stunted fish & other question

[k9outfit]

My shipment of fishies finally arrived! :wave2 They're happily in their new homes, seemingly no worse for wear.

Looking at them, I noticed that these Discus have "small" eyes, compared to my original batch, which I believe are San Merahs. I've had the 1st few since end of April, with the largest being ~3.5" from nose to tail tip (8.5-9 cm). The new ones which are apparently ~2-3 months old, for the most part are larger than my original few. Therefore, I'm assuming that my 1st ones are somewhat stunted? Is there any way to get them caught up, or will they always be smaller than their potential? I feed 3x/day, and do a minimum 20% w/c at least 3 times a week.

Something that was suggested for optimum growth, was to cram 2 batches (10 juvies) together into a smaller tank, so they don't "run off all they eat". The new guys are surprisingly active, so this does seem to have some merit. Any thoughts?

TIA :)

[shayesmommy]

hey rita.
i dont think they are stunted so much as maybe he measured them wrong.
cause from the way to person at big al said 'big red' was in there for a while before we bought him not to mention the time before he was in the store. and all these fish are bigger then the ones i had in the orginally. even "big red"
i dont0 know where you got yours. but maybe he just measure nose to before tail or something.(steve)
he also told me that they were pretty much exactually 2.5 inches.
i measured the first set before i got them.
and they were about 2.5-3 give or take and they werent right beside the glass.