Will it still grow out?

[FishFanMan]

If I buy 3.5 inch discus and put it in my 75 gallon tank and feed the tank twice a day, will it still grow to 5 to 6 inches? The other discus in the tank are about 6 inches. Just curious if the new guy will still grow out at a slower pace. I don't have the time to setup another tank for grow out purposes. Do you think better food at twice daily feeding and twice a week 90%WC would help? I have access to quality BHM and custom frozen seafood mix.

I would like to buy 5 to 6 inch discus but the eruption that I'm looking for are hard to find and very expensive at that size.

[bluelagoon]

I put a 3" discus in with six 5.5-6.5" adults and it grew bigger than my adults. Seemed they didn't harass the younger one at all. But the adults had there own picking order. I did close to 80% WC about every other day, in a heavily planted tank with EI dosing of ferts.

[FishFanMan]

So it is possible. Great to hear you had success with yours. Thanks.

[Mando]

So it is possible. Great to hear you had success with yours. Thanks.

Not at two feedings a day.

[bluelagoon]

I fed more than twice a day, but there was a member on here who raised discus for years with only 2 feedings a day and says that was all that was needed. I also cleaned the substrate well every time I did a WC, even around the roots.

[FishFanMan]

Just curious, say the discus is healthy but is fed less than optimal. Is it a consensus that at a certain point, age, that they stop growing and will never grow larger even though it eats well?

[danotaylor]

From what I have read here it seems that discus go through a rapid growth phase up to 4.5" (about 6-7 months of age) after that time things slow down and their growth rate tapers off and progresses more slowly. To maximize growth during the rapid growth phase fish are feed high protein food 4-6 times daily. Now this part is just my thoughts, and not proven science, but if you put a 3.5" discus in with 6"+ adults, even if it can compete for food being in the very bottom of the pecking order, it is not going to get enough protein to maximize it growth potential. A lot depends on how it fits in with your social/authority structure in the 75gal. It may eventually reach 6" in a best case scenario, but maybe not if it gets picked on and has trouble competing for enough food.

[Mando]

From what I have read here it seems that discus go through a rapid growth phase up to 4.5" (about 6-7 months of age) after that time things slow down and their growth rate tapers off and progresses more slowly. To maximize growth during the rapid growth phase fish are feed high protein food 4-6 times daily. Now this part is just my thoughts, and not proven science, but if you put a 3.5" discus in with 6"+ adults, even if it can compete for food being in the very bottom of the pecking order, it is not going to get enough protein to maximize it growth potential. A lot depends on how it fits in with your social/authority structure in the 75gal. It may eventually reach 6" in a best case scenario, but maybe not if it gets picked on and has trouble competing for enough food.

I have also noticed from my own fish that even after their rapid growth phase, their slow speed will be further diminished if they are not kept up with feedings. After my last growout hit 4.5-5" (same time as Brian's growout) I put them with the adult fish and fed 2 times a day and they are barely hitting 6". Brian's growout is a good example. He continued to feed 4-6 times a day even after the growth phase and his fish are massive.

I'm testing the heavy feeding schedule with my new growout to see if I get Brian's results.

[FishFanMan]

So I bought 2. But one is constantly chasing the other and not letting him eat. So I was forced to setup a smaller tank for him. One by itself will get 2 big feedings per day. It'll be interesting to see the difference in size in a few months.

[bluelagoon]

When I first got into discus that was my mistake when I bought three. Not a good number for young discus. They can get very aggressive with each other at that age when competeing for survival/food. Turned out the dominate one killed the other two and that's how he ended up with bigger adult discus.

[CliffsDiscus]

My original Eruptions were from Wayne Ng,
their offsprings grew much slower than other strains, they are more picky about water quality. Eruption and LSS growthrate is around 4 1/2 inch in about one year. Color
up around one year old usually, unless they are juiced up.

Cliff

[Willie]

A lot goes back to the water change regimen. Big changes every other day is needed to grow out 3.5" discus. But the big changes are also necessary for heavy feeding, otherwise the water will foul.

Willie