How can you tell my fish is Stunted??

[Skip]

what big eyes are you talking about?

[a volar]

Great post Skip!

[ujwaldignified]

I suppose this eye to body ratio holds good for adults. I think the ratio of that of the best juveniles being grown out in best conditions too would not satisfy this ratio of 7 1/2 counts.
And 'small eye' ratio of an adult or fully grown discus would not give any idea to newbies who have unknowingly stunted their juvies or to understand what a Non stunted juvenile looks like.

Can somebody throw light on this and give us a picture of body to eye ratio of a healthy, full potential juvenile.

Thank you.

[Larry Bugg]

It doesn't matter what age the discus is. That is the beauty of this. The eye grows at the same rate whether the discus is stunted or not. The eye does not stop or slow down in its growth. Because of this the ratio works for any age discus. If you have a small count on a juvie then it is stunted.

[Ryan]

^ I don't know if that always holds true. Here is a juvenile WB I got at about 1.75 - 2". Notice that its eyes are large if you base it on that chart.

The second picture is the same fish a year later.





I think eye size to body ratio is a good general rule but I think it has exceptions like everything. For instance, a tall fish with a high profile vs. a fish with a more arrow-shaped head, like a blue diamond, will stack up differently based on the eye size rule. I also think juvies with larger eyes can still grow out into decent sized fish.

[nc0gnet0]

I am going to agree with Ryan on this one. with the fish smaller than say 3 1/2 inches that have not yet gotten their "adult" shape, it can be a bit deceiving. Also, strains with the snow white gene seem to have larger eyes on average. I have seen multiple young juveniles with slightly "pointy" heads that the eye to body ratio rule would not work out well, but as they get older and round out, they fair really well using the eye to body ratio test.

-Rick

[April]

What I've always used for small juveniles is if your looking side view the eye shows close to the edge profile and they almost have a baby doll lol side view.id have to find pics. That little one of Ryan's the eye is not on the edge at the front .

[ujwaldignified]

What I see is....if the fish is looking at you with the lip facing you, the eyes should be in the level of the body with only the transparent curved outer layer of the eye protruding. ..then it's a non-stunted juvenile which had a good beginning of life.
And if the eye is popping out of the sockets, then it is stunted to the extent it is popping out.

[DISCUS STU]

1 (32).jpgI saw an article a few years ago that addressed the sizes of eyes in proportion to the body in full grown fish re different strains. It made the point that full grown wild fish will have relatively much larger eyes in proportion to the rest of their bodies while all the way at the other end of the spectrum, Pigeon Bloods will usually have the smallest eyes in relation to the rest of their body. That having been said, almost everyone doing this for a while has probably walked into a lfs store and seen stunted fish with very large eyes that were pretty obviously beyond hope. Kind of, "I know it when I see it".

By the way, that's a really beautiful White Pigeon Blood. One of my favorite strains. Here's one of mine from years ago that I bought as a juvie at a lfs that grew to be a very nice and large male fish. Looking back at how aggressive it was as a juvie, and too colorful for that size (about 1.25"), I probably bought it juiced. It was $25 at the time.