Growth Rates

[PaintballFan07]

Hello everyone, I am just curious if my discus are growing at a average rate. I purchased my first ones at 2.5" October 30, 2004. They are now 4" from top fin to bottom. They are feed 3x's a day and i do 80% w/c's daily.

[bio new]

Hello everyone, I am just curious if my discus are growing at a average rate. I purchased my first ones at 2.5" October 30, 2004. They are now 4" from top fin to bottom. They are feed 3x's a day and i do 80% w/c's daily.

Hi,

I have 11 RSGs. Bought them in late last Sept. They were about 1". Daily feedings based on upon demand. Tetrabits, BW and occasional BH during day time. Evening, 100% BH mixed. 1 hour before lights off, last BH supper and thereafter, daily WC with aged tap water. Sponge filter properly cleaned.

Today, almost all are around 4". Biggest one is about the size of a CD ROM disc. Size measurement exclude the tail. They're still fed as mentioned above but around 6 times a day now. You can see picture of my discus at Stunted Expectations, here's the link: http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=41610&page=2

Hope you benefit from the above.



CHEERS!

[PaintballFan07]

Hi,

I have 11 RSGs. Bought them in late last Sept. They were about 1". Daily feedings based on upon demand. Tetrabits, BW and occasional BH during day time. Evening, 100% BH mixed. 1 hour before lights off, last BH supper and thereafter, daily WC with aged tap water. Sponge filter properly cleaned.

Today, almost all are around 4". Biggest one is about the size of a CD ROM disc. Size measurement exclude the tail. They're still fed as mentioned above but around 6 times a day now. You can see picture of my discus at Stunted Expectations, here's the link: http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=41610&page=2

Hope you benefit from the above.



CHEERS!Hi Bio New. Thanks for the reply. Those are some very nice discus. I feed mine tetra bits, tetra flakes, blood worms , and brine shrimp. But urs seem to be growing twice as fast as mine. I kno i need to feed them more x's a day but wat else should i do? thanx for the help

[kaceyo]

Hi Paint,
If you want to increase the growth rate of your fish try increasing the frequency of your water changes. You'll be surprized at how fast they can grow when doing daily 50% (or more) WC's. If your going to increase feedings it's a good idea to increase WC's so your water quality doesn't suffer due to the higher load on the filter.
Measure the length of the fish from lips to either base of tail or end of tail and state which (base or end of tail) your using, rather than from top fin to bottom. Make sure you have enough bio-filtration along with the extra WC's and feedings. I think the WC's are more important than lots of food for good growth and healthy fish.
Kacey

[PaintballFan07]

Hi Paint,
If you want to increase the growth rate of your fish try increasing the frequency of your water changes. You'll be surprized at how fast they can grow when doing daily 50% (or more) WC's. If your going to increase feedings it's a good idea to increase WC's so your water quality doesn't suffer due to the higher load on the filter.
Measure the length of the fish from lips to either base of tail or end of tail and state which (base or end of tail) your using, rather than from top fin to bottom. Make sure you have enough bio-filtration along with the extra WC's and feedings. I think the WC's are more important than lots of food for good growth and healthy fish.
Kacey
Hello Kaceyo, thanks for the reply. I am already doing 80% w/c's daily and i have more than enough bio filteration.(eheim 2227, HydroV sponge, AC 500) How could i accurately measure from lips to base of tail or how do u do it. I just put the ruler against the glass. My discus are still to afraid of me to try to take them out of the tank or stuff like that. thanks for the suggestions

[BGTW]

Hey Paint, that is good growth. Now quit freeting over the poor fish. They are doing just fine. Good water changes and good food - just keep that up...

Bob

[PaintballFan07]

Hey Paint, that is good growth. Now quit freeting over the poor fish. They are doing just fine. Good water changes and good food - just keep that up...

Bob
Thanks Bob. Ill just forget about their size for awhile and mayb they will grow into GIANTS. hopefully!

