midas head size

[davew]

when i first got my midas at about 4" not including tail it looked like me might be going to get a decent size head, but some some reason it seems to be shrinking he is by himself in a 75 gallon 50% water change every week and is feeding on NLS .
fish seems happy enough and doesn't seem to have any problem i'm just wondering why his head seems to be shrinking, the photo's are about 3 weeks apart.

 

[Madness]

I my experience, if they are not trying to defend, impress or challenge, their humps stay smaller than they could be.

 

[baldtaxguy]

Growing in length.

 

[davew]

he is growing quite fast so maybe that is why, i hope it grows back as he gets bigger, i can't have any tank mates in with him for him to impress as he kills everything.

 

[baldtaxguy]

The fish will size up as it matures. Vary your food.

 

[tjrcf25]

Breeding and solitary can cause heads to shrink. Put him in with other smaller males and after he establishes dominance his head will grow. Otherwise change his diet and give him more fat.

 

[RD.]

Madness gave you the best advice/info, no need to change or vary your fishes diet, doing so will have no effect on the size of his nuchal hump. The following link will explain things in more detail.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?472442-The-Nuchal-Hump-in-Amphilophus

HTH

 

[davew]

thanks RD very interesting read, i've no intention in changing the fish's diet from NLS i don't believe in all the so called hump forming foods that are on the market.
i just found it a bit puzzling as to why the hump on fish fish looks to be going down, when i first got him he had no hump and after a couple of weeks it started to grow and now it's gone back down but nothing in his tank or diet has changed.

 

[Chrisplosion]

NLS is hump growing food, its just a healthy food to feed your fish. If this is the sole fish in the tank I would consider adding a mirror every so often to help build his confidence or what ever you want to call it. Head size is almost purely genetics but with good food, clean water, and a little aggression you can help him reach his potential. Changes in environment, hierarchy, feeding, or stress are something that can cause to go down.

 

[RD.]

Dave - this is still a very young fish, and you've only had him since the beginning of Aug, correct? He's got lots of filling out to do over the next 12-18 months, and he is probably going to go through a lot of changes between now & then.

As Chris stated using a mirror can help, but personally I would just let nature take its course. A mirror basically triggers aggression, and can stimulate gonad development which nuchal hump growth is dependent on. Either way, if the genetics are there and all other things are equal, the nuchal hump will come in due time.