Red devil growth?

[fishman112]

G'day all!,
I was just wondering, as i just bought 2- 1"-1.5" red devil ( more than likely a hybrid between midas and red devil).
How fast they grow?, i searched the forums for the answer earlier, but to no avail. Do\Would they grow faster if i do more water changes?.

 

[crmarti]

i bought one at about that sizze last summer and it didnt seem to grow much in the first two or three weeks but after about a month he began to grow at probably an inch every month or month and a half until he was about 6 or 7 inches and now he has stopped growing as fast. i didnt do very frequent changes but it would seem that the better the water conditions the healthier the fish would be.

 

[fishman112]

Ohk, thanks mate. And i was reading about black gravel, and appaently it intensifies the fish's colour?, is that true?.

 

[orbit]

i bought one at about that sizze last summer and it didnt seem to grow much in the first two or three weeks but after about a month he began to grow at probably an inch every month or month and a half until he was about 6 or 7 inches and now he has stopped growing as fast. i didnt do very frequent changes but it would seem that the better the water conditions the healthier the fish would be.

Agree.

Ohk, thanks mate. And i was reading about black gravel, and appaently it intensifies the fish's colour?, is that true?.

The color of the gravel will just make the cichlid's color stronger appearing. There is a food you can feed them to give them more reds. Unfortunately I cannot remember what its called...

 

[crmarti]

yea im not sure if the substrate effects the actual color but it does make it look like they are better or worse. i have mine with sand substrate and it doesnt do anything for his color as he is rather pale most of the time.

 

[orbit]

Im pretty sure Modest_Man knows the name of what is in the foods for redness enrichment.

It is a natural product in foods in the wild.

 

[fishluvr12]

Water temp.,food type and amount and water changes will all affect growth rate.Yes,darker gravel usually will show the fishes color better.

So Yes, more water changes increases growth rate.

 

[cichlid2006]

foods high in astaxanthin will give good reds as will feeding foods based around spirinula (veggie food sticks/tabs). most fish foods have astaxanthin added as well as other vitamins/minerals to increase other colours too.
my midas gets spirinula sticks, earthworm sticks, gut loaded (with carrots) mealworms, frozen bloodworm and hikari cichlid gold as staple.

 

[fishman112]

Thanks for all the replys!.
I bought some Hikari carnivore food sticks, the guy at the lfs said it should enhance there colour somewhat.

 

[fishman112]

Water temp.,food type and amount and water changes will all affect growth rate.Yes,darker gravel usually will show the fishes color better.

So Yes, more water changes increases growth rate.

Are frequent large water changes better?, or frequent small water changes?.