Stunt question???

[chrisb01]

At what point can you be able to tell if a Discus has been stunted?

What are the signs?

What is the growth rate of a Discus?

How big should it be at, lets say one month, three months?

What do you do with a stunted Discus?
Chop and feed to Angelfish?
Give him the indoor water slide ride?
Or keep it?

[Skip]

BIG EYES to small body.. no bueno.. there is a thread/sticky in the BEGINNER Section.. called WHAT NOT TO BUY>. there are plenty of examples :)

ps.. i am too lazy and busy to get link for you.. its easy to find..

[Jennie]

lets take skip for example...big head small body, giant bugeyes...see where I'm going with this? lol, j/k skip

[chrisb01]

lets take skip for example...big head small body, giant bugeyes...see where I'm going with this? lol, j/k skip

Sorry Skip, I had nothing to do with that, I did laugh a little though :-)

OK, I've read the thread 'WHAT NOT TO BUY'. It brought tears to my eyes too. Now I know what the big eyes look like and how terrible the LFS are.

Now, can someone answer my other questions?

What is the growth rate of a Discus?

How big should it be at, lets say one month, three months?

What do you do with a stunted Discus?
Chop and feed to Angelfish?
Give him the indoor water slide ride?
Or keep it?

[Skip]

ok..

i am home now..

a discus, if given good conditions.. should get 1" per month for first 4 months of life... then it slows down alot.. and can take alot longer to reach 5" thru 6" plus..

some discus grow alittle slower then others.. but some can catch up.. some strains grow alittle faster or slower then others..

some cull their fish pretty hard.. and might get rid of a fish if they think its a slow grower.. so they keep the best.. its up to you.. i have a blue truq a funny dorsal fin.. but i keep him anyways.. :)

[strawberryblonde]

Yup yup, about 1" per month for the first few months.

I don't know if my own discus are flukes, or if it was my feeding and WC regimen that did the trick, but mine grew VERY fast. I bought them at 4" from Discus Hans back in mid April. They grew at about 1" per month for the first 3 months and then slowed down to 1/2" per month for the next 2 months. They are now all just under or just over 8" as of my October measuring day. (I measure on the 12th, the anniversary of the day I received them in April)

At the end of June I bought 4 more 4"ers from Hans. They grew a bit more slowly than the first batch, but I think it was due to the increased competition for food with my big guys. As of the October measuring day (the 27th) the smallest is just under 6" and the largest is 7". That's just a bit less than 1" per month of growth.

I do have one runt from each batch. The runt from the first batch is 6" now, so not officially a runt anymore, but his shape isn't the best due to a cichlid hump on his forehead. The smallest from the second batch is a female who formed a pair on her first day in the tank and laid eggs on her third day. She never ate well because she was always laying or guarding eggs and didn't bother to compete for food. She isn't a classic stunted discus since her eyes are still small, but she is most definitely heading that way and for now I call her a true runt. She's well past the point of being able to grow or catch up to the others and will likely always be 4".

I'm not planning to cull either of my 2 small fish since the one with the cichlid hump is still very pretty in my eyes and the teensy one is perfectly formed, healthy and happy with her mate.

[Skip]

Sorry Skip, I had nothing to do with that, I did laugh a little though :-)


so did i..

[chrisb01]

I'm not planning to cull either of my 2 small fish since the one with the cichlid hump is still very pretty in my eyes and the teensy one is perfectly formed, healthy and happy with her mate.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder :-)

My four little Reds are doing great. I'm asking this question as a 'just in caser'. And also I don't want to be a victim in future buys. Though I plan on buying only from other members of SD or the Sponsors.

[Sean Buehrle]

I think if you see growth on your fish every month you are doing good.

Not everyone's fish are going to reach 6 inches. 1 inch per month is IMO your best possible outcome.

I think they grow in spurts, they put on weight and then grow longer and taller.
When you are looking at them every day it's hard to see.
If they are growing longer and not taller, looking like a football, you have problems.
To do that you almost have to be a retired person or have a significant other as a team mate to keep up the feedings and water changes.

It can be tough, especially of you have multiple tanks.

If you purchased lets say 6-3 inch fish from Kenny or Hans and in 1 year they were 6 inch fish, you did good.

It's kinda hard to tell what a fish is going to look like, but in a year you will know.

[Skip]

Bigger is better

[TURQ64]

IMO, it's a good idea to study up on conditions that can lead to stunting....a person can stunt the nicest fish fairly easily without guidelines..

[Jennie]

in short..will be done growing at abt 15 months or so. reaching 6 inches plus isn't as important as shape, imo.

[chrisb01]

OK guys, I think I have an idea. I do have multiple tanks, but I'm keeping up with them. I agree that shape is better than size, but big with a nice size is good.

Please bear with me, as I am new to Discus, and sometimes I kind of freak out reading some posts here. Also, it's true about looking at them constantly. Sometimes I want to make them grow with my eyes.

[Jennie]

one day months down the road, you'll look at the fish and say, wow, when the hell did he grow so big! stop worrying abt it, feed well, do wc's and you'll be fine!

[chrisb01]

Thanks Jennie, I'll keep calm, and keep working on wc's and feeding :-)

[Skip]

one day months down the road, you'll look at the fish and say, wow, when the hell did he grow so big! stop worrying abt it, feed well, do wc's and you'll be fine!

i hope so.. my german leopards are slow growers.. :(

my allenquers and virgin red have passed them up. but i think they are larger.. i don't remember

[Jennie]

who the leops from? already know the others from Kenny

[Skip]

who the leops from? already know the others from Kenny

yim11 F1's..

[Jennie]

he's probably raised a few of his own..I would ask his advice/opinion

[Skip]

he's probably raised a few of his own..I would ask his advice/opinion

nope.. he got rid of them all.. i am just getting ansy for some new fish. :)

[Jennie]

how old and what size?