# How Much Bigger Will This GT Get ???? Plenty Of Pictures



## jbru70 (Apr 19, 2009)

I have read alot of conflicting information about these fish and how big they will actually get. This fish is about 8" long. To get an idea of just how big it is I snapped a picture of him next to a 13" pleco.

He is living in a 100 gallon tall tank, 48"wide x 18"thick x 30" tall.

I feed him hikari cichlid gold pellets,hikari frozen bloodworms and omega one color pellets.

My water is always crisp and clear, I do a weekly 20% water change. My nitrates are usually around 5ppm.

So under these conditions how big is this fish capable of growing??????


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Hey *jbru70*,

Nice colours on your GT. I don't know if it's the camera angles or what, but he actually looks a little _stunted_. I'm not saying that he is, it's just that the photo's make him appear quite high bodied in relation to his body length.

The largest Gold Suam I have seen was easily 12 inches TL before he died.


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## jbru70 (Apr 19, 2009)

DeadFishFloating said:


> Hey *jbru70*,
> 
> Nice colours on your GT. I don't know if it's the camera angles or what, but he actually looks a little _stunted_. I'm not saying that he is, it's just that the photo's make him appear quite high bodied in relation to his body length.
> 
> The largest Gold Suam I have seen was easily 12 inches TL before he died.


He could be stunted???? He was given to me. I was told he was 2yrs old. He was living in a 75 gallon 48" tank before I got him. Same footprint as my tank just shorter. He was living in that tank with three 13" pleco's and a 5" jewel cichlid which he has a thing for.....lol. That would make a wierd hybrid. I gave away two of the common pleco's and kept the chocolate pleco.

The water in that 75 gallon tank was red from fish waste......ewwwww.

So he could be stunted


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## jamesman_1994 (Jun 23, 2009)

if i were u i would check some profiling site but i think they can reach up to 80 cm which is just under like 3 ft


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

*jamesman_1994*

Mate, it's always good to do just a little research before offering some advice. Just so you can make sure what your saying is some what accurate. GT's won't reach any where near 80cm. You could go to the profile section here at C-F and check out the profile for 'Aequidens' sp. "Goldsaum".


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

stunted or not, beautiful fish. do you know how it lost the chunk in its fin?
very nice photos as well.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I do think that Cichlid Forum have very nice profiles... reliable information...

They list 11" as the maximum size for a GT / Gold Saum... you may find an exceptional large 12" specimen here or there, but in my experience 9~10" is much more common for a male; 6~8" for females...

It drives me nuts to see people suggesting that we should expect our fish to get the same size as the absolute maximum length on record for a species. Expect average and be willing to adjust if necessary...

As for stunting... it is commonly believed now a days that water quality has more to do with stunting than tank size. So if the water was real nasty in the previous ownerâ€™s tank it is possible your fish is somewhat stunted. But even if it is, you have a beautiful specimen.

The Jewel you have in with him is a W African Cichlid. They prefer the same water conditions and have compatible aggression levels so in my experience it's a good choice in tank mates, but I highly doubt it is biologically possible for them to hybridize. They have simply been separated by evolution far too long.


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## jbru70 (Apr 19, 2009)

HONDO said:


> stunted or not, beautiful fish. do you know how it lost the chunk in its fin?
> very nice photos as well.


The fishes dorsal fin grew that way as the fish matured. I have seen several fish in this area that have the exact defect. Its most likely genetics.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

jbru70 said:


> The water in that 75 gallon tank was red from fish waste......ewwwww.


This is the key. even though the footprint was the same as your tank, high nitrates can deffinately stunt growth.

I have only seen 2 12" SL goldsaums before, both were from the same guy. He grew everything to it's max size it seems. He was magic with south americans. I do agree with *Toby_H*'s average sizes. :thumb:



Toby_H said:


> It drives me nuts to see people suggesting that we should expect our fish to get the same size as the absolute maximum length on record for a species. Expect average and be willing to adjust if necessary...


