Blue dolphin moorii growth rate?

[Plum7]

Hey,

I got a new goup of 10 blue dolphin moorii cichlids and was wondering on the growth rates of these cichlids? This group of fish range from 1 inch to 2 inches each. Just added them in yesterday and they are already eating on the first day and seem to be pretty active. They are in a 180 gal tank in a community with other fish as well. I would like to breed these in the future so I'm hoping a group of 10 will hopefully get lucky and get a somewhat good male/female ratio? Is 10 enough for a good breeding group? I also have 2 slightly bigger ones at around 2.5inch to 3 inch from the LFS but those 2 don't really go with with the group. Any information would be appreciated thanks.

 

[Stephen St.Clair]

Nice looking group of Blue Dolphins. Growth rates of any fish depends on genetics, diet, & environment. Over crowding & confined area will slow or hinder growth, so will rank in the heirarchy. The most dominant male will likely reach nine or ten inches, while the weakest male might not make it to seven inches.
A 180 gal. Is a good sized tank, but IMO, likely not suitable for ten full sized Blue Moorii. Be prepared to make stocking adjustments as things progess.

 

[Plum7]

Thank you for all the great advice. I bought extra dolphins because I want to get a better chance of having a good ratio extra females and in case I get more than a few males and a problem fish that bullies everyone else.

I got these off a local breeder and I noticed they look even better and healthier than from the 2 LFS ones which are slightly bigger at 2.5 inches.

 

[Plum7]

Nice looking group of Blue Dolphins. Growth rates of any fish depends on genetics, diet, & environment. Over crowding & confined area will slow or hinder growth, so will rank in the heirarchy. The most dominant male will likely reach nine or ten inches, while the weakest male might not make it to seven inches.
A 180 gal. Is a good sized tank, but IMO, likely not suitable for ten full sized Blue Moorii. Be prepared to make stocking adjustments as things progess.

Did you have a group yourself? If so how long did it take for your group to reach maturity from around this size where you were able to sex them all? Around how big were you able to tell the difference between male/female?

 

[Stephen St.Clair]

I don't keep Blue Dolphins, but have a mixed tank of Predator Haps, Peacocks & Mbuna.

 

[Plum7]

I don't keep Blue Dolphins, but have a mixed tank of Predator Haps, Peacocks & Mbuna.
View attachment 1421976

Nice tank and fish, do you keep all males or mixed sex? You got alot of different colors in there I like that variety.

 

[Stephen St.Clair]

Thanks. The tank has a couple of female Haps & one female Peacock, the rest are males.
I've been pretty lucky selecting males from juvenile stock, but obviously made a few mistakes. Lol.

 

[GVerde]

Moori dolphins along with VC-10's are among the slowest growers in the african cichlid hobby.

 

[Machine 79]

It's the great thing about this forum I was going to ask the exact same question, but there's already a thread. I've had my blue dolphin about 5 months and they are growing but not as fast as I had thought

 

[Machine 79]

It's the great thing about this forum I was going to ask the exact same question, but there's already a thread. I've had my blue dolphin about 5 months and they are growing but not as fast as I had thought

View attachment 1442305

My phone camera is horrible. I need to bust out the real camera