# Blue dolphin growth rate



## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

I know these fish grow slower than a 16th century oil painting dries but just curious what to expect. Currently have a group between 2.5 and 3". How long do I have to full size (7-9")? 3 Years or so?
Ty


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

I have one currently and he has grown from a bit over 1" in mid september to a little over 3 1/2" now. I am not sure if he will keep growing at this rate but mine seems to grow fairly quick. He is a bit temperamental also.

I am not sure as this is the only one I have ever had but mine seems to be growing at the same rate as my peacocks and copadichromis species.


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

That's supposed to be impossible.. What are you feeding and what's your pH/gH/kH and any other annoying facts I can pull from you would be great. Temperature... Tank size. Mates. Feed and water change sched... Nitrate level.. Etc. Mine have grown a bit but it doesn't look like they'd be managing a 2"+ per 4 month growth rate. That's 9" by next January. I'd love that but I doubt it  ..They're already the size yours are so I imagine the growth rate slows...

:-?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Moorii or Metriaclima?


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Not sure why C. moorii got the rep of being slow growers, but I've read that online. They may grow slowly when kept in smaller tanks or with more aggressive fish. C. moorii may grow slower in poor situations compared to some others, that may well be true.

In a bigger tank with regular water changes they should grow similar to other medium sized Haps.


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

DJRansome said:


> Moorii or Metriaclima?


 Moori


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## mattawan_cichlid (Dec 24, 2010)

Mine grew fast the first few months I had them then they starting slowing down at about 3-4 inches now they are growing pretty slowly


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## BigJagLover (Oct 25, 2006)

mine have all gone from 1" -4 or 5" in less then a year then the girls almost always seem to stop and the males have all hit 6-8" over the next year or so with the females still being the same relatively small size from the previous year. good size tank, good water, good food is the secret for me.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

aquariam said:


> That's supposed to be impossible.. What are you feeding and what's your pH/gH/kH and any other annoying facts I can pull from you would be great. Temperature... Tank size. Mates. Feed and water change sched... Nitrate level.. Etc. Mine have grown a bit but it doesn't look like they'd be managing a 2"+ per 4 month growth rate. That's 9" by next January. I'd love that but I doubt it  ..They're already the size yours are so I imagine the growth rate slows...
> 
> :-?


I feed mine in the morning omega one super color flakes, noon I feed NLS sinking pellets, and later in the evening I feed omega one super veggie flakes. My temp is steady 78 with a pH of 8.2 and kH of about 10 last I checked.

I change 70% water every 3-4 days and my nitrates stay below 10 every time I check before water changes.

I have great tap water so I am lucky in being able to do such large and frequent water changes without having to add anything.

I am not saying this would work for you...but it does for me.


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

Ya that's some hardcore water change action there. I have garbage tap water I couldn't do 140% per week as easily as that. I do 25% every 2 days personally. I figure that's pretty decent.









This is a male from when I got them a month ago. They've grown significantly, him especially. I'll try to get a new shot today. Please don't mind the tank decor that was just like that for 1 day.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Here are some pics of my dolphin moori. The back of the anal/dorsal fins(tips) are turning a very nice shade of red. Just click on the pic twice and it will enlarge so you can get a better look.



















Little specs are from my filter and power head. 









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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

then








now

















Here's mine. He's a porker. Grown a lot. I appear to have been overfeeding a little now that I compare.. Not sure his color has improved but he is definitely larger.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

If you want them lighter you could add a lighter substrate or white rocks. I even had a white background on my tank once and it really lightened colors. I thought you had large, smooth looking white rocks maybe limestone?


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

I like dark substrate/colors. I prefer them dark like that. I was just commenting on the 'depth/intensity' of the color rather than the lightness vs darkness

How long is your fish in your picture? My guy is like 3"ish

I wonder why yours has a blaze like that on the dorsal I've never seen that around here.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

aquariam said:


> I like dark substrate/colors. I prefer them dark like that. I was just commenting on the 'depth/intensity' of the color rather than the lightness vs darkness
> 
> How long is your fish in your picture? My guy is like 3"ish
> 
> I wonder why yours has a blaze like that on the dorsal I've never seen that around here.


3.5" give or take tiny bit.


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

I thought he was like 4" long for some reason. No reference point lol.


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

13razorbackfan said:


> If you want them lighter you could add a lighter substrate or white rocks. I even had a white background on my tank once and it really lightened colors. I thought you had large, smooth looking white rocks maybe limestone?


Nope been using the same limestonish rock you see there since like day 2. I had those round ones the first day because my trip to the stone place got moved around. It's just covered in Algae now. I believe algae is your friend so I only remove it from the front glass and let it go nuts wherever else it wants.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

aquariam said:


> 13razorbackfan said:
> 
> 
> > If you want them lighter you could add a lighter substrate or white rocks. I even had a white background on my tank once and it really lightened colors. I thought you had large, smooth looking white rocks maybe limestone?
> ...


Yeah...I let algae grow except on my front and side glass. I liked those giant rounded white boulders....wish I had some around here.


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

13razorbackfan said:


> aquariam said:
> 
> 
> > 13razorbackfan said:
> ...


I just went to a cut stone place. Any of those big lots that sell rocks for landscaping, like where you'd buy a boulder for your lawn, that kind of place. They always have interesting rocks.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

aquariam said:


> 13razorbackfan said:
> 
> 
> > aquariam said:
> ...


Yeah...that is where I picked up my current rocks. They have all kinds of rocks for really really cheap except texas holey rock and that smooth limestone. The limestone they do have has some holes here and there and it is not all that smooth.


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## dtune21 (Dec 16, 2003)

aquariam said:


> I like dark substrate/colors. I prefer them dark like that. I was just commenting on the 'depth/intensity' of the color rather than the lightness vs darkness
> 
> How long is your fish in your picture? My guy is like 3"ish
> 
> I wonder why yours has a blaze like that on the dorsal I've never seen that around here.


I agree they look better the darker they are. Your first pic of yours looks awesome, it reminds me of a phenochilus mdoka white lip.


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## Sparrk (Oct 11, 2010)

I had moorii for two years, I do water changes 40-50% every week. My batch all grew at very different rates but I now have two mature fish that are about 7-8inches for the male and around 6 for the female... smaller ones are like 3inches







female holding







you can actually see in that picture a much smaller moorii in the right side, that I got at the sam time as the much bigger one in the center... that pic was taken a litlte while ago but it is pretty much the same thing now


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