Juvenile Green Terror Getting Color?

[dpcamp]

I have a juvenile green terror, and when i got him 2 weeks ago he was verry dull looking like this.

now 2 weeks later, i notice the last couple days (after i did a scenery change because he was getting picked on by my blood parrot)
he's starting to look like this.

is that just part of the growing up stage, or is he starting to get stressed?
i think he looks a lot prettier now, but i noticed he gets a lot of color when he defends his territory.

 

[ox5477]

well as it grows, the coloration of the gill plate and jawline along with the color along the dorsal and tail fins should become much more vibrant as a part maturation. The second pic looks like the stress bars are showing and this could be an indication of being picked on by the parrot. How much bigger is the parrot?

I get a little confused with GT, blue acara, and i think another type of fish that all loook very similar, but I would lean more towards this fish being a blue acara because of the blue coloration on the cheeks. Just FYI....

Ox

 

[ox5477]

EDIT... double post.... sorry

 

[dpcamp]

well as it grows, the coloration of the gill plate and jawline along with the color along the dorsal and tail fins should become much more vibrant as a part maturation. The second pic looks like the stress bars are showing and this could be an indication of being picked on by the parrot. How much bigger is the parrot?

I get a little confused with GT, blue acara, and i think another type of fish that all loook very similar, but I would lean more towards this fish being a blue acara because of the blue coloration on the cheeks. Just FYI....

Ox

Yeah, i was a little confused about the type as well. the lfs labeled him a green terror, but i'm starting to think he's a blue acara. I actually took that after they got in a little match. But he still has those bars right now.
The parrot is about twice his size. Should i separate them? This only happens while feeding, other than that they usually ignore each other unless their space is being encroached on.

edit: i checked this morning, those bars are gone. but it's good to know that those bars mean he's stessed.

 

[ox5477]

Ya, no need to seperate if you dont see constant fireworks. Part of any cichlids nature to sort things out with a fight here or there.

Ox

 

[dpcamp]

Ya, no need to seperate if you dont see constant fireworks. Part of any cichlids nature to sort things out with a fight here or there.

Ox

ok. He's probably a blue acara huh?

 

[ox5477]

Thats my guess, but like I said, I get confused too by the different variations so I would hope somebody that knows better will advise on this.

Ox

 

[dpcamp]

I read this in another forum
"And this is because a gold saum (aka GT) has the orange rim around both the dorsal and the tail fin.

A blue acara only has the orange rim around the dorsal."

but i'm also reading that GT's don't get those stripes..

...

so he's a Blue-green Terracara??

 

[peter22UK]

hes 100% juvenile Green Terror.

My juvenile looks similar, the blue will change to a green tint as he colours up and he will become lighter and more green in colour, blue acaras have a red along the dorsal, but their tales are generally a brown/reddish colour without any colouring on the tip

Its deffo Golden Saum, but i think he...may be a she.

 

[dpcamp]

hes 100% juvenile Green Terror.

My juvenile looks similar, the blue will change to a green tint as he colours up and he will become lighter and more green in colour, blue acaras have a red along the dorsal, but their tales are generally a brown/reddish colour without any colouring on the tip

Its deffo Golden Saum, but i think he...may be a she.

a she?!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! haha i wanted it to get that hump on it's head.

 

[ox5477]

No need to worry. Females can have much personality and be as boistorous as males. True, they will not grow the nuchal hump as this is likened to antlers for male deer, but they are still cichlids and should be stocked for accordingly as they can be territorial as well. Glad somebody else could help solve the ID issue.

Ox

 

[kniesh]

I had that I.D problem with my young GT. I was told a very easy and good way to do it. Acaras vertical bars are all roughly the same size, GTs bars have much thinner pale lines than the black. Once I was told this, as I have a GT an a Blue Acara, there really is quite a difference. That is definately Gt.

Hope that makes sense

 

[peter22UK]

oh and no need to worry about the black bars, all juvenile GTS have them