Average growth rate of a healthy discus

[ziggy83]

This might Possibly a difficult question to answer here & it may have been mentioned somewhere before, so i apologize. I've been keeping discus a year now. They all started around 2"-3" each, when I bought them. They are now around 4"-4.5" each. Is this right about where I should be or should they be larger by now? Thank you!

[Elite Aquaria]

Fish that are a year old should be larger than 4-4.5. I would say they should be closer to 5-5.5"

[deepflyball]

I agree should be 5.5 -6 inches Jerry

[jimg]

It all depends on the strain,wc's, times a day fed and what fed and water make up. I have had many discus take 2 years to get to 5+" from fry. I have sold many discus in the 3" range and a few months later I get emails with pics of them and they are 2X what mine are.

[ziggy83]

Wow, mine have fallen behind then. They are still growing, but at a very slow rate. I feed them 3 times per day, normally beefheart, flake and mysis shrimp. Usually the portion is 1 cube of each. I've shied away from worms because of a fear of parasites. I do a WC twice a week. That could be my downfall. Thanks for the input everyone.

[hedut]

a good fry should grow around 6" - 7" in a year. blue knight six month around 6" ;)

[ziggy83]

Mine don't seem to be stunted. Pictures coming soon. However, I am going to have to make time & do the daily water change. Hopefully their growth will perk up & it isn't too late!

[gerrard00]

I had a runt that wasn't growing at all...until I started daily wcs. His shape never improved and he's got a misshaped fin, but he is also around 6" in TL now.

[Greenheinie]

Mine are relatively small since they live in a planted tank. The adults have grown out to 5" or so after a year-ish. I was surprised to see Al's 3-month old fish a couple weeks ago, seeing that they were the same size as my old guys.

[ziggy83]

I've noticed a huge difference in their behavior, alone by doing a daily water change. For the longest time I was hauling well water back to my 3rd floor apartment every few days. It was very tiring to say the least. I'm trying aged tap water & they're much more spunky now. Hopefully they'll get a growth spurt! I know, I know I should've listened from the beginning about the daily WC. :(

[gerrard00]

I'm with you. I really regret not starting the daily wcs sooner.