Jag growth problem =S...

[kpicht]

Hi . I have a problem with a male jag growth .....I have 10 months with him, in this time he only grows from 2" to 6", he is in a 210gal tank....I do 50-60% WC every sundays and I feed him tetra cichlid sticks/hikari cichlid staple/beefheart/shrimps/worms/crickets.........he is not the top fish in the tank, but nobody bullies him....
In the same LFS where I buy him, they still have a jag from the same batch. Is in a 30gal, but is 10" .......

Is my jag just a slow grower?....a pigmy jag?.....what can I do?....I need your advices please.....
Thanks a lot, and sorry for my poor English ....

 

[Miles]

Not the top fish in the tank can do it..

Any time a fish is under stress (even if its not overwhelmingly apparant), it will grow slower.. I bet if he was the largest cichlid in there when you first bought him, he would be larger than 10" by now..

I see this all the time at my work, people buying 2 cichlids (usually oscars) and one getting 12" and killing the other before it reaches 5"..

 

[cichlid savage]

I agree if he is not the top fish in the tank he will grow slower. If you have the tank space put him alone for a few months and let him pick up some size. The only problem with that is there may be some territorial issues with the other fish when you try to reintroduce him. Other than that let nature take its course.

 

[Cross127]

I agree if he is not the top fish in the tank he will grow slower. If you have the tank space put him alone for a few months and let him pick up some size. The only problem with that is there may be some territorial issues with the other fish when you try to reintroduce him. Other than that let nature take its course.

That is not always true. My con in with my salvini and FM is lower in the pecking order than damn cory cats in with them as well and he seems to be the only one bulking up and getting bigger. I am proud of him though he finally stuck up for himself after a year of hiding and being pestered. He now swims up front of the tank and doesn't really back down anymore. I think your problem is you just have a slow grower. This is very common because of weak genes from parent fish. He will grow up but it will take a VERY long time.

 

[kpicht]

Hi and thanks for all...the jag has been in the 210 tank since I buy him.....The top fish in the tank is a KK parrot, here is the list of all the fish in the tank:
*10" Oscar
*9" KK Parrot
*8" Aequidens Tetramerus
*7" H. Severum
*5" female JD
*4" male GT
*4" female Salvini
*6" Jag

None of them is an agressive fish that could bully the jag....When I buyed the Jag, he was the biggest from the batch.......
Right now I have an empty 75gal, but I think that if I change the jag alone in that tank, maybe he could change to a super killing machine ....being alone and that stuff.............
Dou you think he could grow a lot more?....or he will be a midget forever?.....or maybe just a slow grower?.....
Thanks a lot

 

[cichniss]

You probably should put him in the 75 with a shoal of tetras or some other dither just to see if he is growing slowly from being stressed or from weak genes. If he starts growing more alone then you could get some size on him and put him back in the 210 or leave him in the 75 for life. If he doesnt grow much alone then he must have weak genes and he will get bigger it will just take a VERY VERY long time. If you arent too attached you could trade him in for another jag.

 

[Fish on Fire]

The jag will grow fast if you isolate him. At least from my experience. More water changes would help too. Stick him in that 75 and do water changes at least twice a week. You'll see his growth rate shoot up cause there won't be any other fish to compete with him.

 

[squirt2005]

I agree with fish on fire, he was your smallest and had more competition. If you want him to grow faster isolation and h2o changes are key points. Also
the higher the temperature of the water the faster the metabolism will be equals faster growth. You could keep him in your tank with the others though.
Slow growth won't hurt him and once he matures a bit more he'll become more dominant.

 

[Bderick67]

pretty much what everyone stated is true, does it bother you that he is a slow grower? if not keep him where he's at and enjoy your fish. If ti does bother you then isolate, up the temp, power feed and double the water changes.

 

[skiptomyzoo]

like everyone else said, the dominance factor plays a huge part, my roomate bought two oscars both out of the same tank both 2 inches at the time and raised them together, they had to be seperated because the one is currently at 9 and the other maybe 5 on a good day. Mine was in a seperate tank untill recently and its gone from 2.5 inches when i got him in the middle of may to 8 inches now, so seperation does work wonders.