Delhezi; growth-rate and colour

[David R]

I'll take a few pics of my little dels tonight to add to this thread. Last night was the first time I've had a chance to sit down and watch them for any length of time. There are four, about 5-6cm long in a 2' tank. I've noticed some have more black spots along their dorsal surface, will these turn into the black bars you see on some adult dels? Some are quite a bit lighter and less patterned than others, is this likely to reflect on how they look as adults?

What is their growth rate like? They are getting small daily water changes plus a good variety of food and seem to be bulking up quickly. I've heard dels are slower growing that a lot of other polys, at what size will their growth slow down?

And lastly, at what size do they lose their external gills?

 

[Delhezi222]

Firstly, dels will stay pretty similar looking throughout their lives, but some things can cause individuals to be darker than others. The markings, however, will most likely stay similar indefinitely.

Next, dels are generally not very fast growers. Mine grew a couple inches pretty rapidly, but once it hit around 5-6 inches, it began to slow down quite a bit.

Finally, I'm not exactly sure when your dels will lose their external gills, but my guess is around 4-5 inches.

 

[benzjamin13]

Every Poly I've had (Sen, Ornate, and Del) have grown pretty slow. I currently have a Del that has grown 1.5" in 2 months, which isn't bad, but it's a baby and like most fish, that's when they grow the most.

 

[killerfish]

my del has gorwn really really slow if at all all its done is bulked up in the 8 months i've had it mabye grown half an inch

 

[Infblue]

the color depends on the individuals, but substrate color can also have some effect. as for your question about patterns, they don't really change as they grow. the darkness/boldness of the patterns could change though.

 

[StripeGirl]

I have 30 dels split into three groups.

they seem to grow fast until they hit the 6 inch mark
there color pattern stays the same for the most part.
once they get large around 10-12 inches they can eat bigger foods and have another growth spurt until my big guys at 15 inches slowed down to a halt.

 

[David R]

Thanks guys, I'll upload the pics tonight.

 

[MDK500]

Not to derail but about how long would it take some small 3" dels to grow to about 6-7 inches. I was think about getting small ones and growing them out, but now that I see how slow they grown I might buy bigger ones.

 

[HiImSean]

i bought my del and senegal in january of this year at the same size. my senegal is atleast 2" bigger than my del and much thicker. the del is about 4-4.5"