Shoulod I move them?

[JFlo]

I have had my discus for about three or four weeks now and they are doing very well. Out of the ten that I purchased ... three of them seem to be growing much much slower than the others. I was wondering if I should set up my 20 gallon tank and move them to it as a bare bottom grower. It would not be too hard to do. I would need to get a heater, but I could move my Eheim 2212 Powerball which has well established bio. Not sure if I should give it some time or not. If I move them should I just move the slow growers or all of them.

The 150 gallon they are all in now is planted with sand. I do a 30% water change every day and closely monitor water stats with about six feeding of various types per day. In addition there is a drip system adding another 50 gallons of fresh water per day. Maybe I am making too much of it. What does everyone think?

*Sorry for title misspell =(

[Eddie]

Although I don't advise in growing out youngins in a substrate tank, moving the slow growers won't make any difference. It may actually make matters worse with only 1 or 2 getting food and keeping the even smaller ones from eating. I would keep them where they are and do what your doing. Thats just my opinion.

Eddie

[Don Trinko]

It is normal for growth to be uneven and there is almost allways one or more that does not grow as much. If they are all eating well and have no sign of disease I would not worry.
All of mine were raised with sand or gravel and fake plants. Some are nice and big, others not as big.
WC and BB/gravel always produce a variety of opinions
Don T.

[JFlo]

Cool. Thanks for the info. They are all eating well and seem healthy. Only concern was the varied growth rates. I guess they will all stay in the sand tank then. :D

[White Worm]

I agree, moving the slow growing guys in the pecking order will only create a void that someone else has to fill and it could turn out to be one of your better ones. Its important to have those smaller guys for you to really advance the best ones. Most times you will have variety in size with any group of discus. Hopefully your larger ones will pair off and then you can move them into their own accomodations at a later date. Depending on how old they are, they could always catch up. 7 out of ten is pretty good. Just make sure everyone gets enough food and they will be fine.

[JFlo]

Im not sure how to tell if they are pairing but my two red turqs seem to group up and are the dominants in the group. However, the one that is slightly bigger is clearly dominant over the other (if that makes sens). Out of the eight snakes in the tank ... three seem to be more aggressive, while two are clearly always submissive. I have no clue who is male and who is female. So it might just be an observation of established rankings.

When I bought them a few weeks ago they were 2.5 to 3" in size and the two turqs are already over 4 - 5". Some of the snakes are getting close to 4". I assume they are quite young still so I guess it may be a bit longer until they even think of pairing. Ill have to do some research though b/c Im still very new to this :D I think Im getting the hang of it though.

[White Worm]

Sounds like you are doing fine at this point. Also, different strains will have different growth rates. You will have the dominant ones and you will have the submissive ones. Its all about rank and there always has to be a low man. Its the way of life.