Growth slows down??

[candyl70]

Hey guys...

I have started to notice something and I think I read about this somewhere, but don't really remember. So I have 5 fish at 3" each, and a bunch of smaller ones. These smaller ones are from Cliff. Well, the largest one that I have from Cliff is starting to catch up pretty quick to the 5" ones. The larger of the babies is 2". So my question is, when discus reach a certain size, or age, do they tend to grow slower than when they were babies?? It seems like the larger ones aren't growing, but they still have small eyes.

One more... do the darker eyes tend to look bigger than the red (PB) eyes? My larger brown discus have dark eyes with red in them and they seem to be bigger in size compared to body proportion than my PB's do. I have pics in the photo gallery somewhere from last month if anyone needs a reference.

Thanks for all the help guys!!!


Candy http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/5/5_7_3.gif

[hexed]

Candy,
Yes they seem to slow down in growth when they start to get older. The young ones seem to catch up quickly then the growth rate for them slows down. My females stopped growing once the spawned but my males continued to grow to about 6-7 inches even after they spawned.
The second part of your question, I tried to ask before about the size of the eyes.
Frank

[candyl70]

About what size would you say they start growing slower??

[Stillwater Aquatics]

It may seem like they are slowing down but i think they are just filling out a bit(width wise) and yes if they are starting to pair up, they will slow down a bit, especially the females, all their energy is devoted to producing eggs. Age is more of a factor than actual size imo.

let the flaming begin =)

jon

[hexed]

Mine were about 3+ inches and the growth rate seemed slower. I was like man they are not getting much bigger and when I went on vacation and came home that's when I realized they were still growing because they looked bigger when I didn't see them everyday :)

[traco]

Mine plateaued out and now seem to be putting thickness on. The two smaller ones are still growing slowly but the others are getting bulkier. My husband will notice how big they get as he comes home on the weekend so doesn't see them every day.

[White Worm]

They seem to be little weeds until 3", grow grow grow then slow down and bulk up.