average grow rate of clown loaches?

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my cl grew from 1.5" to 4.5-5" n its been more than 10 months now
 
If I saw a CL go from under 2" to over 4" in under a year, I would think he was previously stunted in some way (parasites, starvation, small tank, etc.). I have no scientific basis for that opinion, but that would be my initial reaction...
 
I picked up most of mine at the beginning of the year. All were about 1 -1.5 inches. I got the smallest ones I could. Now most are 3-4 inches. They eat fry pellets, cichlid pellets, shrimp, scallop, krill, bloodworms. Anything that hits the floor.
 
JakeH;3579323; said:
If I saw a CL go from under 2" to over 4" in under a year, I would think he was previously stunted in some way (parasites, starvation, small tank, etc.). I have no scientific basis for that opinion, but that would be my initial reaction...
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If it's stunted, why would it grow unusually fast? That's the opposite of what stunted means.
 
For some reason I thought stunted fish got growth spurts when successfully introduced to a better environment. Sounds like thats not correct, huh?
 
I don't think so. If it has lived in crappy conditions all its life it could be permanently screwed up, so it won't get any bigger.

Sorry if my post seemed rude, I didn't mean it that way.
 
Keep oxygen up and feed plenty of high quality protein and loaches can grow quite fast for the first 6-8 inches. By this i mean from a starting size of 2 inches to 6-8 inches in about 12 to 18 months. I have kept larger individuals that keep up a medium growth rate but individual growth rates can vary considerable. I understand what the point was with stunting but catchup of growth rates at such speeds are usually only possible if the fish is still in the first 3 months of life and has been held back for some reason. I think the fish wasn´t stunted but just achieved a fast growth rate. Growth rates are also dependent on how happy the loaches are as they only eat vigorously when happy.

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I've had the same 5 clowns for the last 10 years in a 90g discus tank. They started out as one inchers and are now mostly 4". I'm unsure of the difference in male/female growth but, one is about 3" which I think is the opposite sex of the others. So, yeah, super slow growers.
 
Expect growth to be real slow. I would keep them by themselves for at least a year before even thinking of adding any aro. I grew my loaches out for 2 years (got them at 2" and now they are 4-5") before putting them in with big fish.
 
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