Slow growing Trimac?

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shawe1

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Aug 28, 2013
336
7
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Hertfordshire, England
I picked up some trimac at the end of November 2018 and the lone male survivor is now in with some other tank mates and seems to be doing rather well. The only problem is he is growing incredibly slow.

When I got him he was an inch long. 8 months later he is 6 inches long and he hasn't grown in length in nearly 3 months (since I last measured him during a tank move).

All other tank mates seem to be growing reasonably, well however this guy doesn't seem to be.

The tank is a 120g (4x2) and houses an 8 inch lyonsi (female), the 6 inch male trimac, a 4 inch unknown amph, 3.5 inch gramodes and a 2.5 inch black belt. I'm doing 70/80% weekly water changes and feeding once a day. Hardly any aggression in the tank at all and the trimac is the 2nd most dominant behind the lyonsi.

Any ideas on what could speed his growth up a bit or is it just a case of being patient?
 
shawe1 said:
I picked up some trimac at the end of November 2018 and the lone male survivor is now in with some other tank mates and seems to be doing rather well. The only problem is he is growing incredibly slow.

When I got him he was an inch long. 8 months later he is 6 inches long and he hasn't grown in length in nearly 3 months (since I last measured him during a tank move).

All other tank mates seem to be growing reasonably, well however this guy doesn't seem to be.

The tank is a 120g (4x2) and houses an 8 inch lyonsi (female), the 6 inch male trimac, a 4 inch unknown amph, 3.5 inch gramodes and a 2.5 inch black belt. I'm doing 70/80% weekly water changes and feeding once a day. Hardly any aggression in the tank at all and the trimac is the 2nd most dominant behind the lyonsi.

Any ideas on what could speed his growth up a bit or is it just a case of being patient?
Click to expand...
Are you sure it’s a male?
 
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What's the water change schedule of your tank, I find lots of water changes seem to increase growth, I usually do 30%-40% of the tank volume every other day.
 
duanes said:
What's the water change schedule of your tank, I find lots of water changes seem to increase growth, I usually do 30%-40% of the tank volume every other day.
Click to expand...

I'm currently doing a 70/80% water change each week.

The other fish seem to be growing well which is why I find this unusual. I know someone who owns a male sibling and he is approx 30/40% larger than this specimen?
 
If there are other cichlid in the tank, and one or more, is more alpha than the trimac, theymay be producing growth inhibiting hormones, or even thru intimidation alone.
Or as Mojo asked, could it be a female?
Some shots of a female I had.


she was about 1/3 smaller than my male.
 
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