Do all/most of the current bicinctus turn dark?

[sonofgaladriel]

I'm considering a juvenile couple of ORA bicinctus/spotcinctus. All my research indicates that all, or most, of the current ORA produced specimens quickly turn an unattractive dark brown color that I am not thrilled about. If this is true, then why not just get a pair of clarkii?
Are there any of the nicer yellow or orange bicinctus specimens available nowadays?
Is there truth to the statements that hosting anemones, specifically BTAs, will keep their coloration lighter?
Lastly, I'd be grateful if you could post pics of your mature bicinctus.
Thanks all.

[vaporize]

yeah they all turn into somewhat brownish

[Whip316]

i have a pair of Tricinctus in a rbta and they are staying lighter and not darkening up. not all rbta will keep the clowns lighter in color, all depending on the clown itself.

[Borchers]

I have to say after 1 yr. My Black and Whites are still true Black and Whites. Very deep black with powerful white markings.

[sonofgaladriel]

Thanks for the replies.
One of our LFS just brought in several very nice looking wild caught adult and young adult Clarkii's. Some have quite a bit of very intense orange coloration pectorally, nice yellow and white tails as well. Their coloration is appealing and more attractive than the brownish coloration of the ORA bicinctus I have seen locally.
The store is quarantining them for at least 3 days so I'll see how they look at the end of the week.

[Winwood]

Just for the record there is nothing wrong with clarkii clowns and some varieties I have seen are second to none in being visually appealling. I remember about 8 years ago when I visited a local wholesaler and they had brought in a large group of clark's clowns. They had fire engine red pectorals that faded to vibrant yellow on the body with black saddles and big bold stripes. To this day I still don't know where they imported these fish from but I'd love to know. I do know that the wholesaler's family was from Jakarta so perhaps that might be a good place to start.

Despite my tangent, my main point was some clarkii varieties are absolutely stunning and just as hard or harder to find than any other rare clown. If it were me, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a rare/nice clark's variety. I still kick myself for passing on the ones I saw back then.