I've been wondering this. Why are almost all of the midas, red devils, and Midevils that you see in pet stores all ready peeled at such a small size. If you order them from a good vender they do not change until 3.5-4.5 inches. Why do we see 2 inchers in store with full color? Are they using hormones on them?
Why are Devil/Midas colored up at such small sizes in pet stores?
- Thread starter jgentry
- Start date
Yea I was wondering the same thing, petsmart devils, midevils are super colored up and some at only 1.5"-2", my babies that I am raising from fry are not even showing any signs of peeling at 2".
It is the result of selection over the years by the breeders. Imagine you are a commercial breeder and you have a "litter" of 500 fry. Are you going to pick out the 490 grey fish or the 10 orange fish? In most cases the colored fish are chosen for purely aesthetic reasons.
Now, in the wild, those 10 colored fish would be the first to be targeted and predated upon due to their conspicuous coloration. That's why wild fish are going to produce almost entirely grey juveniles -- for camouflage purposes when predation is heavy. But in captivity someone has picked out a few fish that color up quickly, breed them to each other, get more early color in the next batch, and so on...... Whether that was a strategic choice for marketing reasons (i.e. a brightly colored juvenile will sell better) or just happenstance is anyone's guess (probably the former!).
In the wild, 90%+ fish stay grey colored, and those few that due eventually color up breed almost exclusively at very deep depths. It is thought their bright colors increase their visibility to their fry at those depths. The fry of these bright fish would be camouflaged at least until they reach a size where they are less apt to be eaten by the various piscivores in the lake. In most cases, that size would be somewhere north of 4 inches or so.
Now, in the wild, those 10 colored fish would be the first to be targeted and predated upon due to their conspicuous coloration. That's why wild fish are going to produce almost entirely grey juveniles -- for camouflage purposes when predation is heavy. But in captivity someone has picked out a few fish that color up quickly, breed them to each other, get more early color in the next batch, and so on...... Whether that was a strategic choice for marketing reasons (i.e. a brightly colored juvenile will sell better) or just happenstance is anyone's guess (probably the former!).
In the wild, 90%+ fish stay grey colored, and those few that due eventually color up breed almost exclusively at very deep depths. It is thought their bright colors increase their visibility to their fry at those depths. The fry of these bright fish would be camouflaged at least until they reach a size where they are less apt to be eaten by the various piscivores in the lake. In most cases, that size would be somewhere north of 4 inches or so.
That makes perfect sense cchhcc. I kind of like getting a grey one though. It's like waiting for christmas to see what you are going to get.
i had heard that the fish were treated with hormones that causes them to get their adult coloration prematurely
cchhcc;2748122; said:
And they feed hormones. One of the first jobs I had was at a tropical fish hatchery/importer. It was common knowledge the fish farms used hormones. If you want to try, breed the fish and compare coloration of fry to parent.
Hormone
First off the only stores that really sells these fishes that are brightly colored up at such a small sizes are Petsmart and Petco. Secondly I have seen quite a few where they eventually change back to their juvenile/baby colors or colors become dull again after a few weeks.
First off the only stores that really sells these fishes that are brightly colored up at such a small sizes are Petsmart and Petco. Secondly I have seen quite a few where they eventually change back to their juvenile/baby colors or colors become dull again after a few weeks.
Here is my petsmart midas and his progression. I bought this once because he was the only one that was not orange. He has doubled in size in about a month.
December 27th
January 19th
January 30th
February 4th
December 27th
January 19th
January 30th
February 4th