6 month old Discus not even 2 inches yet. What went wrong?

[JustinJDH401]

Back in april I picked up 6 discus that were already 2 months old (born 2/22/2011). One was 2 inches and and the rest were dime size. Today, they are not even 2 inches except for the one that is 4.5 inches. Did i get them already stunted or did i make them that way? What went wrong?

[KaranR]

Hi Justin,

Firstly, I am no Discus Expert/ Breeder to comment perfectly. Just a hobbyist like you.

IMHO, six months is long enough to see a fair growth, maybe upto 2" or a lil more. I am not sure of your water change regime. I guess with good water changes, good water quality and varied diet, the Discus should have shown good improvement.

Now, about being stunted, the first obvious thing that can be noticed, would be disproportionate eyes, when compared to the body. There are a lot of article and discussion here on stunted growth.

Finally, if you could post some pics, I guess someone here can confirm if they are/ were stunted.

Thanks,
Karan

[Skip]

well, if they were 2 months hold.. they should have been at or close to 2".. a discus should grow about 1" for first 4 months.. then slow down after that.. should..
if you bought dime size and they are not 2".. you stunted them..

[Elite Aquaria]

Justin, How do you know that your fish were only 2 months old when you purchased them? If you can confirm 100% that they were about two months old and 2" then you stunted them. I have some fish that are 28 days old and they are already 1.5". Like Skip mentioned a discus should grow at 1" per month for first 3-4 months then slow down. A 6 month old fish should be over 4.5".

[mmorris]

One was 2 inches and and the rest were dime size. ?

If the date is correct, five out of six were stunted or runts when you got them. Dime size is about one inch, and at two months they should all have been two inches. That is not to say they were not stunted further, of course.

[Darrell Ward]

After 6 months, who stunted them is really unimportant. The fact is, they are a lost cause. I think it's time to cut your losses. It's pointless to care for fish that are never going to amount to anything.

[mwdw]

i agree with darrell, no point in pooring time and money(food) in somthing your not going to be happy with.

mike

[JustinJDH401]

67820

Here is a pic of 4 of the smaller ones taken last week.

[hedut]

how often do you do WC?

[JustinJDH401]

I do water changes 3 times a week.

[hedut]

how many times you feed them in a day? pigeon base usually grow huge

[bronzie8]

With fry, they need at least 1-2 water changes a day, of up to 80% or more. They need pristine water conditions and fed 6-8 times a day at least. Feed them what they can eat in twenty minutes and siphon out the leftovers. Dime size fry should start out in a 10 gallon tank then to a 20 when they are 2", then to a 29 or 40 when they are 3". Keep the water around 88 degrees and use a sponge filter. Hope this helps on the next batch.