question about growth
- Thread starter perun28
- Start date
2"-12" shouldn't take 12-18 months. I'd say no more than a year. If it takes longer, then you're not providing for it's needs. Wolf you're right that an ocellaris doesn't grow as fast a tem, but a tem would do that 10" growth 6 months.
Is any of this based on actual expierance or just on extrapolation?...because Pbass are my wifes main intrest and we have grown out quite a few of them over the last year and a half. All of them from sub 3" babies. They are NOT over crowded, have large tanks and are fed PROPERLY with more than adiquate water changes. There is nothing stunted about any of our fish and what I posted was the growth rate we observed in multipul examples.
I've currently got 2 tems, 3 orinos, 1 azul and a tem hybrid. I've had about 5 monocs, another orino and azul and 4 other tems. The two tems I have grew in an overstocked 55g from 4" to 8" in about 3 months. Then I moved then to my 450g where they have gone from 8-14" in the last 4 months. Maybe not as much as experience as you, I don't know. But it's not what I'm guessing.
almost all cichla "if fed properly daily" will grow 1-2" a month then slow down around 12"...then speed up again between 15"-22"......this can also be manipulated with the amount of tankspace given..bigger the tank=more excercise=faster metabolism compared to being cramped in a small tank with limited room to move and temp will also play into this...this is also affected by tankmates, if you put in aggressive tankmates or predatory fish when your cichla are young they will tend to recluse and in turn not move about as much....back to growth rates.....tem growth is a bit misrepresented in the fact its a different cichla ...being it is "long and slender" compared to monocs ect(thick and tall)....the rate is the same,but at around 10-12" monocs grow girth and thicken up whereas tems basically keep putting on length and dont really thicken up untill after 20" 
and thats from experience of many species of tem and monoc ect ect grown out to adulthood and not just kept for awhile.,,,, the only cichla that I can say grows at an extremely slower rate is orinocensis than the other species. So with that said...any properly maintained cichla can be expected to put on at least 1" per month...so if your fish is 2"..proper feeding,temp,tankmates,and water parameters will put him at 12" in 9-10months from now...at that point he will stall and start bulking a bit before he starts another growth run on length.
and thats from experience of many species of tem and monoc ect ect grown out to adulthood and not just kept for awhile.,,,, the only cichla that I can say grows at an extremely slower rate is orinocensis than the other species. So with that said...any properly maintained cichla can be expected to put on at least 1" per month...so if your fish is 2"..proper feeding,temp,tankmates,and water parameters will put him at 12" in 9-10months from now...at that point he will stall and start bulking a bit before he starts another growth run on length.Just for comparison, my Ocellaris was about 2-3 inches in March and he is about 15 inches now. Hes in an 1100 gallon pond now, but he hasnt always been in this pond. He went from a 30B, 40B, 75, and now in the pond..
Looks like hes grown about 12 inches in 8 months or so..
Looks like hes grown about 12 inches in 8 months or so..
I can't say that I've ever really concidered the presance of tankmates as a factor in the growth rate. We don't have a single tank in the house with nothing but Pbass in it so I bow to the greater expierance of Dmack and will assume that the presance of our other fish has slowed the growth rate of our Pbass. I know for a fact that the large Pbass in the same tank with our 20" silver aro all concider her the tank boss...