

 

[Gage]

veggies will help out with color a lot, i started feeding mine deshelled peas when i had him and within a week he had darkened from pink- red and from yellow-goldy orange.

just make sure his diet doesnt have to much protein to often.

at 3" your looks fine, just be patient, as mentioned, they start coloring up well at 6", but arent even close to full color until they hit about 8-9".

 

[nutty]

Your fish will have plenty time to colour up. In my case, the classic synspilus colouring will show around 5", 6". Your fish's black lateral bar will start to break up and before you know it you'll have a classic looking synspilus. A good varied diet is key for growth and colouring, however i would not feed mammalion meat if possible, just my opinion. Here's a few photos of developement stages.
Fish at 3"

Fish at 5"

And the fish at 9"

 

[suPaduPA]

heres mines at around 8-9inches..maybe even 10inches..

 

[orbit]

Great pix guys! I just bought 2 juvies with great color on them already! Their each about 1 inch big, Maybe less.

I can't wait til they get bigger!!!

 

[nickbachman]

Yeah, great pics guys! I'd LOVE to see more! Post pics of your syns, orbit!

Does anyone have an opinion on this video of the fish's actual sibling. At the 30 secondish mark, you can see the fish has some interesting green markings on its face/gillplate region, which a pure synspilum shouldn't have, right?
[YT]SjVk8rbi4zo[/YT]