How would i be able to tell if my fish are stunted? I have fish that get fairly large in my 6x2x2 180g. Longnose Gars and TSNC are the ones im concerned with. They are all 15" and i havent seen either of them grow in like 5 months. I know the TSNC grows kinda fast with the proper diet and i know the gars arent even close to max size either. Any help? Thanks!
Stunted
- Thread starter thatdudeoverthere21
- Start date
Each species is different and there are always individuals that grow a bit differently within each species. Having said that, while every species will likely have periods of low growth from time to time, it's likely that any extensive period of unnaturally slow growth will lead to some stunting.
Will it be noticeable? Will it be unhealthy? Possibly so if this happened early in the fish's life and was for an extended time.
Is it correctable? With older fish, probably to an extent, but only if the cause was corrected and the length of time was not too long. Younger fish who have extended slow growth are probably less likely to recover meaningfully.
Fish under captivity will rarely if ever reach the maximum size seen in the wild (exceptions for fish which normally live in oppressive conditions in the wild.) Reaching 75-80% of the maximum wild size would often be an excellent achievement under captivity.
Proper nutirition, appropriate and clean water, limited stress, good health and ample space are probably all effective in enhancing growth. Of course, this takes time.
Will it be noticeable? Will it be unhealthy? Possibly so if this happened early in the fish's life and was for an extended time.
Is it correctable? With older fish, probably to an extent, but only if the cause was corrected and the length of time was not too long. Younger fish who have extended slow growth are probably less likely to recover meaningfully.
Fish under captivity will rarely if ever reach the maximum size seen in the wild (exceptions for fish which normally live in oppressive conditions in the wild.) Reaching 75-80% of the maximum wild size would often be an excellent achievement under captivity.
Proper nutirition, appropriate and clean water, limited stress, good health and ample space are probably all effective in enhancing growth. Of course, this takes time.
Wow! Thanks for all the info Drstrangelove. I do agree with the fish not getting to there size in the wild but still, the catfish and gars will get bigger than what they are and i havent seen any growth in like 5 months. I do believe my catfish is under some stress with the introduction of large Pbass. He doesnt like her and freaks out when she eats, darting back and forth across the tank, bumping everything in his path. But ive only had the pbass for about a month. I dont see any stress with the gars, they are both laid back. I feed them shrimp, silversides, live flathead minnows. Any other advice for nutrition? I will start to do more water changes with taking out more water. I do believe they have plenty of room. Stress is something i dont know how to fix though.
Thank you for all the information.
I do about 30g every sunday. There has been times i miss a sunday and just do it the following week.
What is your nitrate level?
I would double volume of the wc. Every time take out 60 gallon. And try not to skip.
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I would double volume of the wc. Every time take out 60 gallon. And try not to skip.
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i couldnt tell you my nitrate levels right now. And in all honesty i havent checked in a while which i know is bad but thanks for the advice! i Defiantly will start doing that.
Also, if you find yourself skipping-life happens-search the forum for using pothos to reduce nitrates.
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Hmm, alright. Good idea haha. Thank you very much for the help! im starting to think my TSN is under to much stress. But i will do more research and wc's