Stunted Discus - Is there ANY way to get them BIGGER?

[CammieTime]

So I have three stunted discus. They stopped growing 9 months ago and are only about 3" in length. Is there ANY way to get them bigger, or since they have stopped growing, this is the biggest they will EVER be?

How would you get them bigger, if it is possible?

[Darrell Ward]

I don't think there is much chance they will get any bigger. I would give them away, unless I just really liked them.

[rickztahone]

So I have three stunted discus. They stopped growing 9 months ago and are only about 3" in length. Is there ANY way to get them bigger, or since they have stopped growing, this is the biggest they will EVER be?

How would you get them bigger, if it is possible?

i know this not what you want to hear but yes it is too late for them. there isnt anything wrong with stunted discus if they are healthy but they will not gow any longer. it happens to many here on this site, me included, to stunt their first discus. the best you can do is learn from it and do your best on the next batch

[Harriett]

I don't think it's just the beginners who have a shrimp or two in their tanks...maybe it's just me, but I have found that of every dozen or so new fish I've raised, I have had one or two that are lil fellers--they eat well, they are not skiddish or bullied, they just don't grow larger like the rest--they are frequently more brilliantly colored as adults and oddly tend to be higher up on the pecking order than expected, too. Interesteing. If you are going to be little, it helps to have attitude!
Best regards,
Harriett

[poconogal]

I agree with you Harriett! I have a shrimp also. A shrimp with attitude, higher up in the pecking order too. Her name is Double Stuff, she's my super RM. Beauty in a small package, LOL!!!

[Scribbles]

I have found the same results as Harriet and Connie. I currently have 8 in one tank they all eat well and get along (very unlike normal discus) but 2 were slow growers. One of them has pretty much caught up but Pipsqueak, the discus in my avatar, will probably stay small. He/she is a beautiful electric blue and my favorite.

Chris
,

[Daniella]

I got one going with white worms. The fish did not eat for like 5 weeks and was like a pankake thin, bone and flesh only. NOw it's back to full health and growing. I doubt it will ever be 6 inches but it is now 4 inches and each week I can see it is improving in size.

I feed it beefheart and white worms each day.

It is strange that domestic discus do not always resume growing after lacking food because in nature wild discus surely don't have food all the time and wild discus are not stunted (I think).

My wild heckel have big eyes but she is still growing. Now about 5,5 inches.

Yours have stopped growing for 9 months so that's a long time so I would be surprised if they would grow more but if you try live food like white worms, you may give them a better chance.



So I have three stunted discus. They stopped growing 9 months ago and are only about 3" in length. Is there ANY way to get them bigger, or since they have stopped growing, this is the biggest they will EVER be?

How would you get them bigger, if it is possible?

[j_li8]

That has definatly happened here. Almost all of the first discus that I got were stunted by me except for one which I think was smaller to begin with. One of them is bigger than the rest but still stunted. I'm hoping my lastest additons will grow bigger. Although stunted, I still like them all but have considered relocating them to another tank to make better use of the 50gal they are in now.

[Don Trinko]

All IMO; Many reasons for not growing. I had fish that were sick when I got them. Even after curing them they did not grow.
All you can do is provide good conditions. Even healthy fish vary in size. Not all discus are destined to be 8". Don T.

[CammieTime]

have had one or two that are lil fellers--they eat well, they are not skiddish or bullied, they just don't grow larger like the rest--they are frequently more brilliantly colored as adults and oddly tend to be higher up on the pecking order than expected, too.

This is exactly how mine are, the stunted blue diamond is much more of a deep pretty blue than the bigger 4.5" blue diamond in the tank. They are perfectly healthy and swim around a lot and are good fish, they just are small. And yes they were my first discus ever. My second batch grew to be about 4.5", and now I want to try again and see if I can pull a 6".

All of my discus are really healthy and colorful, so even though they are not size humungous, they are still very fun to watch and look at.

[Peachtree Discus]

....yes it is too late for them....

i agree here as with most of the other comments. It seems to depend on the age of the fish. I have a spawn about 14 months old that seems to be catching up pretty good, but i had a 2+ year old fish that was stunted to about 3" and all the power feeding and dividers in the world would not help even a bit.

i would bet stunted fish are sold to amateurs all the time.