Stunted or runts?

[discushobbies]

I got 6 Giant Floras from a local breeder. I am wondering if they are stunted or maybe just runts. I feed them prime reef, ken's beefheart, and 2 sally's beefheart cubes everyday. I change 50% water every day. Water is not aged directly from tap, uses prime.

http://i66.tinypic.com/2wf8qxv.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/w990ck.jpg
Discus #1: The biggest one in the tank. I think it's 4".

http://i68.tinypic.com/zjv1gn.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/2hxvfki.jpg
Discus #2

http://i64.tinypic.com/11r812b.jpg
http://i64.tinypic.com/fp708z.jpg
Discus #3

http://i63.tinypic.com/1267cas.jpg
Discus #4: This one didn't eat for a couple of weeks but its eating now.

http://i65.tinypic.com/2hckgzq.jpg
Discus #5: This one eat but not a lot because I think its scared of the others. It hides in the back of the tank.

http://i66.tinypic.com/qoc5z8.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/mj8kld.jpg
Discus #6: This one eat very little. It hides in the back a lot.

Please review. Criticism is wanted.

[discushobbies]

Bump.

[Second Hand Pat]

Do you know how old these guys are? To me and I am not an expert they could be a little behind in growth. Sounds like you are on the right track water change and food wise.
Pat

[jmf3460]

they do not look stunted to me, and look quite promising. the first one looks to me like it could be a bulldog

[Skip]

3, 5, 6.. look to be the most stunted.. of that group..

1, 2 look to be deformed/bulldog/egg shape.. compared to the rest.

[discushobbies]

Do you know how old these guys are? To me and I am not an expert they could be a little behind in growth. Sounds like you are on the right track water change and food wise.
Pat

I believe they are 6 months old. I got them about a month ago. I do think it is a little weird that they are only 3-4" at 6 months.


3, 5, 6.. look to be the most stunted.. of that group..

1, 2 look to be deformed/bulldog/egg shape.. compared to the rest.

Is there any way to fix them? Will they eventually grow out? Are they all stunted? What is the difference between stunted and bulldog?

[warblad79]

They don't look stunted to me, some fish tend to grow a little slower but eventually they will catch up as long as you keep your daily water change at the minimum 50% and feed high protein food. Keep the temp to 84 to boost their appetite

[Second Hand Pat]

I believe they are 6 months old. I got them about a month ago. I do think it is a little weird that they are only 3-4" at 6 months.

They are a little behind. Keep up with what you are doing and lets see how they do.
Pat

[dprais1]

http://diskuszucht-stendker.de/plugins_en/pdfs/1.5_Alter_und_Groessee_unserer_Diskusfische_en.pdf

[discushobbies]

When are they suppose to get that round shape, because all I can see is the triangular shape, and isn't that bad shape?

[Ryan]

I've found that sometimes tall discus start out as triangular when little and then grow into it as they age. That's not a guarantee but there's the potential for them to round out a bit. I do think that first fish has an odd face/weak chin/beaky look, but who knows if it'll stay that way.

[MD.David]

Possibly too long in a LFS, 50% minimum WC everyday for 6months, super high quality, high protein, high fat diet and lets see where they are then.
So far if they haven't gotten ill they should start to take off in growth, but again it's hard to tell by any picture, we are thinking optimistic here!
:)

[Las Vegas]

Awe, they're just little guys right now. Give them some time to grow. You didn't buy "high quality" discus, so as long as you love them that's all that matters! :bandana:

[discushobbies]

I've found that sometimes tall discus start out as triangular when little and then grow into it as they age. That's not a guarantee but there's the potential for them to round out a bit. I do think that first fish has an odd face/weak chin/beaky look, but who knows if it'll stay that way.

I actually did not notice the pointed beak on the two discus. I thought it was high body. It is just that I don't want to do all this hard work and grow them out when they were already bad in the beginning. I was probably sold the runts of the batch.

[Quintin]

They dont look bad.the fact that some are hiding is bit worrying though just keep an eye on them.follow above advice and you should get some decent size discus.

[discushobbies]

Is there anyway to get the two hiding to eat more? They are very scared of the others. I have tried feeding a lot of flakes during a feeding to make the food reach them but they still eat very little. I was thinking of dividing them up, using a plastic tank divider, but they would still see each other, is this okay?

[Las Vegas]

Discus that I have owned, never liked flakes or pellets. I only feed them live blood worms or frozen beef heart cubes that I defrost in a shot glass for a minute before I dump into the tank. Three feedings a day. Morning and Evening it's blood worms, Afternoon is beef heart. The discus and my loaches eat everything. Buy the way, did you ask your local fish guy what they were feeding the fishes? Discus are kinda very finicky eaters.

[Las Vegas]

Oh yea, I would not divide the tank. If the discus are hiding now, it's because something is wrong somewhere. Just try your best to watch for ill signs or bullying from the other discus. It's either remove sick fish to another tank and try to make them healthy. My experience has always been, start with the water quality. If the water is excellent, the fish will heal themselves. If there is a disease, everybody is already infected and you gotta watch out. be careful and good luck.