Thanks Hitch, yes very similar to that. Although mine have even smaller silver markings, so that they are predominantly the darker shade throughout. As you say it must just be a varient of some kind, in which case I would guess that it's not something that will change as they reach maturity.

The substrate is black sand. I don't think it's a case of them changing colour as they were that colour when they went in. Their fins are orange as is normal with sterbai.

Hi all, first post here!

I added three Sterbai to my tank about six months ago. They settled in really quickly and are brilliant fun. However I always thought that they looked a bit dark in colour compared to photos of Sterbai on the internet. Their colour is as though there's more of the dark on ...