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Stunted Growth & Maturity

964 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  DJRansome 
#1 ·
HELP! I have a thriving 39 gallon tank of young adult African cichlid fish I raised from juvies, and I'm about to move them into a 55 gal. I only have 8 cichlids and a pleco, so I was looking to get more fish and a friend of a friend has six they're hoping to get rid of. The only problem is, they're very ugly and small but are supposedly a year old or more. I have not seen them in person but they appear to be pretty severely stunted and are too drab to be sexed or to guess the species. I'd really love to take them on, as I have one rescue cobalt zebra from petsmart who has the loveliest personality and colored up beautifully in my tank. But my question is, can these fish grow and color up more if they're already mature and only 2-3 inches in length? (That's the length they told me, and I can't tell any different from pictures.) Is it safe to add Fish I don't know the origin, sex, or species of to an African tank? I really want to give these fish a new home, but I don't want to risk any harm to the ones I have. Apparently my cichlids are a great deal bigger than the new ones would be, but I have one 2nd gen baby in the tank that holds his own like a champ, so they're good with little ones, but they killed their tank boss a few months ago so there has been a bit of a power struggle and I lost one because of it. If anyone knows about rehomed adult fish maturing in a new tank please comment!
Also:
Any tips on sexing an under developed and drab fish???
Do the Africans ever stop changing colors or can they change at any time?
 
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#3 ·
I would quarantine them if you take them (separate tank for three weeks) and it is true that a stunted fish may never grow into a healthy shape.

Africans change color at any time depending on how dominant each fish is in the tank.
 
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