I am no expert. But I think there's more Reds (or Super Reds) "producers" nowadays, hence why their price dropped a lot.
Welcome by the way.
Depends on various things, mostly people judge by looking if there are redness on the cheeks or some indication. After that its body shape such as how broad the tail is, how spoony the head is, how big the pectoral fins are. So far in T.O. a shop by Golden Ocean is selling VIP reds and VIP have a good rep for high quality. But they want $2700+ on a decent one that is about 8-10" by conservative measurements. Though for that price IMHO is WAY too much.
Imperial Palace Website
Reds are definitely the hardest arowana to raise... Their potential as adults range so much... VIP red is a brand name for a Super red.. they do have good stock and good reputation, but just like every farms stock there are good quality VIP reds and poor quality VIP reds...
We often don't have the luxury to do this, but judge the fish not the farm
Panda top quality reds are called Panda "Super reds"... their brooding stock is 100% Super red and guaranteed to be bred at the Panda farm, not from other farms...
To clear it up, we can compare trucks.... Toyota makes the Tacoma, Ford makes the F-150 and Nissan makes the Frontier... You can't get a Tacoma from a Ford or a Nissan dealership just like you can't get a VIP red from Panda or a VFSR from Imperial, but at the same time they are still Super reds just like Tacomas and F-150s are trucks..
Cyrus, VIP reds are selling at LFS in GTA for $2700 at Gold Ocean, Panda Reds are going for $1375 includes shipping and taxes. Why VIP cost more? Ask LFS owner why charge that much.
the vip, shelook and lucky reds are all sr, but they are picked out by some ditibuter when young and just rename them. Its just that's the ones where they think has potential for great colors. But its all the same. and the chilli reds are low quality aros. When young they are sometime nicer to look at but after a few years there color dont seem to improve, well to me anyways i think its not a good idea to buy a chilli red.
Each farm gives their Super reds a cool sounding brand name... just like kokanee, MGD and canadian are all beers... they do differ a little, but ultimately they are all beers.
Don't let a brand name sway you into thinking the fish will automatically be better...
As for Panda's having lower prices... well... DragonfishCanada doesn't have a lot of the costs an LFS has, plus we are not out to make a huge profit, we import to offer affordable prices to people who want quality fish.