I have a cuban cichlid which I purchased 10 months ago. It was about 2" when I got it and it's now about 4-1/2". It is in a 110 gal tank. Does this seem like slow growth for this cichlid which can grow to be 10-12"? I feed it 3 different types of floating Cichlid pellets and shrimp the odd time. Maybe The diet is not varied enough. It seems healthy and has very nice color. Any thoughts on this?
Cuban Cichlid slow grower?
- Thread starter Grover
- Start date
Most Cubans are slow growers. They will take a year to get to 5-6", and 2 years or so to get to 8-9". They are also very prone to bloat and stress under 3".
reallybigfish;4552367; said:
That is pretty close to what I am seeing with my Cuban. I bought Loki on October 30th last year and he is right around the seven inch mark now. Do Cubans get color? Mine has none yet!
I had the opposite experience. I had 3 in a 75 by themselves that went from 2 inches to around 6 in less than 6 months. If youre religious about 50% water changes weekly, good varied diet including shrimp (or anything high protein) you can get more growth out of any fish.
screaminleeman...be careful with that ornate in there. that cuban will destroy it fast when he decides to!
screaminleeman...be careful with that ornate in there. that cuban will destroy it fast when he decides to!
VRWC;4552923; said:
Wow, thanks for the heads up. I do see extreme aggression from the Cuban even at the 2" mark when I got it almost a year ago. It shreded a slightly larger Jaguar in 2009 in a growout tank (Detailed in a thread I started a while back!). Ouch!
He is still all about aggression. The smallest fish in the tank and he is still thumping all others. A 9" Blue Dovi, 13" Sax. Pike, and four Nile Tilapia 12" - 15" range all regularly get chased from Loki's realm!
From my experience they grow pretty fast. I had a male a few years back that grew to over 10" in a little more than a year and a half's time. Good food and frequent large water changes will ensure they grow at a descent rate. My current pair the male is about 7". He's got a really nice blue undertone to him and a bright red stripe on his dorsal fin... I'll try to post some photo's in the next couple days. Best of luck.
i have a pair of cubans male around 9 inches female about 2 inches less. the slowest growth in my cubans is from wigglers to about 1 1/2 -2 inches they grow real slow after that they seem to do fine. never had any bloat issues with my cuban or my hatians. i always do heavy water changes on cichlid tanks because they make alot of food and waste a lot of food.
Thanks everyone. I will boost the protein and shrimp in his/her diet. I will try to get a picture posted tonight.