growth rate

[wghibbits]

What is a good growth rate for fry,I have read 1" per month,mine seem to grow real good for the first month then slow down then take off again at about 3-4 months, so it takes me about 3-4 months to get 2-3" babies,is this bad or normal am I doing something wrong??

THANKS
Bill:confused:

[Rod]

1" per month is darn good growth rate, actually first month i reacon even more than 1" can be achieved, but 3" in 3 months would be better than normal growth rate i feel....we are talking standard length here right? Total length results, 1" per month would be pretty ordinary.

[Elite Aquaria]

Bill,

Give us a little more detail of what you do so we can determine if anything could be improved.

What is your feeding regimen?

What is your water change regimen?

How many fish are in each tank?

What tank size?

Also do you move the fish to a different tank at 3-4 months?

Dan

[wghibbits]

Dan
my w/c's are atleast 50%everyday with aged water same temp, they are with parent about three weeks, moved once eating flakes and beefheart, I try to feed 4-5 times daily, and I try to keep the spawns together so now i have blue diamonds in a 55 gal and there are about 100 fish they are about 2 months old and the biggest ones are about 1.5 ", then I also have some red melons crossed with a golden about 40 in a 55 gal about 1 month old about the same size, are the b/d overcrowded at 100 in 55 gal.I also treat at about 1 month for flukes with prazi pro.

Thanks
Bill

[wghibbits]

yes rod standard lenghth

[Polar_Bear]

1" per month is darn good growth rate, actually first month i reacon even more than 1" can be achieved, but 3" in 3 months would be better than normal growth rate i feel....we are talking standard length here right? Total length results, 1" per month would be pretty ordinary.

I totally agree with this.

[Elite Aquaria]

Split the BD into two groups. If you are going to have that many fish in a 55 you need to do be religious about the water changes every day. Did you feed baby brine shrimp? This is a must for at least the first 4-6 weeks. How often are you feeding the Beef heart vs. Flake? Remember your cross will grow at a faster rate than the sibling BD fry. If you are TRYING to get 4-5 feedings per day that means that some days you do less. IMO 4-5 feedings are on the lower end. I like to feed fry 6-8 times per day (Mine get 4-5 on a bad day, maybe once per week)

Dan


Dan
my w/c's are atleast 50%everyday with aged water same temp, they are with parent about three weeks, moved once eating flakes and beefheart, I try to feed 4-5 times daily, and I try to keep the spawns together so now i have blue diamonds in a 55 gal and there are about 100 fish they are about 2 months old and the biggest ones are about 1.5 ", then I also have some red melons crossed with a golden about 40 in a 55 gal about 1 month old about the same size, are the b/d overcrowded at 100 in 55 gal.I also treat at about 1 month for flukes with prazi pro.

Thanks
Bill

[Rod]

Dan
my w/c's are atleast 50%everyday with aged water same temp, they are with parent about three weeks, moved once eating flakes and beefheart, I try to feed 4-5 times daily, and I try to keep the spawns together so now i have blue diamonds in a 55 gal and there are about 100 fish they are about 2 months old and the biggest ones are about 1.5 ", then I also have some red melons crossed with a golden about 40 in a 55 gal about 1 month old about the same size, are the b/d overcrowded at 100 in 55 gal.I also treat at about 1 month for flukes with prazi pro.

Thanks
Bill

Bill, For optimum growth you could try less crowding or increase the w/c to twice a day. as a guide i stock the tanks at:
1 fish per 1/2 gallon to 4 weeks.
1 fish per 2 gallons from 4 weeks to 8 weeks.
1 fish per 3 gallons from 8 weeks to 12 weeks.

w/c's are 50% daily.

I'm not a fan of prazi on fry....whenever i have tried it my observations are the fry reduce appetite and activity levels which i think is unacceptable. If they have flukes then perhaps it will help overall as you will help control them.....but i feel it may be better to not treat unless the symptoms indicate you do have an infection of flukes. JMT

Rod:)

[wghibbits]

Thanks for the advice Dan and Rod,Ifeed beefheart at least twice a day usually in morn and right before w/c then flakes and bits fill in and some blood worms once daily.yes i feed bbs for at least first month till they start eating bh good.So 100 in 55 gal is over crowding, guess I need more tanks then ,I've been wanting a bigger one for some grow outs maybe 90 gal or so.Thanks for the replies

Bill

[kaceyo]

Bill,
You should be culling the fry that aren't keeping up or have physical deformities pretty heavily, especially if you don't have enough room for them all now. That will mean better water conditions, less food going into the tank, less polution and more oxegen etc etc for the fish that are doing best.

Kacey

[tdr1919]

Guys,
I have about thirty fry (turqs)in a 20 gal. they are 15 days free swimming,
I am feeding them live BBS & some frozen BBS, at least 4x a day sometimes more, they are bigger than 1/4" but not quite 1/2". One parent is still in the tank. Am I on target? I just do not want to end up with a bunch of runts.

Thanks,
Tom

[oshp132]

Some great info in this thread!! Thanks guys.....
MIKE