# Cichlids not growing



## Randymc5 (Dec 9, 2015)

I have had my african cichlids for about 2 years now, and they were in a 20 gallon for about 5 months, then I upgraded to a 55. I do a 60 percent water change every week, and feed them Omega One Super Color Cichlid pellet twice a day. They have grown a little since the tank upgrade, but seem to have maxed out at about 3 inches, even though they should be around 4-5 by now. I only have 9 adult fish in the tank, and about 3 fry survivors. So how can I get my cichlids to reach their full growth potential.

Stock List;
1x Red Zebra
1x Yellow Lab
2x Ob peacock (1m 1f)
1x Exasperatus
1x Rusty
1x Ob Zebra
1x Powder Blue Socolofi
3x fry


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Cichlids grow throughout their lifetimes and so will reach their maximum sizes toward the end of the 8 years. Are you counting the tail?

What are your test results for nitrates?


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## dledinger (Mar 20, 2013)

Well....I'll say that at the end of two years they should be dang big. They may grow throughout their life, but the growth through those years is so minuscule compared to what should have already happened that it's not worth discussing. For example, I've had fry grow to 7" in 365 days, and grow less than .125" in 6 years thereafter. They grew, for sure, but it's absurdly slow.

- Keep sex in mind....females can be much smaller. To compare with your stock list, I've had male Zebras reach 5"+ in a year while the females raised under the same conditions stayed at 3".
- Per above...be mindful of nitrates. High nitrates will stunt growth for sure.
- Rustys and labs reach no where near the size of Zebras and Socolofi; both in length and girth.


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## Randymc5 (Dec 9, 2015)

@dledinger @DJransom My nitrates are typically around 5-10


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

One other thing that sticks out is you mention feeding just one food. Might be good to mix it up a bit, using some different types of food.


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

This is one type of stunting, i.e., limiting the growth during the early stages when most growth should be occurring. The five months in the small tank has reduced their potential to grow to full size. Most of the growth is in the early part of their lives, as was noted above, but especially in the first few months. They likely will grow to a reasonable size over a period of some years, but I would not expect them to ever reach maximum size.

I often see people putting young fish in a smaller tank for growout, but not all realize that a smaller tank will require more frequent water changes (I've seen people do daily 50%), and early growth requires a lot of feeding with protein rich foods, even for the fry of primarily vegetarian adults. The number of fish is also important in smaller spaces, more than the size of the fish when placed in the tank.


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## dledinger (Mar 20, 2013)

Mr Chromedome said:


> I often see people putting young fish in a smaller tank for growout, but not all realize that a smaller tank will require more frequent water changes (I've seen people do daily 50%), and early growth requires a lot of feeding with protein rich foods, even for the fry of primarily vegetarian adults.


I agree. For growouts, especially those over 1.5", I do well beyond 50%/day...closer to 100%/day....and multiple feedings, too. Slack off on the water changes and fish can stay at 2" in perpetuity. They'll appear otherwise healthy, but will never catch up.

All the above said, I do tend to use smaller tanks for growouts than many people do.

Great post, BTW.


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