Jd Color?

[Valyrian]

I've seen some pictures of JD's online where the fish are a beautiful shade of purple with shiny blue/green spots/stripes. Today I saw some ~1" JD's at a LFS and they were all very dark and black and brown. I was wondering if their colors became more like the ones I described when they get older or if those fish in the picture were just special fish.

 

[valleyrich]

Probably a little of both. Many cichlids take on their best colors after being established in a home tank. The substrate, food, and stimulation have a lot to do with the color of these fish. The one you saw may have been a special fish but all JD's I've seen in a stable environment have gorgeous colors.

 

[EliteFishy]

The JDs at your LFS are still young and have not matured yet. After they mature their scales will turn to the shinny color. Female JDs have less color than males. I got my JD when he was about 1in and only showed little color. Now(about 4 months later) my JD is about 3 inches and most of his scales are shinny.