# new dovii



## tylersweeney22 (Jan 11, 2010)

i just got him hes about an inch i have himn in a 20 gallon for growout porpose only yes i know they get big. bout i was wondering whats the growth rate roughly


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

Dovii grow fairly rapidly up to about 9 -12" and then usually fairly slowly after that. You could expect it to attain a size of 9-12" or larger a year after being purchased. Of course it also depends on how old the fish is when you purchase it, something that I would think could vary considerably. Contrary to what a lot of people say on fish fourms, the notion of stunting is quite exagerated. If a fish has been sittin' around at the LFS for 6 months, usually when it is brought home it grows extra rapidly, making up for lost time.

5 things, I would see as affecting growth rate:

1) genetics of the individual fish.

2) sex of the fish --- males grow faster and get much larger.

3) Water quality --- the more water change the faster the fish grows.

4)Diet ---quality of the pellet and whether frozen and/or live foods are used. IME, fish generally grow faster when some frozen chopped fish ( and shrimp) are fed in addition to pellets.

5)The actual physical dimensions of the tank. IMO and IME, fish do grow faster in a larger tank, and I am not refferring to water quality. I have enough circumstantial evidence before me to draw this conclusion. I had a 180 gal. and a 100 gal. attatched together with the same "trickle filter" ( wet/ "dry" filter) for over 10 years and the pump was rated at over 1800 gal. an hour at 6 ft. of head. At that mixing rate, no doubt, it is exactly the same water in both tanks; yet fish always grew much faster in the 180 gal then they did in the 100 gal. Not really a controlled experiment, but I have enough circumstantial evidence before me, to draw this conclusion.

You could probably get by with the 20 gal. for maybe 6 months, up to the 5 -8" size . A young dovii at that length is really not as large of a fish as it sounds. But preferrably get him out of the small tank as quickly as possible, as it will not do as well, or grow as fast in a smaller tank. I'd recomennd doing very large water changes using a hose, at least 70%, once weekly. What size do you plan to upgrade to and when?


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## Reiner (Jul 17, 2002)

I bought a dovii 2 month ago at 1.5" he is now 4". I feed once a day during the week and twice on the weekend. Twice a week they get raw shrimp all other feedings are Hikari sinking cichlid pellets. He lives in a 180 gallon community tank where he is the smallest fish in the tank and I change 50% of the water every 2 weeks.


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