very nice. I too just purchased one of Rapps' synspilum. Mine is about 5" and not much color to speak of but it's coming. He's just finally settled in the tank (fish just came this past saturday) so I'm excited to see how he progresses over the next couple months. 
I've found that a lot of times, the fish you find in a pet store are hormone fed or whatever so they develop colors earlier, but the end colors of the fish as they reach adulthood aren't that great. They tend to peak early.
But when you find quality fish (like those from Rapps and I'm sure many of the other sellers on this site, just that Jeff is the only one I've ever ordered from) they may take longer to color up but the colors they attain when they reach adulthood are far away brighter and more vibrant.
It's kind of sad really that fish stores don't get more quality fish instead of the line bred, hormone fed, farm raised fish that color up early because the general hobbyist wants something that's colorful now. If people could only realize that by getting quality fish and giving them quality care, the end result will be far more fulfilling.
I've found that a lot of times, the fish you find in a pet store are hormone fed or whatever so they develop colors earlier, but the end colors of the fish as they reach adulthood aren't that great. They tend to peak early.
But when you find quality fish (like those from Rapps and I'm sure many of the other sellers on this site, just that Jeff is the only one I've ever ordered from) they may take longer to color up but the colors they attain when they reach adulthood are far away brighter and more vibrant.
It's kind of sad really that fish stores don't get more quality fish instead of the line bred, hormone fed, farm raised fish that color up early because the general hobbyist wants something that's colorful now. If people could only realize that by getting quality fish and giving them quality care, the end result will be far more fulfilling.
