Feeding & Small Size

saqmaster · Post by **saqmaster** » 09 Sep 2003, 10:22

Hi all

I've got a 50 gallon catifsh tank (with a few angel fish) and am a bit confused about the lack of growth of my L's.

I have a golden nugget, bullnose, flash, couple of peckoltias etc but none of them seem to be growing at any reasonable rate. I've had most of them nearly 2 years now and they're all still about 3" long.. From my experience in the past, plecs have always grown reasonably quickly (although I am referring to common/royal varieties)..

I feed them a diet of wafers, tablets and the occasional cucumber.. which they do actively eat.. but they just dont seem to grow!

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Stu

Post by **Silurus** » 09 Sep 2003, 12:25

What temperature is your tank at? Fish tend to grow slower if the temps are lower.

saqmaster · Post by **saqmaster** » 09 Sep 2003, 12:38

Silurus wrote:What temperature is your tank at? Fish tend to grow slower if the temps are lower.

It's about 78-80.. but does rise to up to 88F in the summer due to the ambient temperature..

Post by **Silurus** » 09 Sep 2003, 13:20

Two other possibilities come to mind:
1. They are harboring internal parasites (although I think this would have killed them long ago).
2. You are not providing enough protein in their diet. Try providing meatier foods to see if there's any effect.

saqmaster · Post by **saqmaster** » 09 Sep 2003, 15:39

Silurus wrote:Two other possibilities come to mind:
1. They are harboring internal parasites (although I think this would have killed them long ago).
2. You are not providing enough protein in their diet. Try providing meatier foods to see if there's any effect.

Yeah, I highly doubt they've got any kind of parasites or infections - as you say, they would have most likely shown signs of sickness by now (i've kept fish for 15 years and never seen this before!).

I'm guessing it is purely down to diet. They do look very healthy and are always active, but they're just not growing!. I'll try some bloodworm.

Thanks

Stu

S. Allen · Post by **S. Allen** » 09 Sep 2003, 23:04

Oddly enough I have noticed a massive growth spurt in some of my pleco species since I moved, about 3 months ago, and I'm at a loss for the reason. Water changes are on the same schedule, the feeding's on the same schedule, no change in temp or filtration or anything that I can think could cause growth inhibition or a growth spurt.

2 changes are that I've changed from feeding mainly earthworm based flake with frozen treats and pellets to a spirulina based flake, and that I'm thinking my water's changed a bit. Still the same city, but different plant, and the pipes in this house are old, gotta run the water a few seconds before it stops running red... The growth has been in both omnivorous plecos and herbivorous ones, so the food doesn't seem to be a factor, but I can't really explain why the water would change things. Actually seems that my rays have grown more than normal in the time period too.

saqmaster · Post by **saqmaster** » 09 Sep 2003, 23:34

S. Allen wrote:Oddly enough I have noticed a massive growth spurt in some of my pl*co species since I moved, about 3 months ago, and I'm at a loss for the reason. Water changes are on the same schedule, the feeding's on the same schedule, no change in temp or filtration or anything that I can think could cause growth inhibition or a growth spurt.

2 changes are that I've changed from feeding mainly earthworm based flake with frozen treats and pellets to a spirulina based flake, and that I'm thinking my water's changed a bit. Still the same city, but different plant, and the pipes in this house are old, gotta run the water a few seconds before it stops running red... The growth has been in both omnivorous pl*cos and herbivorous ones, so the food doesn't seem to be a factor, but I can't really explain why the water would change things. Actually seems that my rays have grown more than normal in the time period too.

Yeah, I moved about a year ago. But I use a "Nitrogon" device which sorts the water out, so it should be roughly the same (maybe hardness is slightly different).. The plot continues..

Stu

Post by **Barbie** » 15 Sep 2003, 09:17

Scott when you moved your tanks, did you move most of the volume of tank water? Or just part of it? I do 30% water changes minimum, on a weekly basis on my tanks, and was amazed that I actually had some fairly high nitrate readings on a few tanks that I'd been feeding heavily to promote growth. Most plecos growth rates seem to slow when there is a build up of nitrates, whether those are linked to some "growth" hormone in the water that they release or not is one of those constantly argued facts. I just know that it seems like the larger volume changes make for fish that grow faster.

You also don't mention your maintenance schedule saqmaster. How often do you change water, and how much do you change when you do it? What is your tap pH and your tank filtration? All of that information would give us more of an idea how to help you.

Barbie

S. Allen · Post by **S. Allen** » 15 Sep 2003, 17:02

no barbie, moved maybe 20 gallons of 90... I don't know how much difference it'd make though.. that tank get's 50% water changes twice a week, I know it won't matter in the ray tank, 90% water changes on the same schedule. maybe I'll have to break out the nitrate test kit... I hate that thing.