Growing Out a Stunted Fish

[pink66]

I have adopted 2 fish that compared to my 5mth old babies are very small as I estimate that they are at least twice the age but are actually a bit smaller than them :( .

I understand that they will never be as large as they should be but if they are in a BB tank with the babies and fed 5-6 times per day will they "catch up" to some degree. even though they are small, they are very healthy.

[Hollowman]

tbh, i wouldn't have bothered. Have you had them in QT? If not, you have just compromised all of your other little ones. :(

It is honorable to take in unwanted or sick looking fish, but why risk your cherished healthy stock. Cross contamination is SO easy to do, I won't take the risk. It might sound hard, but I would sooner give them a dose of clove oil and save a lot of work and heartache.

H

[lpiasente]

Hi Sharon, I get it. I am a softie just like you. Just because they are small and stunted doesn't mean they don't have a right to life. Steve I get where you are comming from as I can imagine you only have prize stock, but I don't mind having a stunted fish or two or three. Sharon I guess you would just feed em up and see what happens. How about a pic or two :)

[Hollowman]

Leanne,

Like I said, it is a nice thing to do, believe it or not I am a softie too, :wink: but I have hardened up to what I believe to be something worth working with and spending valuable time with. I think we are all always short of time and energy and therefore an aim of mine is to try to raise awareness of what we should accept as far as fish quality goes.
It made me laugh when you said that I must have prize stock, truth be told, right now I only have 2 fish. :shock: I had to sell and give most of mine away due to life changes, but am in the process of building a new system as we speak.

I think if Sharon wants to keep these fish then it is fine, as long as she knows the pitfalls, which I am sure she does. But, as we know and see so often in posts here, people buy discus that they have bought from a shop down the road, and the first post is in the Emergency or disease/illness section, telling us that their fish are looking ill, stopped eating, hanging at the back of the tank or have gone dark, white poo and the list goes on. They post pictures of the fish and they are normally in such a poor condition, normally badly stunted and riddled with worms or disease. I just want people to realise just what they are getting by going to a lfs. Now I don't know where Sharon got her new rescued fish, I am sure she will let us know, but a regular lfs cannot and generally speaking will not know how to keep discus in the proper conditions. A discus can stunt by being in poor water conditions for a week, it can happen so quickly. I have not even gone into quarentining fish yet :roll:
At the end of the day, I just don't want people who are new to discus or are thinking of getting into discus to think that saving a fish in a lfs, even buying a fish in a lfs is the way to go. Education is the key, money well spent is money saved in my experience. The sponsors of this great site should be recommended more often imo, maybe play a more active roll in promoting quality. I am sure they can sell fish at similar prices of the lfs's, and you will be getting the quality right off the bat. What could be easier. Forums are a great invention, a great support system and a wealth of knowledge for the new and experienced hobbyiest, we just need to get the word out there.

ok, rant over, :wink: I'm not getting at anyone, far from it, but going back to the topic of the thread, it is not something I would advise.

Steve :)

[lpiasente]

ok

[Hollowman]

:lol:

[pink66]

Thanks H, I really should start my sentences with Hello, my name is Sharon and I am a sucker for adopted fish - it may help to know that slowly my african tank has become a combination of africans, americans, loaches, rams and anything else that does not have a home (sometimes I feel like a mini "monster fish rescue" :lol: :lol: :lol: )

Compared to many forum members, I am still in Kindy when it comes to keeping discus (even with over 20 years of fish keeping) but I would never jeopardise my fish by not using quarantine. I am paranoid about water quality too....Yes, I admit it, I am a softy at heart and they did not come from a LFS (I would never never take on a fish from a LFS if they were not fit and healthy - they cost toooo much for that and can cause way tooo much trouble).

They were quarantined for 6 weeks before they even got anywhere near the others. They are very healthy, eat well and have good weight, they are just smaller than usual. It was as a favour for a friend and they also have another sibling that I collected earlier and he is of normal size !!! (really good size actually) I am beginning to think that maybe these 2 are "runtier" (is that a word :shock: ) and thus will never be quite as large as the other one. I must say, when I compare them to my LSS and PB along with my babies, you can see the difference in quality..

It is OK I have chosen to take them on knowing the possible downfalls but that can happen with any fish in the tank. Also, I have no intention of breeding these fish.. They are not of a high enough quality to do that. I fully believe that if you are going to breed then it should be a pair of excellent quality that have the opportunity to pass on their quality traits.

Now the question is, if I feed them up will they grow (obviously not as large as should be) but will they grow??????

thanks very much..

[Hollowman]

Hi Sharon mini fish rescue, :wink:

Sounds like you have your hands full, I think they will still grow (slowly), obviously as you are giving them the best possible conditions now, their chances are far better. Stunting though, once it is set in, it really cannot improve. As for quality of life, I am sure they will fare better with you. :)