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Hey cichlid-forum!
I've been meaning to ask this for a while, but I haven't got around to it. I'm wondering, what should typical mbuna growth rate be in a year after purchase at 1-2", not after birth? More info below for those of you who don't mind reading...
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About a month ago, I took a census of my tank. Caught all the fish, vented them (tried to), and roughly measured them with a makeshift ruler I inked onto my hand.
My list is at home, but I remember the rough numbers. I get the feeling that all my fish are smaller than they should be for the length of time I had them.
I've had the aceis and the labs the longest. bought them around 1-2" in november 2009. They lived in a 55g (just the 2 species) until ~August 2010. I did 50% water changes or more weekly, but there was a period in the summer 2010 where I got a little lazy on the water changes. Since august they've been in the 125 with very routine weekly 50%+ water changes.
Right now, the largest acei has just hit 4" including the tail, and my dominant lab is ~3-3.5". I figure they're about 1.5" smaller than they should be by now. The largest acei should be 5-6" and the largest lab 4-5", no?
The rusties, giant dems, and albino zebras were bought a few months after the others, on a warm day in february or march, 2010. The 3 species lived in a 33XL until August 2010, 24 of them total. I lost 2 albinos and 2 giant dems in the growout tank to either aggression or water conditions due to the before mentioned summer laziness. They've been in the 125 since august.
These guys are more on track size wise IMO, but still small. The largest giant dem is within a qurarter inch of the largest lab size, right around 3". Same with the largest albinos. The rusties I believe are normal. The male is getting close to 3", and the females are ~2.5". They've gone through a couple breeding cycles (all 4 females) already. The rusties and giant dems were the smallest when I bought them, just barely 1" and not even in the sale tanks yet. Pulled out of the downstairs fry tank just for me
I've also got some runts. A small yellow lab has only just hit 2". Like really, if I through him/her in a for sale tank at my LFS, he'd still be one of the smallest. My 5 fry I'm growing out have nearly caught up
, and they're only a few months old and still living in a 10g. A couple small albinos as well, but not as small as the lab. I had a sixth giant dem in the 125 that was a runt until he vanished from the tank. I never found a body.
So I'm just wondering if:
1) my fish, especially the labs and the aceis, are indeed smaller than they should be for the length of time I've had them, and
2) if so, what could be some possible causes? and...
3) why are some runts just not really growing at all?
Could I be underfeeding? I don't think so... I feel like I feed a little heavy twice a day because I try to get some pellets down to the catfish, but all the pellets get eaten within 30-60 seconds even if some hit the substrate.
I know, I know... I need to test my nitrates. I haven't tested them in a long time, I just assumed they'd stay low with weekly >50% water changes, but maybe I'm overfeeding and nitrates are higher than I think? Shoulda had that test done before I posted but.. I'm at work now and thinking about it.
Could water current in the display slow down growth? I feel like my fish have always been around a lot of current. My 55g had 2 AC110's. The 33XL had 2 AC70's. And the 125 has both AC110's plus a sump pushing ~1200gph split amonst 4 submerged nozzles.
Is it possible I got some subpar stock? I got my fish from a highly rated LFS in my area. They get good reviews, have great displays, clean tanks, no diseases, etc. Given the runts I have/had and the slow growth, maybe I just got fish from bad batches or an isoloted instance of something at the store that is causing the slow growth?
Or, is everything normal and I just need to wait another 6mo to a year for my fish to finish growing up? I keep thinking that maybe my fish are big enough and seem smaller because I see them every day, but whenever I go to my LFS or even any local chain store and see fish that are clearly bigger than mine it gets a little frustrating.
As a final note, when I mentioned to the manager of my LFS (the guy at the new mentor branch who I can't remeber his name, I haven't talked to Dave Hale in a while for those who know which store I'm talking about
), he seemed surprised my fish were still so small. He suggested to give them a few more months in the 125 and they'll continue to grow in the larger tank. Maybe they will, but if they're smaller than they should be, shouldn't there be a reason?
I've been meaning to ask this for a while, but I haven't got around to it. I'm wondering, what should typical mbuna growth rate be in a year after purchase at 1-2", not after birth? More info below for those of you who don't mind reading...
-------
About a month ago, I took a census of my tank. Caught all the fish, vented them (tried to), and roughly measured them with a makeshift ruler I inked onto my hand.
My list is at home, but I remember the rough numbers. I get the feeling that all my fish are smaller than they should be for the length of time I had them.
I've had the aceis and the labs the longest. bought them around 1-2" in november 2009. They lived in a 55g (just the 2 species) until ~August 2010. I did 50% water changes or more weekly, but there was a period in the summer 2010 where I got a little lazy on the water changes. Since august they've been in the 125 with very routine weekly 50%+ water changes.
Right now, the largest acei has just hit 4" including the tail, and my dominant lab is ~3-3.5". I figure they're about 1.5" smaller than they should be by now. The largest acei should be 5-6" and the largest lab 4-5", no?
The rusties, giant dems, and albino zebras were bought a few months after the others, on a warm day in february or march, 2010. The 3 species lived in a 33XL until August 2010, 24 of them total. I lost 2 albinos and 2 giant dems in the growout tank to either aggression or water conditions due to the before mentioned summer laziness. They've been in the 125 since august.
These guys are more on track size wise IMO, but still small. The largest giant dem is within a qurarter inch of the largest lab size, right around 3". Same with the largest albinos. The rusties I believe are normal. The male is getting close to 3", and the females are ~2.5". They've gone through a couple breeding cycles (all 4 females) already. The rusties and giant dems were the smallest when I bought them, just barely 1" and not even in the sale tanks yet. Pulled out of the downstairs fry tank just for me
I've also got some runts. A small yellow lab has only just hit 2". Like really, if I through him/her in a for sale tank at my LFS, he'd still be one of the smallest. My 5 fry I'm growing out have nearly caught up
So I'm just wondering if:
1) my fish, especially the labs and the aceis, are indeed smaller than they should be for the length of time I've had them, and
2) if so, what could be some possible causes? and...
3) why are some runts just not really growing at all?
Could I be underfeeding? I don't think so... I feel like I feed a little heavy twice a day because I try to get some pellets down to the catfish, but all the pellets get eaten within 30-60 seconds even if some hit the substrate.
I know, I know... I need to test my nitrates. I haven't tested them in a long time, I just assumed they'd stay low with weekly >50% water changes, but maybe I'm overfeeding and nitrates are higher than I think? Shoulda had that test done before I posted but.. I'm at work now and thinking about it.
Could water current in the display slow down growth? I feel like my fish have always been around a lot of current. My 55g had 2 AC110's. The 33XL had 2 AC70's. And the 125 has both AC110's plus a sump pushing ~1200gph split amonst 4 submerged nozzles.
Is it possible I got some subpar stock? I got my fish from a highly rated LFS in my area. They get good reviews, have great displays, clean tanks, no diseases, etc. Given the runts I have/had and the slow growth, maybe I just got fish from bad batches or an isoloted instance of something at the store that is causing the slow growth?
Or, is everything normal and I just need to wait another 6mo to a year for my fish to finish growing up? I keep thinking that maybe my fish are big enough and seem smaller because I see them every day, but whenever I go to my LFS or even any local chain store and see fish that are clearly bigger than mine it gets a little frustrating.
As a final note, when I mentioned to the manager of my LFS (the guy at the new mentor branch who I can't remeber his name, I haven't talked to Dave Hale in a while for those who know which store I'm talking about