What happens if a cichlid is stunted?

[PredatoryFishRocks]

I have a friend that bought a dovii, but he has it in a 29 gallon. It is still small but, he will be getting a 55 in a year. He thinks the 55 will be fine for the dovii but I keep telling him it will stunt his growth.
I want to know what does happen if a cichlid is stunted? Do their lives shorten? By how much? Do they have a limit of growing?
I want to prove my friend that something will happen.

 

[MonitorSpiderCichlid]

Well usually they will live 2-3 years less than they should be. In a 55, a dovii will get no bigger 10 or 12 inches. Sometimes they can live for a long time but they are not very happy.

 

[C L O W N K N I F E]

I have a friend that bought a dovii, but he has it in a 29 gallon. It is still small but, he will be getting a 55 in a year. He thinks the 55 will be fine for the dovii but I keep telling him it will stunt his growth.
I want to know what does happen if a cichlid is stunted? Do their lives shorten? By how much? Do they have a limit of growing?
I want to prove my friend that something will happen.

Why is he waiting a year to get a 55g? You can get one cheap on craigslist for $30-$80. Or you can get a 75g-125g there for around $75-$110. Show him monsterfishkeepers and maybe he'll think twice before putting a fish like that in a 29g.

A stunted fish has a shorter lifespan and will be very unhappy...

 

[clekchau]

dovii in a 55.... i would say no

 

[C L O W N K N I F E]

dovii in a 55.... i would say no

....So you'd rather it be in a 29g?

A 55g is too small for a dovii but it would be much better than a 29g...I would keep trying to get your friend to upgrade to a bigger tank

 

[cacichlids]

Either way it will die.

Stunted fish become horribly deformed, prone to disease and end up dying of organ failure or any other disease that wouldn't kill a healthy fish.

It will probably die of stress and poor water quality before you can notice any stunting tho.

 

[clekchau]

....So you'd rather it be in a 29g?

A 55g is too small for a dovii but it would be much better than a 29g...I would keep trying to get your friend to upgrade to a bigger tank

no it should be traded for a fish that will fit in the 29g not try to keep it in a 55g, but that's just my opinion, people are going to do whatever they want

 

[Natural Born Killer]

I really dont think fish actually STUNT due to tank size..I think its the poor water quality and diet that comes with unexperianced fishkeepers that usually keep the larger fish in small tanks..Either way the fish will not be happy,and will probably die sooner than a better taken care of fish..

 

[balton777]

The fish's body stops growing at certain point but the organs and innards continue to grow. After some time, this begins to make the fish look distorted and deformed. It will live it's shortened life in pain and misery, then die in agony. It's a shame so many people don't know any better....no doubt there's a lot of these tortured fish out there.

You're the fish's only hope, talk some sense into 'your friend'.

 

[Jc1119]

Yeah, as stated above the fish will live a miserable existence. A much better philosophy is to buy the right sized tank, then buy the fish, or at least have a plan to have a tank it can live its life in sorted out ahead of time. 29 is bad, 55 is not as bad but at least a 6 footer needs to be in the near future, with an 8' being optimal.

Either way, it's a bad way to go about it. Sadly, it happens alot more than most people think