Baby not thriving...? R.I.P

[sammigold]

OK, this is the current situation after having put my three bubs into main tank two have grown well, one in particular very well but the littlest one is still very much the littlest... about the size of a ten cent piece (bigger than it was) I have noticed that he seems to be getting skinny and although I see him eat I am worried that he is not getting enough...

Today I caught him and put him in with my PB who is in solitary confinement as I thought I might try and fatten him up and get some growth if I can....Do you think this is the right thing to do... (He never got bullied by the pb in fact sometimes I would catch it sucking on him a bit so I am not worried about him getting bulllied)

Is there anything else I can do to try and help him grow up a bit....

I am worried that he has hardly grown at all since I got him 2months ago..

any suggestions would be appreciated...Thanks in advance :)

[Ben]

Hi Sammi,

Sometimes there will be a fish that not does not grow well but can be just as healthy as the others fish its with.

Runts will live a normal fishy life but never grow to full size.

Ben

[marg]

Hi Sammi -

I have the same problem as you - Five that are growing really well, and one little feller who is definately a "Littlie", there is nothing wrong with him/her - very lively, eats well and looks really healthy, just little. Pretty cute too :) :) .

I don't mind - I'm a shorty too (guess you could say I'm a bit of a runt - the rest of my family is a lot taller than me, but I'm just under 5 foot).

I say "Good things come in small packages".

Regards,

Marg.

[spotted]

Hi Sammi,

I have the same problem with one of mine snake skin, I did the same thing by move them to a BB tank and after 3 week I moved thim back with other fish and now he out grow the other that was chase him around.

I Hope your will be like mine after moving him to a different tank.

Cheers,

All the best wish.....

Loi.

[G-1000]

Sammi,

In a group of fish there is a runt. Always will be.

I dont know why it happens but it always does - even if you remove the runted one and feed it and w/c to buggery. I am not sure why this happens, but you see it in every fish tank.

Try taking that runt out with the pigeon and then check to see if all the others in the main tank grow out, or if one of them lags behind and becomes runted.

G

[sammigold]

Thanks guys, I know that he will be a runt, but he is so small at moment that I am thinking I have a new "strain" ; Toy Discus LOL... just like the Toy poodle... Ha Ha Ha...

Well time will tell... i just worry because he is significantly skinnier than he was a couple of weeks ago... no nice fat tummy... but we will see if this changes now that he is in different tank...

[mcloughlin2]

To keep things as simple as possible, there is always someone at the bottom of the hierachy...

In this case its this little guy...If removed from the others i doubt he would grow to full size as he would have got stunted growth from the lack of food in his early months ( Im not sayin u havnt fed him properly but he has been getting bullied) :D

If im correct you bought this little guy of crocky as you knew he was the runt...so i wouldnt really be worried unless he shows signs of ill health...

[sammigold]

yeh, I think he was originally destined for the frontosa tank LOL He's a cutie alright!!

[Crocky]

A few of his mates did,plus another 600 fry Nothing wrong with them just couldn't sell them.

Brad

[sammigold]

Oh Brad, thats sad to hear.... I will post some more shots of my bubs soon and you will see how well the other two are going...

ps... I am not giving up on "TINY" as I love him to bits....

[sharn]

at 10 cent piece size (assuming its close to NZ currency size, 1.5cm or so) i would think being in a BB tank with heaps of water changes would be best, the water in your average planted tank cant be kept as clean and water changes can upset plants. from what ive read youd only want to move them into a 'normal' tank when they hit around 8-10cm. HTH

[sammigold]

That could be the case sharn, but i do have to say that all my original babies were put straight into planted tank at the time I bought them at about 5-6cm and they have grown into lovely discus currently averaging between 11-13cm in the last 10months....and the other two new babies were put into main tank at about 20cent piece size and one has already tripled in size and the other probably about double... this little guy was a tiny 5cent piece size when I got him so he has grown a little but the growth definitely nothing like his mates.... Thanks for the advice... the tank he is in now is BB and I will see if that make a dif... I am thinking that just not having to hustle for food will make a big dif.
Ps. McCloughlin2: I do have to say that this little guy has never been bullied... I dont think anybody has found him a threat...they all seemed to be rather obliging around him.. even to the point of letting him suck on them as if they were surrogate parents..LOL

[sammigold]

Well I got up this morning and found my Little "Tiny" laying peacefully at the bottom of the tank... (I suppose he was just too little)

Here is a pic of him about 2 weeks ago in remembrance of him...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a328/sammigold/100_2158.jpg

this one shows how tiny he was in comparison to others

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a328/sammigold/bubssettling.jpg

[marg]

Sammi,

I am really sorry to hear of your loss, I know how awful it feels when you lose one.

I suspect that I have your Tiny's brother/sister - they both came from Crockys' and mine is the same colour as your Tiny, luckily my "Tiny" seems to be thriving - isn't growing like the others, but is very happy and lively nevertheless.

My others from Crockys' are coming along beautifully, all eating well and growing nicely - I am really pleased with them.


Regards,

Marg.

[Simone]

Sammi

sorry to hear of your loss! To sad! :(

[sammigold]

Marg, Yes my other two are growing beautifully and I will be posting some update pics in photo album section shortly.

thanks simone for your kind thoughts...

[Merrilyn]

So sorry to hear that Sammi. You did everything possible for the little guy. :(