Female Flowerhorn: Stunted? Short Bodied? Normal?

[odsrandy]

Hello!

I have a female flowerhorn that is about 3" - 3.5" ish. She just laid eggs for the 2nd time.

I got her about 6 months ago, and when I got her she was the lone FH in a tank of Red Devils. She was totally tattered and I didn't know if she would make it but I wanted to try.

Fast forward to now. She just laid eggs again as I mentioned but she has not grown AT ALL in a couple months. I'm worried that the excessive damage she took as a juvie stunted her? Or is she actually a short Bodied FH? Or is this normal for her to be this small for this long while still laying eggs? She's always been a great eater. Very interactive and happy. Just worried/preparing for the "stunted" lifespan.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Oh, for reference she's currently by herself in a 40g growout tank. I know she's displaying stress stripes but she's fine. She just didn't appreciate me approaching the tank with her eggs in there lol

 

[Ozzie73]

She looks regular body. Likely just a slow grower. Out of the ones I raised, most of the females grew slower than the males, but then a sudden spurt when least expecting it. Also in my growout tank, the really aggressive ones would be females starting to lay eggs. They can start pretty small. Hope this helps.

 

[odsrandy]

She looks regular body. Likely just a slow grower. Out of the ones I raised, most of the females grew slower than the males, but then a sudden spurt when least expecting it. Also in my growout tank, the really aggressive ones would be females starting to lay eggs. They can start pretty small. Hope this helps.

This absolutely helps. Thank you for the reply. My wife has grown quite attached to her so I just wanted to make sure she was headed down a good road. Thanks again!

 

[Nilsafeller]

Def a regular or medium body... the fact she keeps laying eggs means she using alot of her energy to do so which will also slow her growth

 

[odsrandy]

Def a regular or medium body... the fact she keeps laying eggs means she using alot of her energy to do so which will also slow her growth

That makes a whole lot of sense to me! haha thank you for that! As long as she's healthy and happy, I'm happy!