How to get my fish to grow?

[deanne]

Hi everyone,

My discus have been healthy and free of problems for many months so I'm happy that I have established stability with my tanks, but the fish don't grow much or at all-- they seem to have stalled out. In my 55 gal with four discus and a handful of small tankmates, the one discus that I purchased at 2" has grown to about 4", and one I bought at 3" has gotten to about 5", and they have both stopped there for months now. Another one is 5" and has been for 2 years. The fourth is an 8" and he hasn't budged from that size since I bought him, but that's fine. What do you think I can do to pump them up?

I feed them pellet food (color-bits or something like that, for discus) three times a day with an auto-feeder, and two cubes of frozen red worms once per day. They gobble up everything quickly. Should I try worming them? Feed them more or something else? Vitamins? When I've tried other foods they have snubbed them but I haven't gotten into making up beef heart or anything elaborate like that.

I do 50% wc each week and keep the filters and sand clean. The fish are beautiful, they just don't grow.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Deanne

[Eddie]

If you've had them for years, they are not gonna get any bigger. From hatch to 9 months is their optimum growth period and after 9 months, they grow slowly and thicken.

8" discus huh, got any pictures. ;)

Take care,

Eddie

[deanne]

Thanks Eddie, I kind of suspected that. They won't start growing again then, I guess; too bad.

I was just looking at my big guy and might be more like 7"; I haven't managed to measure him. He's wonderful. I'll try to get a picture!

Deanne

[rickztahone]

if you indeed have a 7" fish then that is something to be proud of. as Eddie said, if you've had them for years they are pretty much going to stay at the size that they are currently at

HTH

[deanne]

Thanks Ricardo! I guess I'll be happy that they are healthy and beautiful.

Yes, my giant pigeon is a fine figure of a fish. I admit to having bought him already that big, but I'm proud of him nevertheless. But my real favorite is my golden leopard, and then her mate, a male red melon that I did manage to grow to 6" from a skinny little pup sent in the mail.

I might do it again from scratch someday with a group of juveniles, and try to grow them out quickly. I'm not adding any new fish to this group, though; I have learned my lesson on that one! At least until I'm willing to QT the newcomers, anyway... this is my little gang and things are good so I don't want to rock the boat.

Deanne

[jaykne]

The best way to get discus to grow it to feed allot of food and different kinds, and Beefheart or Seafood mix is the best for growing them out. Also 50% a week is not going to cut it, I do 80% a day, but all that is just is just so you know how to grow them out, if they are a couple years they are done growing, but between 6" and 7" discus are good size even 5 is not bad. Larry

[Don Trinko]

While many talk abought 8" discus not all discus will not grow that big. Genetics has a large effect as well as clean water and feeding.
Fish grow fast for the first 6 to 8 months and then grow slower. Most of my discus are 2 years old or more. They have grown some during the 2nd year but not near as fast as the 1st year. All IMO; Don T.

[deanne]

That's what I was told by the owner of a discus store in SF when I bought the large pigeon from him-- that not all discuss get that big. Thanks everyone!
d