Green terror is not growing

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Nim Dibbley

Nim Dibbley

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 13, 2010
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CA
I got a GT in May that was about 3 inches and put him in my growout tank. Then i got a second one about a week later that was about an inch and put him in the same tank. The 3 incher is still the same size, but the small one is now the big one and at least 4 inches. What gives? Is he stunted? He does look kinda funny too.

Here are some pics:

gtsmall 006.jpggtsmall 011.jpg

gtsmall 006.jpg

gtsmall 011.jpg
 
searching online i have seen mention of a dwarf variant. his head does seem a little big for his body.
 
because he is stressed from other dominant fish? Is he even eating? Maybe he got internal parasite. They get that if stressed for a long time being scared of another fish.

GL. Provide as much info as you can for others to help figure it out. But if he's by himself and eating and not growing we would need more clues.
 
the animal guy said:
because he is stressed from other dominant fish? Is he even eating? Maybe he got internal parasite. They get that if stressed for a long time being scared of another fish.

GL. Provide as much info as you can for others to help figure it out. But if he's by himself and eating and not growing we would need more clues.
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He does look slightly underweight, are you sure he is eating and the other fish aren't stealing all the food?

That also could be caused by internal parasites, or it could be he legitimately simply has dwarfism as it can effect any fish from any fry (rare but not unheard of)

I would say quarantine and feed, maybe medicate for internal parasites. Keep an eye out for a bloody anal fin or spotting around where he poops.



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The tank has 2 bichirs and 2 gts. all small and growing out for my main tank.

i treated with prazipro while in this tank, but never saw anything to suggest parasites. I did kill off some bichir worms with that, but that is a species specific parasite and shouldn't affect the GTs.

I have seen him eat, but he does not have the appetite of the other one that used to be smaller. I feed live black worms so there are is always a supply of food hiding in the tank. I also feed hikari sinking carnivore pellets.

I was hoping to add them both to the main tank in the near future, but it looks like i might add the other one first.

I just find it odd that the one that had a full 2 inches on the other one is now the small one. He is submissive to the other one at this point, but until the small one grew to about the same size they ignored each other.

I was really hoping to get him big enough to go in my main tank. If he is stunted or a dwarf or something i think i would like to rehome him.
 
Probably ip's. if he's not eating the meds (like dosing the tank with prazi), it's not going to help much. In my experience, GT's are highly likely to have or get ip's. best way to treat them is to soak their pellets in an Epsom salt solution. It'll clear it right up if they eat the pellets.

I'd also get him on a lower protein diet. The GT's seem to do better on higher vegetable matter diet in my experience. Try giving them some shelled peas sometimes.

Also, some GT's seem to grow much slower than others. And most GT's just grow slow in general. I'd recommend giving him time. He may hit a growth spurt eventually.
 
oddly enough i was also attempting to feed hikari cichlid pellets and only the birchirs would eat those. the GTs would hold out for the sinking carnivore pellets. i do believe GTs are carnivores.

I did also treat with salt (again i was fighting bichir worms in the same tank) so the whole tank was treated. i may be wrong, but my opinion is that if there were any parasites they should be dead by now.

i did not treat any food with prazi or salt...i guess i could try that.
 
Nim Dibbley said:
oddly enough i was also attempting to feed hikari cichlid pellets and only the birchirs would eat those. the GTs would hold out for the sinking carnivore pellets. i do believe GTs are carnivores.

I did also treat with salt (again i was fighting bichir worms in the same tank) so the whole tank was treated. i may be wrong, but my opinion is that if there were any parasites they should be dead by now.

i did not treat any food with prazi or salt...i guess i could try that.
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Seedubs is pretty spot on with his advice and comments. GT are NOT carnivores. They are omnivores. The do need a good balance of plant material with the protein. The diet youve provided thus far as less then standard for their needs. They can be quite slow growing at times. Especially ones that are being stressed out. How large is this tank? It is still possible that it has parasites. Aquarium salt is not a treatment that will rid any fish of internal parasites. Id recommend quarantine it and soak its food in a mix of Epsom salt and API general cure lfor 30 minutes. Then feed that once a day for 5 days. I would also soak the food and any other pellets (more omniovore) in garlic. Remember Epsom salt not regular salt. What do your water conditions test at? How often and how much water do you change?
 
Aquaticfan said:
Seedubs is pretty spot on with his advice and comments. GT are NOT carnivores. They are omnivores. The do need a good balance of plant material with the protein. The diet youve provided thus far as less then standard for their needs. They can be quite slow growing at times. Especially ones that are being stressed out. How large is this tank? It is still possible that it has parasites. Aquarium salt is not a treatment that will rid any fish of internal parasites. Id recommend quarantine it and soak its food in a mix of Epsom salt and API general cure lfor 30 minutes. Then feed that once a day for 5 days. I would also soak the food and any other pellets (more omniovore) in garlic. Remember Epsom salt not regular salt. What do your water conditions test at? How often and how much water do you change?
Click to expand...

The problem i am having is only affecting the one fish as the other 3 fish are growing pretty good. The tank is 29 gallons and i am doing 50% water change every saturday and wed. technically the fish is already in my quarantine tank :)

i only have a nitrate test kit and i just tested at 5 ppm. I just did a water change this morning and i dont normally test so i really dont know what the nitrates typically are at wed or sat morning before i do the water change but i dont think water quality is the issue here.

internal parasites it could be, but the other fish are growing as or faster than expected. the poop also looks normal. I have tetra parasite guard and prazipro. which one would be better to soak food in?

as far as food, i may go out and get another type of pellet. but the GTs seem to refuse to eat the hikari cichlid pellets and wait for the carnivore pellets. I would only feed the cichlid pellets but i am trying to beef up the bichirs too.

As the fish get bigger i will be moving them to my main tank. at this rate, he started off as the biggest and is now the smallest and so he should be the last one in there and maybe by himself at some point in the near future, but this is my only quarantine tank.
 
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