At What Size do P. paru Change Color?

[Itchy Trigger]

I've got a French angel I've raised up since it was about 1". It's now around 8-9" and growing fast. Just curious when I might expect it to lose its juvenile color pattern and develop adult coloration. Anybody here have experience they could share?

*Side note... It's funny - I asked this same question about Emperor angels at some point last year and within a week of my posting, my emp started changing color. Maybe it'll happen again with the paru... :fish2:

 

[cougareyes]

Wow I've seen them in adult coloration from 5-6". If you have him in the same tank as the emporer maybe the emporer's dominance is stunting his maturing. The social dynamics in a tank play a very if not the most important part of maturing angels and tangs for that matter.

 

[Itchy Trigger]

They are in the same tank, yes. The emperor bothered him when he was smaller, but doesn't mess with him anymore - the paru is much bigger than the emperor now.

 

[moriarty]

Mine is around 14", and still retains 2 faint stripes on each side. I acquired him from another aquarist when he outgrew their tank. Not sure of his exact age, but he was around 10" when I brought him home 2 years ago. Here are a couple of pics. First is from 11/2015, and the second is from March of this year.

The second pic is kind of deceiving, as the French is a good 3-4" larger than the annularis. Not sure if/when he will lose the striping completely, but in my experience, the transition has been a very slow one.

 

[Itchy Trigger]

I like that pond, moriarty - very cool. So it seems they can change at a really wide range of ages/sizes and that the change is very slow. So who knows??? I'll keep an eye on this one and see!

 

[moriarty]

I like that pond, moriarty - very cool. So it seems they can change at a really wide range of ages/sizes and that the change is very slow. So who knows??? I'll keep an eye on this one and see!

Thanks! I would have loved to have had the opportunity to grow one up from a small juvenile like you are doing! Looking forward to some updates as yours grows/transitions!

 

[Itchy Trigger]

:thumbsup: