# Jack Dempsey slow growing



## Japtastic (Jan 21, 2008)

Hi

I have a JD in a 63g, I've had him for 10 months and got him when he was about an inch, he is now only about 4-4.5 inches long including tail and 1.5" tall not including fins, he did go through a period of not eating much at all but has since got his apetite back although he is very fussy and I still struggle to get him to eat his greens, is this a normal growth rate? How many years until he is full grown?

Cheers


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

It's definately not at the top end of their growth rate... females typically grow slower/smaller than males but 2~2.5" in 10 months is slow even for a female...

Some fish just have better genes...


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## Japtastic (Jan 21, 2008)

So do you reckon he will continue to grow, when do they generally get to full size? 2 years?


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

"Full Size" is a hard length to work with. They grow rather quickly to about 80~90% their "Full Size" then grow very slowly until they die. So it may take a big strong male 2 years to reach 9"... then slowly grow to 10" over the next 10 years...

But yes, by the time the fish is 2 years old I would expect it to be almost done growing...

If your fish is 14~16 months old (from birth) and is 4.5"... then I would suggest your fish is a "runt" and will not attain full size. I would expect it to get to about 6" and then very slowly put on another .5~1" throughout the rest of it's life.

But keep in mind those are only my expectations... and ask my fiance my expectations are rarely met


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## Japtastic (Jan 21, 2008)

Ok I have just measured him properly and he is pretty much dead on 5" I guess he is just a smaller JD...

Does this mean any fry he produces will be small as well? I have about 30 of his offspring in another tank.

What is another colourful cichlid that will get a bit bigger, say 12" and that should get on with him? I can always move him if the fish you suggest doesn't work out.

Cheers


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## Fishfeind (Jan 16, 2007)

what are you feeding him? Beefheart, mosquito larvae and blood worms are all chalk full of protein and will help your fish grow faster.


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## Japtastic (Jan 21, 2008)

Yeah he gets a lot of protein, probably a bit too much, he is pretty fussy so I find it hard to get greens in to his diet, what I am doing is loading up meal worms with loads of greens first then feeding them to him a couple of times a week, the rest of the time he does reluctantly eat pellet but only when he thinks I'm not looking.

Yesterday after thinking about what fish to add in with him I visited the LFS and there was a 4" GT looking a bit sorry for him self and being bullied by a Jag so I decided to rescue him, I added him yesterday and he seems to be getting on fine although taking a bit of stick from my JD if he goes to near his favourite hiding spot, lets hope they get on ok


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