Thanks for the compliments, everyone.
He is still growing so his body shape will change a lot more in the next months. I just measured him last night and got 9" head to tip of tail. It's been pretty cool to watch him grow so quickly and I'm happy he's maintained his personality throughout tank changes and all.
Chocolates IME are really personable with their owners (from what I hear, they closely resemble a Oscars personality). Mine comes out to greet and watch me all the time, and lets me watch him really closely and mimics my movements left/right, up/down.
Chocolates are also fun to watch because their colors change with their mood. Most of the time I see him he is a dark red to purple. When he displays, stretches or is just having fun around the tank he gets his green body colors on, with a black stripe and spot. And, when stressed he turns all kinds of psychedelic colors-reds/purples with yellows/tans stripes and blotches of green and black. I wish my camera could pick up half the colors as they appear under the tank lights. I often just watch him and find myself let out a "whoa, cool". lol.
The ONLY downside to this fish is that he is a poop machine. But, I imagine most fish his size produce about the same amount of waste. He is nice enough to always put his poop in a pile in the same area of the tank.