See, I think the opposite. Plan for the max size and adjust if needed, as it's easier for most people to adjust the size expectations downwards than be able to upgrade if they sell their fish short and possibly need to get a larger tank.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

jbru70 said:


> HONDO said:
> 
> 
> > stunted or not, beautiful fish. do you know how it lost the chunk in its fin?
> ...


that is really interesting to me. i asked because i had a gt for about a year (which i had to give away last month...sucks) that had a hole in one of her pectoral fins. i never knew why, it was just there and stayed as she grew. when i gave her away it was about the size of sharpie marker tip.

not to get off topic, but i didnt know it was common for fish to have fin deformities.

anyway, great fish, great pics, thanks for sharing.


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## jbru70 (Apr 19, 2009)

If someone else has heard of fin deformation being commonplace in GT's.

Please speak up


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I've never noticed a genetic deformity of a missing chunk in the dorsal fin such as your fish has... although I'm not saying it couldn't happen...

I have seen several fish who got injured in one way or another breaking a 'spine' in the dorsal fin and that spine or the fin between that spine and others never grew back...


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

*** seen 1 Gold Saum larger then 8", and this big boy must have been 13" or more, massive fish.


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## jbru70 (Apr 19, 2009)

Well im hoping for the best. I would love to see him get up to 12".


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## jamesman_1994 (Jun 23, 2009)

but my friend has one maby it was a fluke or something but it is around 60 cm and has totaled his whole tank being the only one left


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

I've kept Green Terrors for years...including several different species of "Green Terrors" including the "Gold Saum" variety that is common in the hobby, "true Silver Saum" variety with a different scale pattern, along with a couple of other imported "wild caught" Aequidens species that were similar in appearance, but clearly different fish species....and I've never heard of any of them getting much larger than 12-13 inches SL (standard length=not counting the tail fin).

The one pictured in the original post is the common "gold saum " variety, so it likely would reach about 12 inches, if everything were perfect...and it had good genetics. The one in the picture does have a deep body; and if it's growth has been stunted, it might have been a bit larger than average. Most fish grow rapidly the first year or 2; then their growth rate slows down a lot---but they do continue to grow a little their entire lives.

In any event, it's a nice looking fish even if it is stunted...so enjoy it, and treat it well from now on. And I see why it likes the jewel...it's beautiful!


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## jbru70 (Apr 19, 2009)

jamesman_1994 said:


> but my friend has one maby it was a fluke or something but it is around 60 cm and has totaled his whole tank being the only one left


I would love to see a picture of it


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

I think we all would like to see a photo of this fish. Of course it's often difficult for some one to guestimate the size of a fish from a photo as there usually isn't something to measure it against.

What size tank is this monster in?


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## jbru70 (Apr 19, 2009)

DeadFishFloating said:


> I think we all would like to see a photo of this fish. Of course it's often difficult for some one to guestimate the size of a fish from a photo as there usually isn't something to measure it against.
> 
> What size tank is this monster in?


Indeed........... it would be hard to tell the actual size without something like perhaps a 2 liter soda bottle or some other reference object to compare it against.


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## Morcs (Jun 1, 2009)

My Blue acara has a very very similar thing going on with his dorsal fin. Its been there since before I bought him


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## jbru70 (Apr 19, 2009)

Morcs said:


> My Blue acara has a very very similar thing going on with his dorsal fin. Its been there since before I bought him


Im sorry to hear about your acara's fin. But it makes me wonder if since the acara is closely related to the gold saum. It might just be common.

Does anyone else have the same fin deformaties with their fish???????


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Well some of you may or may not know, but *japes* got rid of his Laetacara dorsigera as they weren't doing well with his large group of geophagus "orange head" growouts. So I ended up trading a spare 300w jager heater for his remaining 3 females. One of them also has a similar notch out of her dorsal fin which *japes* said had been there since he bought them.
When I get home from work tonight I'll try and find a photo of *japes* that clearly shows it.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

maybe the notch out of the fin is cause from permanent scarring from a tussle with another fish?


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## westcoaster (Jun 24, 2009)

Really nice colouration I have 2 gt's can't wait for them to start breeding.


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## klumsyninja (Aug 14, 2008)

That's a gorgeous GT.. Great pics too.

Really nice fish, I've always liked them... maybe someday.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Notch really isn't the same. It's further along the dorsal fin, and not as deep. Unlike a normal fin tear it won't heal.


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