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View Full Version : Discus Growth Rate



TW
Tue Jul 01, 2008, 03:53 AM
In March this year, I got a couple of wild heckels that were around 6-7cms. As I've heard young fish don't grow so well in a planted community tank, I plan on keeping them in bare bottom QT till they grow big enough to move without having to worry about stunting, etc.

I guess there's maybe no exact answer - but (roughly) how big should I let them get BEFORE they move into the planted tank & (roughly) how long might it take for them to achieve the right size.

They are fed several times a day on home made beefheart, in case that has a bearing on the answer.

ILLUSN
Tue Jul 01, 2008, 01:12 PM
with good regular feedings and good water changes expect them to reach 6-7 inches in a few months (say 3-5).

my heckel in a planted tank with domestics isn't looking too good, will move him off into a BB tank on the week end with a couple of new wild tankmates.

TW
Tue Jul 01, 2008, 01:34 PM
with good regular feedings and good water changes expect them to reach 6-7 inches in a few months (say 3-5) Thanks for the advice ILLUSN. So 6-7 inches from tip of tail to tip of nose is the target to aim for, before attempting to move them into the community tank?
my heckel in a planted tank with domestics isn't looking too good,Is this one of the heckels that came from the same batch as mine? If yes, how big is he now? Where are the other heckels? Why do you think he doesn't look too good - because of the domestics or because he's too small to be in a planted community tank?

TW
Tue Jul 01, 2008, 01:36 PM
couple of new wild tankmatesDo share. What new wilds do you have? Where did you find them?

ILLUSN
Tue Jul 01, 2008, 01:52 PM
will put up photos of the new fish once i get them into the tank :)

getting them privately off someone moving on from discus.

my heckel is from the same batch as yours, he had a bit of a cloudy eye when i got him but i though it was easy enough to fix, he's just not putting on the weight fast enough, at best he's 8cm from mouth to start of tail, just always looks shy and a little thinner across the head then I'd expect for how long I've had him.

at 6-7 inches they are adult fish, they should get to a comfortable 8.5-9 inches with time, i think a 6 inch fish (minus tail) would be fine, just the juvis seem "fragile"

TW
Tue Jul 01, 2008, 02:14 PM
at 6-7 inches they are adult fishMine still have quite a bit of growing to do then. My QT is only 100L & I have no other option (other than community). Will this be big enough for them & 1 Rose Red to grow that big? I can move Rose Red on (once sure there is no residual sickness in the tank) but that leaves just 2 discus alone - not ideal.

Where are your other heckels from that batch? I thought you got a few? Remember reading that one died after metro, but what of the others? Or am I forgetting & you only had 2?