Stunted Discus

[Very Fishy]

I have 4 tangerine juveniles (5 months old) that I have had for 2 months now. They are all healthy and eating and 3 out of 4 are growing before my eyes. The 3 are approaching 4". The 4th however seems stunted and is much smaller now than the others (2.5"). Also, his colour is less vivid than the others. Will he catch up to the others eventually in size and colour? I feed a combination of Tetra Colorbits, frozen blood worms and white worms, turkey heart mix and regular flake food. They gobble everything down in a hurry.

[Carol_Roberts]

There always seems to be one smaller than the rest. It may grow if you add it to a tank of smaller discus.

[Fisheyes]

Very fishy
In my opinion due to experiance, bonk him on the head if he can't keep up to the rest.
I have gone through this and my red turks are 3 1/2 inch .I have one from the same group that was untill yesterday was the origanel size of 1 1/2 inches .The only thing that grew on him was his eye ball.
I spent more on him than all the rest of my fish for three months .
I know its hard to do, but do you self a favour and bonk him if he is a runt and shows no sign of growing
Sorry if this seem abrasive but this is about the best of the best
Fisheyes :crazy:

[BlueBull]

errr.... bonk him on the head??? geez.. ::)

[Very Fishy]

Fisheyes...

I assume by saying bonking on the head you mean to cull him. I don't think I am at that stage yet, these 4 tangerines are my first experience with discus so I look at this as a learning experience. I will wait it out and see if he starts to catch up with the others.

[Fisheyes]

Yes thats exactly what I mean is cull .
Sometimes thats a hard thing to do but there is a reason for a fish not to grow weather it be bulling or health.
I always give them my best shot but only for a limited time.
In the long run it will probably save you money enough to replace it with a normall growing discus.
This of course is only my opinion
Fisheyes :crazy:

Blue Bull --Maybe I should of signed my name as Sa Dam. LOL