Jack dempsey question

[cichlidgirl]

Hi, I got a new juvie jack dempsey the other day. Years ago i kept one that i bought as a young adult fish (5 to 6 inch) that all ready had nice color and spangles. Just curios if anybody can tell me at what size in inches should my baby jack start to develop more spangling ? Im assuming this is something that comes as the fish grows in size and the colors i see now are juvie colors, but since my other experience was with a older fish i figured i would ask to confirm that...Right now he is golden yellow colored with some green , gold and pink spangles starting to show up. Here is his pic :

 

[Camphilophus]

yours just looks stressed. They should be looking good around 3-4". You might need to change your substrate and background around if you want your fish to show good colors.

 

[cichlidgirl]

Ok, thanks, he or she is between 2 and 3 inches right now.

 

[woofy]

looks a little stressed is it being picked on? what is it eating? some juveniles are pale in color but not that pale.

 

[fishnoob]

i have 4 small jd and 2 are always pale, 2 are always dark. dont understand it lol

 

[Markm0723]

The amount of spangling will also depend on whether its a male or female. Female have much prettier gill plates, but tend to have far less color on their bodies. Here's a pics of one of my pairs that shows the difference.

Mark

 

[Spakase]

Gorgeous looking JDs! These are hardy fishes, what's the top length they grow to at your end?
The ones we have here in Singapore are from Thailand and they stop growing at 8 inches or so.