Fish Growth rates question

[Trevor]

Maybe this should be on r.a.f.cichlids but there seesm t be more traffice
here.

I have a 1.5 m tank with 2 oscars 2 JDs 2 Peacocks and 2 firemouths. It
has bee set up for a year. All fish were bought as juvenile roughly the
same size 1.5 inches. All the fish except the Firemouths have put on good
growth. The oscars being the best performers at about 8-9 inches. The
firemouths have barely grown and inch!!!!!

Are they just slow growers or is it that they have been outcompeted for
food. The Oscars get first pick and the other fish seem to go for the
wasted food spewing out of the Oscars gills and mouth.

The firemouths look like they should be oscar food - thats how tiny they
look next to the oscars, but seeing as they have all grown up together I
guess the oscars do not see them as food - also I do not feed live food.

Trev

[T]

"Trevor" > wrote in message
e.com...
> Maybe this should be on r.a.f.cichlids but there seesm t be more traffice
> here.
>
> I have a 1.5 m tank with 2 oscars 2 JDs 2 Peacocks and 2 firemouths. It
> has bee set up for a year. All fish were bought as juvenile roughly the
> same size 1.5 inches. All the fish except the Firemouths have put on good
> growth. The oscars being the best performers at about 8-9 inches. The
> firemouths have barely grown and inch!!!!!
>
> Are they just slow growers or is it that they have been outcompeted for
> food. The Oscars get first pick and the other fish seem to go for the
> wasted food spewing out of the Oscars gills and mouth.
>
> The firemouths look like they should be oscar food - thats how tiny they
> look next to the oscars, but seeing as they have all grown up together I
> guess the oscars do not see them as food - also I do not feed live food.
>
> Trev

Food Dominant Fish Trev, he who gets the most food first goes fastest..

Tim

[NetMax]

"T" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
>
> "Trevor" > wrote in message
> e.com...
> > Maybe this should be on r.a.f.cichlids but there seesm t be more
traffice
> > here.
> >
> > I have a 1.5 m tank with 2 oscars 2 JDs 2 Peacocks and 2 firemouths.
It
> > has bee set up for a year. All fish were bought as juvenile roughly
the
> > same size 1.5 inches. All the fish except the Firemouths have put on
good
> > growth. The oscars being the best performers at about 8-9 inches. The
> > firemouths have barely grown and inch!!!!!
> >
> > Are they just slow growers or is it that they have been outcompeted
for
> > food. The Oscars get first pick and the other fish seem to go for the
> > wasted food spewing out of the Oscars gills and mouth.
> >
> > The firemouths look like they should be oscar food - thats how tiny
they
> > look next to the oscars, but seeing as they have all grown up
together I
> > guess the oscars do not see them as food - also I do not feed live
food.
> >
> > Trev
>
> Food Dominant Fish Trev, he who gets the most food first goes fastest..
>
> Tim

You might also check your NO3 levels. High levels would indicate that
the water quality was not as conducive to rapid growth as it could be,
and in your mix of fish (and the resulting quantity of food being used),
high NO3 is not atypical. Solution is more gravel-vacuuming and water
changes (if you think it's the problem).

Note: my server is not showing me original posts lately, so since I only
see replies, I might be missing information which was snipped out. I
think this post is complete, so I replied on it.

cheers
NetMax