cichla piquiti question

[903Herp]

So I am wanting an Azul peacock bass. Their blues just look awesome. My question at what size do they really start getting the vibrant green and blue colors?

The fish will be housed in my 240g until he outgrows it. Should have a good while and then he will be going into a pond. Substrate will be black and background will be black. Lighting I am going to be running 2x48" LED light bars with white reds and blue LEDs. (not really sure of the lumin specs etc.)

Aside from high quality food and the background and substrate what can I do to bring out the best colors of this fish?

 

[isde02]

Imo it depends on genetics, food/water quality, and how comfortable they are with their environment. Once they settled in my old pack colored up at 4-5", and this is how they turned out.

 

[peter predtank]

mine are only maybe 9 inches now, but they have been showing nice blues and greens from probably around 5 inches

 

[903Herp]

Good deal, I guess I will go ahead and pull the trigger and order it.