So, I picked up a rotkeil sev about this time last year and granted he was tiny, probably 1" maybe 1.25". He has been in similar water conditions for the last year or so always in decent sized tanks (125+) but he just doesn't seem to want to grow. At first he was super picky and only wanted blood worms, I don't feed blood worms often usually once a week max but usually closer to twice a month. He eventually got sick of waiting on me to feed worms and would eat a few crushed cichlid flakes here and there and would gnaw on the mini sinking hikari pellets, but never seemed thrilled about it.
Now a year later, he is roughly 3.5" maybe, still lives for the day I feed worms and seems to only eat enough other foods to keep himself living until the next worm day. I have watched the other 2 Sevs in the tank (a turq and a gold) go from 2-3" to 7-8" in the same year, granted they aren't picky and readily eat anything offered. I am most amazed that I added 2 tiny Uaru at the beginning of the year and they have tripled in size and outgrew the rotkeil in a matter of 4 months. I always thought Uaru were super slow growers, but they have thrived.
Would you guys agree that he literally isn't growing faster because he chooses not to eat more frequently and varied items?
Water:
240 gallon tank
nitrates 5ppm
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
pH 8 (comes from tap @ 7.0 but has loads of C02 that gases off and levels at 8)
tds was around 30-40 last time I checked
Picture might skew the actual size different a bit, but they are tough to get clear pictures of. Rotkeil and his buddies.
Now a year later, he is roughly 3.5" maybe, still lives for the day I feed worms and seems to only eat enough other foods to keep himself living until the next worm day. I have watched the other 2 Sevs in the tank (a turq and a gold) go from 2-3" to 7-8" in the same year, granted they aren't picky and readily eat anything offered. I am most amazed that I added 2 tiny Uaru at the beginning of the year and they have tripled in size and outgrew the rotkeil in a matter of 4 months. I always thought Uaru were super slow growers, but they have thrived.
Would you guys agree that he literally isn't growing faster because he chooses not to eat more frequently and varied items?
Water:
240 gallon tank
nitrates 5ppm
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
pH 8 (comes from tap @ 7.0 but has loads of C02 that gases off and levels at 8)
tds was around 30-40 last time I checked
Picture might skew the actual size different a bit, but they are tough to get clear pictures of. Rotkeil and his buddies.