# Want faster growth - what do I feed them?



## gaqua (Apr 11, 2008)

I have a tank with a group of 1.5" fish in it, the problem is that I've been feeding them New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula and they aren't growing much, maybe in the past 6 months they've grown 1/4 to 1/2 or so. In the same time period, a friend of mine who bought the same fry from the same guy has had tremendous growth, his fish are 2.5"-3" now. I'm not really sure what he feeds them.

I do a weekly water change, about 30%. I use Prime.

the LFS owner suggested that I move away from New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula if I want faster growth. He suggested some spirulina flakes with a higher protein percentage, and suggested that I just be cautious not to overfeed them and to watch for bloat. He said that NLS is great for color and an all-in-one food but that it is fairly low in protein and for growth, that's more important.

Suggestions?


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## Joea (May 25, 2004)

What species of fish?


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## PiePuncher (Feb 1, 2005)

The species of fish will make a difference in diet and some fish are very sensitive to high protein diets, especially demasoni. You can get your fish to adapt to a high protein diet over time but a sudden drastic change can lead to troubles. I do feed almost all my fish a high protein diet(not recommended) and my fish grow at alarming rates. Also, some species tend to grow faster than others and your fishes tank mates could be hoarding the food.(some fish feed more aggressive than others) Good luck and dont change the diet all at once or you might find your first case of bloat!!! I had a fish get it once four years ago and it is sad to watch them stop eating and start hiding. Fish food is not as important as some will lead you to believe. NLS did nothing for my fish, no harm and nothing special, it was just another food. Just get a high quality food and gradually introduce them to it. Cichlids are VERY hardy fish.


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## zcfish (Jan 31, 2009)

gaqua said:


> I have a tank with a group of 1.5" fish in it, the problem is that I've been feeding them New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula and they aren't growing much, maybe in the past 6 months they've grown 1/4 to 1/2 or so. In the same time period, a friend of mine who bought the same fry from the same guy has had tremendous growth, his fish are 2.5"-3" now. I'm not really sure what he feeds them.
> 
> Suggestions?


maybe ask your friend and let us know? 

temperature also play a part. i got 79 degrees they grow fine.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

Raising the temperature a little and doing frequent water changes to keep nitrates low will help fish grow faster if that is what you seek. Higher protein food would also probably help, but in my opinion it isn't worth the risk of giving them malawi bloat, which also seems like it can be triggered by high protein diets. Spirulina flakes, though, should be fine.

If you raise the temperature, you can also feed them a little more - because their metabolism is increased. Just make sure to do more water changes to balance that out.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Increase your water changes to 50% every other day. The lower nitrates will make a big difference.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

i agree in do two 50% watewr changes a week and have noticed that the water changes help speed up the growth quite a bit from when i was only doing 1 50% change a week....not the mention ure tank will be nice a prestine


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## gaqua (Apr 11, 2008)

DJRansome said:


> Increase your water changes to 50% every other day. The lower nitrates will make a big difference.


With a full time job and being enrolled in school for 4 classes, I don't have time to do changes that frequently.

The fish are mbuna, msobos, mainganos, red-top hongi, and fuelleborni.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

doesnt take but 30 mins?


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

> With a full time job and being enrolled in school for 4 classes, I don't have time to do changes that frequently.


If you don't own a python, ask for one as a gift. A great time saver!

Maybe, seriously maybe, ten minutes of actual doing something time that would take away from studying or whatever. It would definitely make your weekly changes a snap even if you don't want to do more than that.

Good luck with school.


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## copasetic (Nov 26, 2007)

gaqua said:


> the LFS owner suggested that I move away from New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula if I want faster growth. He suggested some spirulina flakes with a higher protein percentage,


That LFS owner clearly needs to do some reading on nutrition for africans. A spirlina flake should have very low protein and be used to feed your herbevores.. A high protein food should be used to feed your haps and peacocks. Depending what type you have i find variety in brands of food is what mine like.. And for growth its all in tank space and water conditions.. A group of 30 fry is going to grow slower than a group of 12. Keep water extra clean, and turn up heater if you really want growth.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

Some fish of the same species will grow faster depending on how dominite they are and how quick they can get the food and eat it. 
I bought 3 albino greshakeis at the same time. All the same size. Now i have one that is twice as big as the second and 1 that didnt make it because he never grew and the biggest one killed him. 
I have no proof that frequent water changes help them grow but if i had the money and time i would set up some type of experiment. Maybe have two 55 gallons with around 10 fry in each tank from the same mother. One tank i would do 50% water change twice a week and the other tank would get one 50% change every two weeks. It would be fun and very interesting to see how big they were after 2-3 monthes; however i would never be able to try this because of lack of space and money.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Up the frequency and amount of your water changes. :thumb:


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

if you did not start them on a high protein diet thats would be my guess as to why they are slow growing. i start my fry with crushed spirulina then move to daphnia and nls GROW. the nls grow has more protiend, as does the daphnia.

once they reach around 2"(depending on species) i switch to spirulina and nls. high protein and high fatty foods at a young age will increase the growth rate. once they mature you need to lower them again since they will not use it as much and will become fatties which could lead to health issues.


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## gaqua (Apr 11, 2008)

I'll try and switch to a 40%-50% water change twice a week, but I'm already way overfiltered on the tank and my nitrates/nitrites/ammonia readings are almost non-existent.

