[Hubbynz]

I thought this would be an interesting observation to post

basically I had a convict spawn around 6-7 weeks ago....after two weeks I removed all but two fry (two proved almost impossible to catch) out of spawn of twenty odd from the parents 20gallon (76 litre) tank and relocated them into a spare 6gallon (20litre) to grow out a bit.

Anyway the two fry that remained in the larger tank with the parents are twice the size of the fy in the smaller tank and I thought this was interesting.

The only major difference between environments apart from tank size is the ph in the small tank is higher at 7.2 compared to 6.6 in the larger tank. I do regulard water changes of 1/3 every week in both tanks. Also the two fry left in the large tank were able to get a feast on the next batch of con eggs much to the mothers dismay but apart from that I feed them the same on crushed cichild pelets.

Anyway I was just wondering what you think might be the major causes of this size difference??

I was going to give the fry to the local fish store as feeders or something.

 

[stuckinthemiddle]

IMO it seems that the fry left in the tank were a result of combination of things...

- (Parenting - They seem to grow faster with the parents (its been my experience with cons)

-They got to eat eggs which may have a higher protein content

-No competition from brothers and sisters!

If you really want them to grow fast, raise the temp to 80 - 82, if its not already, do 20% water change twice a week and give them baby brine shimp every other day...mine grew like weeds.....

...and they make excellent feeders by the way...