Discus grow out question

[Froffy]

Hi, I have 18 juvi's all from the same batch, as I have found in the past they will grow at different rates, to break it down quickly, most of them are 3" , then a few at 2.5" then a few runts....the smallest ones are not stunted atm just look like well runts.

As I have spare tanks , should I pick the biggest ones and leave them in the 4ft and move the smallest ones to a 3 ft?

Or will nature just take over with the pecking order and make the smallest ones of the biggest ones in the 4ft runts if that makes sense . They get plenty of food and WC.

[CliffsDiscus]

There's Jack Wattley's theory that the larger fish release hormones forcing slower growth rate to the smaller fish. Is this true, look at some hobbyist that bought 6 to 8 Discus at around 2 inches most end up with a couple large and the rest medium to small. So how does
breeder raise a batch of Discus and keep them uniform in size after all they were bought at a the same size?

Cliff

[Froffy]

This is a interesting theory, bit that would tell me that if now I had 3 different sizes I would seperate into 3 different size groups, as if I just took out the larger fish, then I imagine that the medium fish would then stop the smalls from growing as the mediums have become the largest.

I also watched a video on a discus farm, and all the fish in each pond, from month old to adult were all the same size. So maybe the sort according to size and not batch.

[jeep]

The hormone theory is a valid concept and Jack Wattley certainly knew his stuff. I've seem people argue for it and against it but I've never seen scientific proof that it does or does not exist. I'm a believer in giving them room to grow and 18 in a 4' tank is pretty crowded, even with smaller juvies and 100% daily water changes. I would separate 18 discus when they reach 3"+.

In our contest from 2018, I moved nine 3/4" discus from a 10g to a 20g at 1" with 2x75% daily WC, then to a 29 at 1.5" then to a 55g at 2". I separated them into 2 tanks at 3.5". I had two that were noticeably smaller but most reached 6" in a year.