How To Grow A Large Dovii

[terd ferguson]

That's a very interesting looking dovii you got there


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Not sure what you mean by interesting? His color is a little off since I changed his whole world around, he got a little stressed I guess from the changes. It's only been three days since I made all those changes in a single day. I've had the same thing happen to jaguars but they would go even darker, almost black. That dark coloration was also pretty standard when adding a juvenile jag to a tank with a bunch of full grown Parachromis. They would come out of it once they started reaching eight or nine inches or so. I would guess that was a sort of defense mechanism.

But I'm kind of rambling. The dovii is an F1 Nic from Ken Davis.

Your water temp seems pretty standard issue as most cichlid keepers(barring discus) have their temps between 78-82 degrees. The water changes are key, as you mentioned but I don't think a lone fish will emit hormones that will be detrimental to its own growth. Good luck raising your dovii...a beast in the making for sure. "Power Feeding" will only shorten the life of your prized dovii...it is not necessary to feed as much as you are regardless of the quality of food that is being given.

Good to hear about the hormones. When you mention shortened life, how much less than the average potential of twelve years give or take? NO offense meant, I really want to know, is this actual experience or hear say? The reason I ask is because I had a giant jag that lasted almost ten years fed like that.

You didn't mention how big he is. Guessing about 16-18 inches. He looks really good. What kind of live and prepared foods are you giving him?

That's a pretty good guess, he's between 16-18 inches. I haven't had him out to measure, just eyeing him up against known landmarks in the tank as he gets close. I feed Hikari Cichlid Bio Gold for a staple pellet. Live includes night crawlers, meal worms, crickets, and feeder fish (once a month or so). Frozen (thawed, lol) includes shrimp, tilapia filets, and a mix (shrimp, peas, spirulina, and vitamins).

I would say you are over feeding, Terd. Not one single day without feeeding those 5 minute doses?

I should have noted I fast him on water change day (every Sunday).

Good looking dovii...he looks hungry lol

Thanks! He's looking at me right now like he wants to eat. That, or get out of HIS living room.

Try fasting him 2-3 days in a row for 2-3 times a month. Works wonders for me! ;-)

Maybe I'll try two days a week instead of one? By the way, what's the science behind fasting? Thanks!

 

[fishman09]

That's a very interesting looking dovii you got there


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I tend to agree because of body shape. Ive never seen a large Nicaraguan male without much of a nuchal and that sloped of a face. Colors definitely change when stressed out.

 

[jagster]

Ye the shape of te head and face. Nothing bad just iv never seen a dovii look like that before


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[terd ferguson]

let nature take its course

What does that mean? lol. Nice username, I loves me some 2 tone, Selecters, Specials, and some Toots & the Maytalls.

Ditto. I've noticed a difference in grow rates this way. From what I have read, most predators will eat huge meals and not eat for days until the next big meal. This is the reason I am following suit. ;-)

My tip to the OP would be to raise temp to 82ish and skip a few days of feeding each week. Seems like he's feeding a ton. Five minutes seems to be a long time.

I'll try raising the temp and go to two days a week instead of one for fasting and see what happens. Five minutes seems like a long time, but it's probably not as large a quantity as you think. He spends as much time watching his food as eating it.

very nice dovii for his age. keep up with the feedings

Thanks!

Honestly I think cutting the food down and changing more water would result in longer life and a better growth rate. Mrmann was spot on when he said power feeding does its best work at shortening life span and not long term growth.

Another thing I've been wanting to try is to lower the temp for a couple weeks on my tanks to say 75 to decrease metabolism and slow feeding. Then bump it back up to 80 and jumpstart their metabolism. That 2 weeks would allow their body to relax and slow down a bit then be well rested for the temp increase. Only a theory but I'm doing something similar with my beani. I'm allowing no heater so they go through the seasons unlike the other tanks so when it's cool they tank drops and in the summer when it heats up the tank will hear up giving them a rest time in the winter and in the summer they'll have energy for growth and breeding

Lol, 300 gallons a week on city water is already pretty expensive (plus a wife and two teenage daughters, haha). But for me, the fish come first, if I should be changing more I wouldn't be against it. With the mangroves, the nitrates are virtually zero after a week as is. What is your water schedule like, what is more often? I'll ask you about the lifespan issue as well, is this your experience or hearsay? That's really interesting about changing the temps. I'd be super interested to hear your real life results with this.

I tend to agree because of body shape. Ive never seen a large Nicaraguan male without much of a nuchal and that sloped of a face. Colors definitely change when stressed out.

Ye the shape of te head and face. Nothing bad just iv never seen a dovii look like that before

Might be the angle of the fish in the pic? And fishman, he did have a much more pronounced nuchal hump when he had a tank full of buddies. His color is better today than yesterday, I'm assuming he'll be back to normal before too much longer. I'll try to get some good straight on side pics soon...