I have two Fluval 405s and an Aquaclear 110 on this tank, and it's an 80G.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

You could have a million filters and your nitrate readings wouldn't be any different than if you had one filter. That's because nitrate is the end product and cannot be broken down by bacteria. The best two ways to keep nitrates down are by exchanging the water or putting some plants in your tank.


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## bossfish (Jun 1, 2005)

Changing your water in larger amounts and more frequently WILL increase your growth rate. I do weekly 75%+ water changes in my larger tanks and biweekly 90%+ water changes in my fry tanks. Water changes are much more important than the quantity and type of food that is fed. As well as getting rid of waste that could foul the water and slow growth I believe that cichlids produce growth inhibiting hormones that if not removed will slow growth considerably. Even if you can't do more than one waterchange a week consider upping the amount of water that you change each time. You will have happier and healthier fish. [/b]


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## BoostedX (Mar 1, 2009)

gaqua said:


> DJRansome said:
> 
> 
> > Increase your water changes to 50% every other day. The lower nitrates will make a big difference.
> ...


I go to school 6 days a week for welding and other classes. I am there from 8 to 5-7 mon thru sat. I knew fish would be a big chore when i got into them and it is a huge responsibility. Like someone said it takes a whole 30 minutes to change water. Takes me a little longer because the fauct that is closest to my room i cant use the python on.. The key to it is dont come home and sit down and think that you will take a little rest. As soon as u get home get ur water changed. Get into a routine and it will be second nature before you know it. Most fish give off a hormone that inhibits growth. Water changes will compensate for that hormone like mentioned above. Like i said get into a routine with water changes and youll be good. I know its hard to get into one but when you do next thing you know when ur tired ull be changing water and you wont even realize it. On my one day off i usually do all the other matinace that i can on my tank if needed and sit back and look at a job well done.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

gaqua said:


> I'll try and switch to a 40%-50% water change twice a week, but I'm already way overfiltered on the tank and my nitrates/nitrites/ammonia readings are almost non-existent.
> 
> I have two Fluval 405s and an Aquaclear 110 on this tank, and it's an 80G.


Doesn't matter...The clean water will still aid their growth.

Your filtration is great, but water changes are what will make a difference in growing out young fish. :thumb:

And I hope your ammonia and nitrite readings *ARE* non existent and not _almost non existent_!


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

I saw something on an animal show the other night i thought was interesting. It said that colder water is more oxygen rich so fish in colder climates grow bigger. It was talking about fish under frozen ice so i know that is an extreme temperature difference. But still wanted to share that info.


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## CichlidWhisperer (Apr 12, 2008)

GaFishMan1181 said:


> I saw something on an animal show the other night i thought was interesting. It said that colder water is more oxygen rich so fish in colder climates grow bigger. It was talking about fish under frozen ice so i know that is an extreme temperature difference. But still wanted to share that info.


That is really interesting. It seemed to me logical that slighly higher temperatures would speed up their metabolism and they would grow faster, but the oxygen makes sense too. Would be an interesting experiment to see if there is a difference based on temperature or oxygen content. I have biowheels (in addition to canister filters) on all tanks and I think they increase the oxygenation tremendously... Hmmm, wonder if that is one of the reasons my fish grow rather faster than they are supposed to.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Colder water slows the body metabolism down, so I don't see how they could possibly grow faster...

From my own experience with holding moms, warmer temps will cause the fry to develop faster.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

cichlidaholic said:


> Colder water slows the body metabolism down, so I don't see how they could possibly grow faster...
> 
> From my own experience with holding moms, warmer temps will cause the fry to develop faster.


It didnt say grow faster it said grow bigger


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## dreday (Oct 12, 2007)

they probably live a lot longer thats why they grow bigger.


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## CichlidWhisperer (Apr 12, 2008)

dreday said:


> they probably live a lot longer thats why they grow bigger.


That does not make sense to me.

I was actually thinking it might be some sort of a survival of the fittest issue. Bigger fish have more reserves, and my guess would be that in the winter, under the ice, there would be less food sources and so maybe the bigger fish would be able to withstand winter better? From what I am understanding, the species in the cold waters tend to be bigger species compared to species in warmer waters. It would be different if fish of the same species tended to be bigger in colder waters. But if the entire species of fish tend to be bigger, I would think there would be a survival advantage and a larger species would evolve.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

Perhaps you have too much filtration, and the extreme flow is causing the fish to consume more energy fighting the current. There is far more filtration than necessary for that size of tank and the size of the fish. It is a possiblity.
Once weekly 50% water changes should be sufficient if time is a problem and the tank is relatively lightly stocked, which it sounds like it is. 
"Low protein" and "spirulina" in the same sentence are troubling. Spirulina is 60% protein and 6% fat. 
Keep in mind that natural foods are 90% water and 10% solids, while prepared foods are the reverse, so you need less total volume of prepared foods. You also want a food with a minimum of carbohydrates.
I know for a fact that clean water is as important as quality food for good health and rapid growth. Raising a few angel spawns makes this quite clear. A missed water change can have almost instantaneous, visually apparent, negative effects (ruined fins for one) . The same principles apply to other species.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

cichlidaholic said:


> Colder water slows the body metabolism down, so I don't see how they could possibly grow faster...
> 
> From my own experience with holding moms, warmer temps will cause the fry to develop faster.


My post is in reference to the post the OP made about his/her fish only growing 1/4 to 1/2 inch in the past 6 months. My point is that colder water will not speed up the growth process, just in case your post about the show you saw caused any confusion! :wink:

In doing so, I caused confusion myself! :lol:


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