RED DEVIL Juvs.... Labiatus or Citrinellus???

[Cyberman]

Hey Guys,

Just been getting these guys... First off I've never seen such small fully morphed Red Devil/Midas before... they're about 2.5inches long (Body Length).

Anyway, I'm not 100% sure if they're Labiatus or Citrinellus yet so I thought I'd throw it out to you guys to see where your thoughs were on these little guys. Thanks, in advanced, for your comments.

 

[Modest_Man]

No one is going to know. It's all going to be guesses. You cannot tell the genetics of a fish visually.

 

[rocky2]

looks like mix

 

[Chrisplosion]

They essentially look identical when they are that small, you won't know what it more of is until it gets much larger. But even then theres no way to prove its not a hybrid of both.

 

[Cyberman]

I see.... So as far as the color goes how would you try and encourage the best pigments to come through?

 

[Chrisplosion]

Black gravel/sand, black background.

 

[macframalama]

im going with orange,,,

 

[macframalama]

<<<<<<<<<like mine

 

[Modest_Man]

I see.... So as far as the color goes how would you try and encourage the best pigments to come through?

Natural sunlight. Hands down. Failing that, a quality food.

 

[Aquanero]

Unless you bought from a know source you will never know if they are Citrinellus or Labiatus or any other possible mix of Amphilophus for that matter. At that size they are not fully morphed either and the way they look as adults may be nothing like the way they look now.
As far a color goes genetics will play a large part in the final apperance. In the wild the red color is and adaptaion of fish that inhabit deeper reagons of a lake below 25ft red is filtered out so a red fish appears black the barred varities live in the shallow sections where the barred coloration helps camoflage them among the rocks and vegatation. A good diet will bring out the max potential of your fish. I raised my RD on NLS and his color is very intense but again genetics plays a big role in the final outcome.

Anyone saying it's this or that is gussing. That's the answer