Discus Growth Rate

[Dave76]

Hi all

When I purchased my 6 discus back in September they were all around the same size about 2 inches.

Three months in, one of the blue turqs is at 4inches, one of the blue diamonds hasn't changed and the other four are all somewhere in between.

Is this a normal thing to happen, or should they all be growing at sort of the same rate ?

They are fed an assortment of frozen & dry foods and appear to eat all day long.

Thanks

Dave

[chris_d]

perhaps dominance in the tank is what's happening, which has affected the feeding amount of your discus. bigger eats all before the lesser ones!

[weird]

I had a similar experience. My blue diamond was continually getting picked on by 2 pigeon bloods. He was the bottom of the pecking order. I introduced 2 adult turqs that claimed top position in the tank ... the pigeon bloods don't harress the blue diamond as much now, and the little guys growth has exploded, so much so he has caught up with everyone. Also at the same time I started feeding them a good quality beef heart mix (discus dinner).

[kalebjarrod]

individuals grow at different rates

if the small ones are eating well don't worry to much, thats life :wink:

[Annie]

Dominance is a big thing when it comes to these guys. The is usually one or two who think they are the kings of the tank. They consume most, this is why I like to hand feed, they all come up to eat at the same time, and no one gets left out.
Another thing to look for is stunting growth, one sign is in the eyes. I got 3 Blue Diamond a year ago the end of September. Then from the same batch two months later, I picked up the last two they had left, because they were not being well taken care of. The water looked terrible. The last two of the Blue Diamonds that I got (which their growth had been stunted bfore I got them) have basically black eyes. One of them is slightly bigger, and you can just see a twinge of red in his eyes. The other 3 that I had first have out grew them 4-5 times in size with awesome looking color, eyes and size. I have had them for over a year now, and the two which are stunted are the same size as about when I got them.

** edited all those wonderful "typos"...got to love e'm..lol :wink: **

[chris_d]

if they are getting picked on during feeding time try using two food dispensers at either end of the tank, that way the lesser ones has some equal chance to grow

[Dave76]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I've setup three feeding cones in different parts of the tank to help with the aggression already. One of the discus - about 3" - thinks he is the boss and tries to stop feeding at all three cones - a difficult task considering the tank is 8ft long :) He does that for about five minutes then gives up and lets everyone have some food - it is quite funny to watch.

I am expecting another six 3inch discus next week, so that should also help the situation I suspect.

Thanks for the advise on the eyes Annie - I will check them out tonight when I get home.

Dave

[nag]

Growth pattern differ during the onset of Hierarchal Odering...That's the dominant ones start occupying the top positions (ranks)...This is a normal phenomenon with all Cichlids...