Do my discus look stunted?

[AquaAlex]

A friend of mine who kept discus for a while came over and saw my discus and told me that my red turquoise looks like they are stunted. He claims I may have bought stunted discus. What are your guys thoughts?
They eat well and seem to have already grown an 1'' with daily water change and feedings.
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[alron2]

Comparing the size of the eye to the size of the discus I would say they are stunted. How old are they and what size are they?
Ron

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Alex, yes they are a bit stunted. I will link a thread a bit later which will show you what to look for.
Pat

[John_Nicholson]

I would say maybe a little but not too bad. I have seen much worse.

-john

[jmf3460]

i agree that they are slightly stunted. the 4th picture shows the eye to head ratio stunt the worst. but these will still grow to be beautiful with proper care. you are doing a good job.

[Skip]

seen worse.. keep up the water changes.. and good food and then more water changes

[AquaAlex]

Comparing the size of the eye to the size of the discus I would say they are stunted. How old are they and what size are they?
Ron

they are about 4'' now. Not sure of age.

[AquaAlex]

Hi Alex, yes they are a bit stunted. I will link a thread a bit later which will show you what to look for.
Pat
Thanks Pat. :)

I would say maybe a little but not too bad. I have seen much worse.

-john
Ok that's good. They are in good hands.


i agree that they are slightly stunted. the 4th picture shows the eye to head ratio stunt the worst. but these will still grow to be beautiful with proper care. you are doing a good job.
thank you. I will take good care of them

seen worse.. keep up the water changes.. and good food and then more water changes
Thanks.

[lksdrinker]

I'd say the fish in the last picture looks to be the worst of the bunch; but not all too bad. I'm also not so sure on the strain of that last one? Doesnt really seem to be a red turq but not sure what it is myself.

[AquaAlex]

I'd say the fish in the last picture looks to be the worst of the bunch; but not all too bad. I'm also not so sure on the strain of that last one? Doesnt really seem to be a red turq but not sure what it is myself.

he is a pigeon blood

[rickztahone]

In the first picture, the one on the left is more stunted than the one on the right. Are they stunted? Yes. Is this the worst stunted I have seen? Not by a long shot. With good care, you can still get decent sized discus here. However, had you started with high quality stock, chances are that they would have ultimately been larger after a year or so, comparatively. This is all conjecture of course.

[ockyra215]

Don't Fret They are a bit stunted but they are the perfect tool to learn and get it right with! Keep up your water changes and feeding!

[DISCUS STU]

The one in pic. 1 lower right, pic 2 (same fish right?), pic 3 a little. It's a little harder to tell with the Pigeon Blood, this strain has naturally smaller eyes than some of the others but basically looks ok though a little skinny.

Like the others, I've seen worse. Keep up the good work.

[AquaAlex]

In the first picture, the one on the left is more stunted than the one on the right. Are they stunted? Yes. Is this the worst stunted I have seen? Not by a long shot. With good care, you can still get decent sized discus here. However, had you started with high quality stock, chances are that they would have ultimately been larger after a year or so, comparatively. This is all conjecture of course.
Ok good. So I should be able to get them to atleast 6''?
I am doing 4 small feeding a day with 60 percent water change daily. I have noticed the pigeon blood and the 2 largest red turquoise have grown about an inch or so.
I will continue to do many water changes and take great care of them.


Don't Fret They are a bit stunted but they are the perfect tool to learn and get it right with! Keep up your water changes and feeding!
I will learn from raising these, and then when I get top quality from hans or Kenny they will be the real showstoppers.... these will be my first babies though. :)


The one in pic. 1 lower right, pic 2 (same fish right?), pic 3 a little. It's a little harder to tell with the Pigeon Blood, this strain has naturally smaller eyes than some of the others but basically looks ok though a little skinny.

Like the others, I've seen worse. Keep up the good work.
Yes, he is the same fish I do believe. Thanks sir.

[rickztahone]

Ok good. So I should be able to get them to atleast 6''?
I am doing 4 small feeding a day with 60 percent water change daily. I have noticed the pigeon blood and the 2 largest red turquoise have grown about an inch or so.
I will continue to do many water changes and take great care of them.


I will learn from raising these, and then when I get top quality from hans or Kenny they will be the real showstoppers.... these will be my first babies though. :)


Yes, he is the same fish I do believe. Thanks sir.

6" is optimistic in my mind. They should be able to hit 5" easily and probably top out close to 5.5". There is one in the bunch that I think might hit the 6" mark, but you'd need to have a perfect WC regimen, feed well, and hope that none get sick, or else that would kill any chance of any of them getting to 6"

[AquaAlex]

6" is optimistic in my mind. They should be able to hit 5" easily and probably top out close to 5.5". There is one in the bunch that I think might hit the 6" mark, but you'd need to have a perfect WC regimen, feed well, and hope that none get sick, or else that would kill any chance of any of them getting to 6"

Ok thanks. Well I will provide the best care I can and hope they live a good life.
I will buy quality discus qt them and raise them and have them grow to a large size.

[warblad79]

Probably close to 5" mark but you need to do a lot of WC and heavy feeding. I used to have a fish like that in the past but never seen one pass 5". They are fat and thick but not longer, also tend to look like a football shape. Your tank has too many clutter and other tank mates. If you decided to go with Discus, just go with Discus only and the rest you need to put them on separate tank.

[DISCUS STU]

...If you decided to go with Discus, just go with Discus only and the rest you need to put them on separate tank.

Have to agree with this. Discus, unlike many other fish, really are a discipline unto themselves and aren't really "community" fish. There are many fish that are compatible with them but it's really the Discus's needs that need to come first for optimal growth and health such as raising juvies and immature Discus in bb tanks, water change regimen, food, environment, etc.

Hopefully I'm not lecturing, but we all really want to help each other on the forum to get the best results.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Alex, yes they are a bit stunted. I will link a thread a bit later which will show you what to look for.
Pat

Hi Alex, I mentioned I would link a thread to show what you do not want in a fish. The thread is a sticky in the beginners section should you care to refer to it later What not to buy (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?46982-What-not-to-buy).
Pat