[Eddie]

Yeah, sometimes it's hard to see a rapid growth in your fish because you see them everyday. Take a picture of your fish now and wait a month, then look at the picture you took and you will most definitely see an increase in thier size. I'm amazed at my fish growth rates from the very first picture I took. ;)

[kaceyo]

Hi Paint,
Sounds like you don't need much advice. Have you thought about getting an autofeeder so they get fed more often? As Bob said, their probably doing fine with what your doing.
kacey

[PaintballFan07]

Yeah, sometimes it's hard to see a rapid growth in your fish because you see them everyday. Take a picture of your fish now and wait a month, then look at the picture you took and you will most definitely see an increase in thier size. I'm amazed at my fish growth rates from the very first picture I took. ;) I have pics of my fish when they were in the bags floating in my tank. They were itty bitty but now they are pretty big, so i should just stop worrying. Thanks for the suggestion

[PaintballFan07]

Hi Paint,
Sounds like you don't need much advice. Have you thought about getting an autofeeder so they get fed more often? As Bob said, their probably doing fine with what your doing.
kacey
I thought about buying one but i dont feel like spending $50 on the eheim auto feeder right now. I will soon though :)

[Eddie]

yeah, I would maybe add another feeding to your 3X a day if you could. I feed mine about 4-5 times a day. I do use auto feeders also. Ehiem for about 44 bucks. You might think about saving for one. They really are good. You can have it feed 1 to 4 feedings throughout the day everyday until the batteries run out. I've had the same batteries in mine for 4 months and it's still not showing that the battery is low. Just a thought

oh and another thing I notice is that one of my discus really only gets two feedings a day because he ain't eatin no flakes and he is one of my biggest fish. So, I think the most important part to it all is the waterchanges. the LFS where I bought my discus still has a few left from the original batch and my fish are twice thier size!! ;)

[bio new]

Hi Bio New. Thanks for the reply. Those are some very nice discus. I feed mine tetra bits, tetra flakes, blood worms , and brine shrimp. But urs seem to be growing twice as fast as mine. I kno i need to feed them more x's a day but wat else should i do? thanx for the helpHi,

IMHO, my discus is larger than yours because of the WCs. As Kaceyo has mentioned, WCs help in growth rate.

If you can feed BH to your discus based on Carol Robert's style, it will be very ideal. WCs and prime quality food go hand in hand for discus growth.

Above all, as long as your discus is healthy, you should be happy. Some discus are smaller than others.

CHEERS!

[madhu]

Clean them more & feed them more......they grow faster than angels.

[PaintballFan07]

Hi,

IMHO, my discus is larger than yours because of the WCs. As Kaceyo has mentioned, WCs help in growth rate.

If you can feed BH to your discus based on Carol Robert's style, it will be very ideal. WCs and prime quality food go hand in hand for discus growth.

Above all, as long as your discus is healthy, you should be happy. Some discus are smaller than others.

CHEERS!
Hi bio. How many W/C's do u do daily and how much (for ex 50%). My discus doesnt really like beef heart. I bought them some n they didnt really go for it as much as they did with the shrimp n blood worms. I bought 3 discus to start off cuz i didnt want to spend 300 for 6 fish n risk losing a couple so i wanted to make sure that everything was just right b4 investing more money on more fish. I know 3 is a bad number n i saw how the pecking order effected my san merah ( i bought 2 ocean greens and 1 san merah ) it didnt get as much food as the other 2 but it is now the biggest in my tank.

[PaintballFan07]

Clean them more & feed them more......they grow faster than angels. Yes they do grow faster than angels but my angels are alot cheaper and easier to keep. :) But discus is still my favorite fish out of them all no matter wat i have to do to keep them happy.

[CARY_GLdiscus]

IMPE it would depend more on how they were raised when very very Young!

And ofcourse LOTS OF W/Cs

hth
Cary Gld!

[PaintballFan07]

IMPE it would depend more on how they were raised when very very Young!

And ofcourse LOTS OF W/Cs

hth
Cary Gld!
Thanks for the reply Cary. I bought my discus from a lfs that keeps their discus in 10g and they only do w/c's once a month. :( The breeder they purchase from is Mac's Discus. So mayb my discus wont grow as fast as any other profressional breeders and keeper's like yourself. Nice to see you on the board again.