***EDITED TO ADD***
I know this pic sucks, he is very active and it's hard to catch him still from the side. The only time he is not really moving is when I'm near the tank and he sits there and stares me down head on, lol. But anyway, as blurry as it is, you can see some hump, again, not as pronounced as when he had a bunch of tankmates.

 

[terd ferguson]

I'm curious to hear thoughts you guys have on how having a mate may influence growth??

 

[fishman09]

Lol, 300 gallons a week on city water is already pretty expensive (plus a wife and two teenage daughters, haha). But for me, the fish come first, if I should be changing more I wouldn't be against it. With the mangroves, the nitrates are virtually zero after a week as is. What is your water schedule like, what is more often? I'll ask you about the lifespan issue as well, is this your experience or hearsay? That's really interesting about changing the temps. I'd be super interested to hear your real life results with this.






Might be the angle of the fish in the pic? And fishman, he did have a much more pronounced nuchal hump when he had a tank full of buddies. His color is better today than yesterday, I'm assuming he'll be back to normal before too much longer. I'll try to get some good straight on side pics soon...


***EDITED TO ADD***
I know this pic sucks, he is very active and it's hard to catch him still from the side. The only time he is not really moving is when I'm near the tank and he sits there and stares me down head on, lol. But anyway, as blurry as it is, you can see some hump, again, not as pronounced as when he had a bunch of tankmates.

For me I change over 800 gallons weekly in my fishroom and i dont have to do anything lol (drip system). My dovii tank which is a 6x2x20" 150 hooked to the same sump as my 225 umbee tank=375 gallons total I do 336 gallons weekly changed and 48 gallons daily via the drip. You may not need to change "more" water but i am a firm believer in changing water more often and in less amounts to total a high number changed vs changing once weekly. I believe the water stays more consistent and there isnt any major fluctuation in perams/hormones. So maybe instead of 1x75% weekly maybe go 3x25-30% and keep the water at a more stable level. My fish have grown faster with the constant drip keeping everything the same all the time vs manual changes even though the amount I am changing is similar if not even less. I feel as if other things that arent tested is usual tests are crucial to growth and keeping levels more stable will be much better in the long run. We need to remember in the wild rivers and lakes are so vast that the issues we have in our tanks we fix via water changes are basically nonexistent.

As far as the lifespan thing Its not from personal experience but many monsters lately have been suspiciously dieing at a relatively young age with the suspect being overfeeding and fatty liver deposits from high fat foods.

 

[fishman09]

I'm curious to hear thoughts you guys have on how having a mate may influence growth??

I believe having a mate may for a fish as old as yours may speed up growth as it will kickstart some unused hormones and may give him a boost. Mel's Dovii is still breeding and growing at 12 years old or so maybe its good to keep from bottling up the hormones at advanced ages to keep them growing at a good rate and breeding may keep the system running. Just hypothesis though and may be way off lol

 

[terd ferguson]

For me I change over 800 gallons weekly in my fishroom and i dont have to do anything lol (drip system). My dovii tank which is a 6x2x20" 150 hooked to the same sump as my 225 umbee tank=375 gallons total I do 336 gallons weekly changed and 48 gallons daily via the drip. You may not need to change "more" water but i am a firm believer in changing water more often and in less amounts to total a high number changed vs changing once weekly. I believe the water stays more consistent and there isnt any major fluctuation in perams/hormones. So maybe instead of 1x75% weekly maybe go 3x25-30% and keep the water at a more stable level. My fish have grown faster with the constant drip keeping everything the same all the time vs manual changes even though the amount I am changing is similar if not even less. I feel as if other things that arent tested is usual tests are crucial to growth and keeping levels more stable will be much better in the long run. We need to remember in the wild rivers and lakes are so vast that the issues we have in our tanks we fix via water changes are basically nonexistent.

As far as the lifespan thing Its not from personal experience but many monsters lately have been suspiciously dieing at a relatively young age with the suspect being overfeeding and fatty liver deposits from high fat foods.

So maybe 100 gallons three times a week? That's doable. I'd really love to have a drip system, but the tank is against an outside wall with no water lines nearby. As is, I add a gallon or two every day from evaporation. So, that's sort of a drip system, lol.

I believe having a mate may for a fish as old as yours may speed up growth as it will kickstart some unused hormones and may give him a boost. Mel's Dovii is still breeding and growing at 12 years old or so maybe its good to keep from bottling up the hormones at advanced ages to keep them growing at a good rate and breeding may keep the system running. Just hypothesis though and may be way off lol

I've been thinking the same thing. I've considered adding a female now that he's all alone. It may be hard to find one big enough to catch his fancy. I definitely wouldn't want to add one too small to get beat up or chased to a stressful death. I think I'd want a female at least six inches or more.

Who's got one?

 

[terd ferguson]

While we're at it, let's talk about something else. Will lighting have an effect on growth? I use 8 four foot t5's currently. It is a lot of light now that the tank is more bare, it was a lot less with all the plants.

 

[Pharaoh]

I doubt lighting will affect growth.

As for the lifespan, 10 years for a Jag isn't that long. 15-20 years is more like the expected lifespan.