marlboro just refuses to grow

[discus4me]

Ive had this marlboro red for 7 plus months and it just refuses to grow. It was bullied for a while and then i threw in a couple other discus so now its not picked on so much. It eats fairly aggresively but i just dont see any growth. Its 3" and 8 months old (that cant be right). Ive kept all my discus bare bottom until a week ago where i moved the larger adult discus to a planted tank and the smaller are in a bare bottom. What do you think about the chances of tapeworms reducing the potential growth of a discus. Ive never used prazi and frankly i dont know if i can get it, but if i can should i try treating the smaller discus in the bare bottom tank?

[daninthesand]

That discus just might be a runt. period. Nothing you did wrong. If he has a tapeworm, then so do all the others in there with him. So if the other discus have grown well, then its not the tapeworm (if it exists). But three inches at 7 months (from day of hatching?) is not grossely tiny by my estimation, especially for a pidgeon blood. You say you've had him for 7 months, though, so how old was he when you got him? He might have had poor care for the first few months of life and his growth potential was hampered before you got him.

As an example, I have a batch of discus siblings. They are, for the most part around 10 months old, and basicaly the same size. Except for one. I got these fish when they were about quarter size. The others are around 3 inches. (should be bigger, but they did not get the best of care in the early 4 months of life. But this one little guy refuses to grow. He's still quarter size. Nothing i have done has helped him grow. Why? My guess is genetics. He eats like a pig. Always has. And he chases the bigger brothers and sisters around all the time.

Why your discus is small is anybody's guess. but if you raised all the fish together, with similar care then he just might have been destined to be small from the get go.

Daniel

Then again there is that "theory" regarding growth inhibiting hormone... ;D ;D ;D

[lkleung007]

Hi Discus4me;

I tend to agree with Daniel; I received a batch of 9 juveniles about 7 months ago. All but one Discus has shown good growth. My largest Discus is about 7 inches but my smallest is around 3.5 inches (got him at around 2-2.5 inches). Sure the smallest Discus does get picked on a lot but holds his own and eats fairly well. I think he is just destined to be the "runt" of the pack. He is still cute despite his size!!

Regards, Lester

[discus4me]

Darn it guys that is exactly what i thought you were gonna say. I love that little fish and he or she has excellent coloring with nice bright red eyes too. I put the marl in with some other tankmates that are not so big so now hes the bully if it choses to take that position. I'm gonna make this guy grow whether its likes it or not. For future reference guys when i ask a question it wouldn't hurt to lie a little and give a brothah some hope ;D. thanks

[Carol_Roberts]

Are you feeding California Black Worms? I swear when I started feeding them as the main staple of the discus diet the runts grew a little or at least filled out and became more colorful.

I don't feed beefheart or brineshrimp at all any more. This may have contibuted to the runts growth too, as my water quality improved dramatically.
Carol :heart1:

[discus4me]

Thanks carol ill try the blackworms. I was gonna try them once before but ended up making beefheart instead now i have a years worth the beefheart in my freezer. If my discus get addicted to the blackworms i might have to eat the beefheart myself.......yuck. :puke: ;D

[RAWesolowski]

I think that everyone has a "mini-me" discus or two. Has anyone ever set-up a tank to highlight the runt or runts? I would be curious to know.

[DarkDiscus]

Discus4Me,

I feel your pain. My runt is a gorgeous RSG that has nice shape and color but is about 3" SL. The fish eats a ton and is very feisty. I'd like to see it put on some size, but I'm not having luck at all. Al had suggested I try to deworm the fish and I believe is planning on sending some supplies to do so.

I'm thinking of moving the fish to the QT tank and seeing if being by itself and dewormed would help.

Anybody have any luck with this tactic?

John