supasi Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 anyone have any ideas ive got three young discus, all purchased at same time and size, but have one that just doesnt want to get big, ( his nick name is peter, as in peter pan). he seems to be eating as much as others and is the first to take food from my hand. but for some reason he has only grown a fraction since i got him, none of them had much colouration at time of purchase but all showing good colour now including him, or her. anyone got any ideas??????????????????????????? its got me stumped, only thing i can think of is that maybe he has some sort of growth problem. :-? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 are they in a tank with substrate? discus that are kept in bare bottom tanks grow much faster as they are easier to maintain, you dont HAVE to grow them in bare bottoms but you will certanly see the difference. also water changes play a crucial part in growing discus, they need frequent ones while growing and 2-3 times weekly once they are adults. their care from before you got them can also play a crucial part in growth, if they werent defluked/wormed that can inhibit their growth and if the carer before hand didnt do sufficient water changes they may have stunted them slightly. many people think discus are slow growers but they can be quite fast if kept in the right enviroment. = with only 3 that little one is probably going to be the lowest ranking fish, you might not see him getting picked on but chances are he knows hes not the boss. i had three at one stage in a tank together and although i bought two of them at the same size as each other one grew like a weed whilst the other one only grew slightly as he was the lowest, he got picked on every now and again. there will always be a discus in a discus tank which will be the bottom ranking fish, if you remove him someone else will take his place so dont worry too much being the smallest doesnt mean theyre the lowest ranked fish though, my second smallest discus is a bruiser and will take on adults :lol: IMO if hes acting and eating fine and isnt getting picked on leave him, perhaps doing a few extra w/c's per week will see growth improvements. if you want him to grow to his potential size get a larger tank if you need one (remember minimum 40L per discus) and at least 3 more discus (6+ seems to reduce aggression) and make it bare bottom for a while and see if the lack of substrate and increased water changes make a difference for you. you can always move them back into a lovely planted tank once theyre larger and it wont matter so much if their growth slows a little or if you dont like the look of the BB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Like Sharn says, probably a runt or not been look after while they are baby. Have suffer disease while young and all the possible causes stated by Sharn. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted October 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 cheer for your opinions guys, i got them all from nz discus so dont think there was any prob when babies, it seems to eat fine and as i said is always the first to take food from my hand. i did get a bout of white spot in my tank(presumably from a couple of neons that i added at same time) but he seemed to pull through that pretty fast,(would this have caused anythin) unfortunatly i dont have room to set up a bare bottom tank so with leave in planted tank, but the have plenty of room, im actualy looking at purchasing another for the tank at the moment :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 when little even the slightest hit to the immune system can knock them back unless your like Discusguru (who really is a guru i must say ) and are able to take actions to ensure their growth hasnt been compromised, they can be touchy little things when theyre young :roll: no worries about keeping them in the planted, do a few extra water changes making sure to get the crud from the substrate out and see if that helps. perhaps look into some protein packed foods (which do pollute the water a bit more normally) and see if that helps but a good varity is the key Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted October 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 yeah im pretty good with gravel an always get asmuch crud out of it each time i vac the gravel. in regards to feeding i feed three times per day and each feeding is different . i feed prepared discuc meat mix frozen bloodworm dry flake freeze dried tubifex(although i have heard these arent that good for discus?, but mine love them) brooklands fish crumble and chiclid pellets any other suggestions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 sounds pretty good to me unsure about tubifex worms, perhaps because they expand in water they may cause bloat or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted October 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 here are some pics if your interested, damn things know when iv got camera and wont stay still :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted October 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 opps that didnt work, sorry :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted October 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/vie ... id=6751768" target="_blank"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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