Cichlids
- Thread starter smokeythebair
- Start date
joecoulson;4635762; said:
Sounds to me like he was just misinformed. He's doing right by his goldfish.
Thank You VERY much. I do a 12.5g change on the wknd and a 7.5g change on wed. Im just happy i don't have to panic now and they will still get bigger if the water is good. I'm getting rid of the silver dollar and green terror tommorrow. I think if i get it down 2 ten fish i will be ok for another wk. I plan on only having 8 now. Its going to be hard to pick. The jaguar is my favorite. How long till the fish reach full size??
smokeythebair;4635768; said:
Depends on the fish. Males tend to grow faster than females too. Most will generally be full grown within 18 months. You can lookup max sizes, compare where yours are now and how big they were when you got them to get a rough estimate on how much they grow per month.
After cutting the stock down, you'll probably be able to get by doing 10g water changes weekly due to the lower bio load. Water tests will tell ya when it's time to change. If you get over 20-30ppm Nitrates, it's time for a water change. After cutting down to 8 fish, skip the wednesday change and keep an eye on nitrates. 20% (~10g) per week should be a good target.
If it was 3" when you got it, and it's 6" now, how long ago did you get it? It'll probably grow around 1" per month, but each fish is different and there are a lot of variables that can affect growth rate.
Devil would probably be on my cut list unless you plan on having a bigger tank in the next 6 months or so. They can reach 10" pretty easily, and some can reach over 12". Too big for a 55g.
Devil would probably be on my cut list unless you plan on having a bigger tank in the next 6 months or so. They can reach 10" pretty easily, and some can reach over 12". Too big for a 55g.
sry i keep asking stupid ? i got him 3 days ago and hes 3inches. I was just wondering if they are quick growers
The bigger the max size, the faster they generally grow. They'll probably be 75% of max length within the first 12 months. They slow down a bit as they get bigger though.
Feeders are bad because they can introduce disease into the aquarium, and they aren't really nutritionally complete. If you breed your own feeders you take out the disease issue, but it's best to just use them as a treat. Not a staple food.
Edit: Feeding the feeders with a food that you want the predator fish to eat is fairly common, called 'gut loading'. When the predator eats the feeder, it will also get whatever the feeder has in it's stomach at the time too. Can help boost their nutritional value a bit, but they still shouldn't be used as a primary food source.
Feeders are bad because they can introduce disease into the aquarium, and they aren't really nutritionally complete. If you breed your own feeders you take out the disease issue, but it's best to just use them as a treat. Not a staple food.
Edit: Feeding the feeders with a food that you want the predator fish to eat is fairly common, called 'gut loading'. When the predator eats the feeder, it will also get whatever the feeder has in it's stomach at the time too. Can help boost their nutritional value a bit, but they still shouldn't be used as a primary food source.
