FishProfiles.com Message Forums

i've had my JD for quite some time now, but over that past month or two, she's been acting normal, (stuffing her face, terrorizing the GT, et cetra) yet, she's just stopped growing, when i got her, she was a tiny bit smaller than the GT, but now, the Terror has hit about 7-8", while she's remained 4-5" long, and she's been that way for about a month or so? any idea of what's goin' on here???
tankmates= GT, 2 dojos, 1 tire track eel
Tank size= 55g, (soon to be 125)
pH=7.6
Ammonia=0
NitrAte=(#'s soon)
NitrIte=(#'s soon)
Filtration= Whisper 60
Heater=AGA 250Watt, 76-78F
Tank Maintenance= 1-2 5G W/C per week

any other need to knows, ask

Daka<<<<

if the JD is definitely a "she" and she's already about 4-5" then it sounds like it's about time for her growth to slow down considerably. on average, once most central american cichlids reach about half or slightly over half their full grown adult size their growth will slow tremendously. If I were you I wouldn't worry too much so long as she's still active and eating normally. Maybe get a tape measure and take her out of the tank once every 3 months or so to see if there's any growth. I'm guessing she'll grow about an inch every 3-4 months now.

my pair of festae were growing about 1/2" per month until the male got to 6" and the female to 4" and since their growth has slowed to about 1/3" per month. As they get bigger I'm sure the growth will slow even more. Some fish can take 5 years to get close to what's reported as their maximum size.

my only other advice would be to up the water changes to about 15-20 gallons per change.


Last edited by jason_r_s at 29-Mar-2005 03:05