example of 90% water changes for fast growth = fast money
Speed up fish growth
- Thread starter SLS_23
- Start date
Someone needs to tell my clown loach that water changes speed up growth. I think they missed the memo! Lol.
Certain species grow slow because their lifespan is so long.
Since clown loaches live over 30 years, slower growth is the norm.
Most cichlids are lucky to make 10, years in aquaria, and less than half that is common in nature, so they need to mature as quickly as possible, and reach territory defending size, to maintain the species.
Consider killifish, although small, many need to cram growth and maturity and an entire lifespan, into a single season, going from tiny egg to full size adult in only a few months.
The < 1/2" fry (above) are full 3" adults in weeks (below).
Since clown loaches live over 30 years, slower growth is the norm.
Most cichlids are lucky to make 10, years in aquaria, and less than half that is common in nature, so they need to mature as quickly as possible, and reach territory defending size, to maintain the species.
Consider killifish, although small, many need to cram growth and maturity and an entire lifespan, into a single season, going from tiny egg to full size adult in only a few months.
The < 1/2" fry (above) are full 3" adults in weeks (below).
Feed three times a day I read a study if I find it I will post a link that feeding the fish three times a day compared to 2 produced way faster growth. Also put Plants like pothos or an algae scrubber to pull the nutrients out of the water the lower you can keep your nitrates the better and the less water changes you do while keeping your nitrates low the better. the parameter swings from a water change are usually not that big of a deal but if you are trying to get the fastest growth possible keeping your parameters in the tank as stable as possible is better for the fish. I use a continuous water change, Pothos and an algae scrubber.
Touche. I'd really love to ask mine 'Is close-to-undetectable-NO3 a joke to you circus of clowns?", lol.
While I agree that a continuous water change system would be optimal, I don't see a problem with frequent large changes either. Wild parameter swings are of course undesirable, but the most likely reason for them to occur is infrequent water changes. If you let your water go for weeks and then do an abrupt large change, you might (and hopefully will) see some large parameter changes, but that's only because you waited so long before changing the water, allowing more time for wastes to accumulate. But if you do a weekly or twice-weekly schedule, the parameter shift will be minimal simply because there is no time for the water to deteriorate.
The only time I would hesitate to do a large, fin-level-type water change would be in a severely neglected tank that had gone many weeks or months without a change...yes, there are still people keeping fish that way! I'm not entirely convinced that any harm would come from a single massive change, but I might be convinced to do smaller (still at least 50%) changes daily for several days. I would be more concerned with pH shock than anything else.
Don't change water when it is polluted; change it before it has a chance to become polluted.
Your right. I was only saying that because he was looking for optimal growth so the little things add up. If you want the fastest growth the cleaner, more stable , better food and bigger the space. Also set the tank to the high end of the temp range for your fish. Will yeald better results.
I have done water huge water changes and would do it again.
Try switching to Hikari Cichlid Bio-Gold instead of thier standard gold, they claim lab verified superior growth and,
contains beneficial, live microorganisms that promote rapid, fat-free growth as well as active waste composition.
contains beneficial, live microorganisms that promote rapid, fat-free growth as well as active waste composition.
Just need to get lucky and get more females with genetics favoring growth.
I got 5 loaches in 2018. One is clearly a female and she's about a third of the size of my big 25+ year old female. She is almost as long as my big mama but probably only third as tall.and not as thick. If this female is fortunate enough to live that long, she will clearly surpass the size of my big mama loach.
Meanwhile, the other 25 year old is obviously a male and some of the other 4 year olds are bigger than him. I have a clown loach that also appears to be male that was supposedly already about 3-4 years old when I adopted him in late 2018 and I think he's the smallest out of my 7 loaches .
I plan on finally getting a bigger tank and expanding my school of loaches. I hope I get lucky enough to get a few more females when I add to my stock.
As someone else already mentioned, I think supplementing with frozen or live food might help. The growth rate of my fish exploded when I added in a daily feeding of frozen brine shrimp or blood worms. I’ve found this to be true for everything from small livebearers to large cichlids
