# Cichlids Aren't Growing?



## leuge121 (Aug 3, 2012)

Hi,

My german red cichlid and yellow labs aren't growing. I have had them for 3 months and they are still about 1 inch long, and don't look like they've grown at all. What should I do?

Thanks


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Stability is the key. Do weekly water changes(50%), keep temp and light schedule the same and feed good quality food. That should help them grow.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What are the dimensions of the tank? What are the tank mates? What are your readings for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?


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## 7mm-08 (Jan 12, 2012)

I would think in three months there should be a noticeable difference but I find myself fighting "watched pot never boils" syndrome often. Especially with fry and young fish, I spend so much time tending to them and watching them that it is hard for me to see how much they are actually growing until I have a new batch of fry and see how tiny they actually are to begin with.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

7mm-08 said:


> I would think in three months there should be a noticeable difference but I find myself fighting "watched pot never boils" syndrome often. Especially with fry and young fish, I spend so much time tending to them and watching them that it is hard for me to see how much they are actually growing until I have a new batch of fry and see how tiny they actually are to begin with.


Yep....

Best sometimes to take some pics and review after a few months to see the changes. May surprise some people and it does me from time to time.


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## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)

how often are u feeding them? how often are you changing the water? what other cichlids do u have in your tank?


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## Mschn99 (Dec 24, 2012)

I totally agree with the watched pot never boils theory. If you were to ask me my Ngara Flametail peacocks have never grown, but my wife showed me pics of them as .75" juvies and i realize the 1.5 inches they are at now is double. Some fish though (the described peacocks for example) just grow slower. I have them in an 80 gallon tank with Cyno white top hara and Zebra Obliquidens. The peacocks are about an inch smaller than both of the other species, and i got them all when they were .75-1". On top of that i got the peacocks around 3 months before i got the other two. So in theory the peacocks should be a lot larger than the other two species being older......yet they arent. This is all in a heavily over filtered 80 gallon tank with absolutely perfect water chemistry for PH, Nitrates, Nitrites, and hardness.

Food can help too though. All my fish eat nothing but new life spectrum with some supplement of spirilia wafers and flake. Live brine shrimp in young fish can provide great growth results, but gets expensive to buy and is a pain to grow. Of course this can be dangerous too with certain species of fish when they get to be sub adults or bigger because of the rish of bloat.


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## Hock (Mar 23, 2012)

Its hard to notice a growth over a few months. I couldnt really tell a difference in my original group until it was many months. Of course it'll become easier if any you have are the kind that color up as they grow as that will be a sign they have grown. But once they get a certain length, they will slow down greatly in growth. The most growth you'll see is when they are young from fry to around 2-3 inches. Then theres some fish they just grow slowly period.


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