It was not wild caught, I got it from as a group of a friends fry.
Most wild fish hardly ever reach maximum size, because of predation, haphazard feast or famine feedings in nature, and then if they do get large, tend to move to depths where fish are seldom collected, or get too large to successfully ship, so seldom seen.
Compared to aquarium fish that, without predation, but with regular meals often reach "more" average wild sizes.
The most common limiting factor for reaching full potential in aquariums is elevated nitrate, so easily built up in (relative to nature) small volume tanks, without proper water changes, and reach pollution level nitrate concentrations.
Exposure to Nitrate Increases Susceptibility to Hypoxia in ...The University of Chicago Press: Journalshttps://www.journals.uchicago.edu › doi
You will often hear someone say, "I've never seen a 10"+ JDs", or a 10+" T meeki.
But that's because they are usually kept in a too small tank, with too few water changes.
A friend in Chicago had a 12 FM, but kept it in a 450 gal tank, with automatic large water changes,
and I've seen many 10" JDs in proper size tanks, with frequent enough water changes to keep nitrate undetectable.
Average aquarist specimens are hardly indicative of true potential.
Where I collect cichlids, and measure water parameters, I have never found results with detectable nitrates.
Most wild fish hardly ever reach maximum size, because of predation, haphazard feast or famine feedings in nature, and then if they do get large, tend to move to depths where fish are seldom collected, or get too large to successfully ship, so seldom seen.
Compared to aquarium fish that, without predation, but with regular meals often reach "more" average wild sizes.
The most common limiting factor for reaching full potential in aquariums is elevated nitrate, so easily built up in (relative to nature) small volume tanks, without proper water changes, and reach pollution level nitrate concentrations.
Exposure to Nitrate Increases Susceptibility to Hypoxia in ...The University of Chicago Press: Journalshttps://www.journals.uchicago.edu › doi
You will often hear someone say, "I've never seen a 10"+ JDs", or a 10+" T meeki.
But that's because they are usually kept in a too small tank, with too few water changes.
A friend in Chicago had a 12 FM, but kept it in a 450 gal tank, with automatic large water changes,
and I've seen many 10" JDs in proper size tanks, with frequent enough water changes to keep nitrate undetectable.
Average aquarist specimens are hardly indicative of true potential.
Where I collect cichlids, and measure water parameters, I have never found results with detectable nitrates.
