Fish aren't growing?

[Aqualoon]

Tank: 72g Bowfront
WC Schedule: 1.5 Gallons Daily over 3 hours
Salt Mix: Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
Food: A combination of Flake and Saltwater Multi Pack (http://www.sfbb.com/Saltwater-Multi-Pack%E2%84%A2_16.php). Frozen fed 2-3 times a week, flake the other days. Everyone eats and waits at the top of the tank for me to feed.
Stock: 1 Regular Clown, 1 Bi Color Angel, 1 Royal Gramma Basslet, 1 Kaudern's Cardinalfish, 1 Kole Eye Tang, 1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

Everything besides the Tang I have had for over a year. Went to Petco the other day and walked through their fish section (this is where everything but the Tang was bought) and my stock wasn't much bigger then what they had in their tanks. Everything in my tank had more girth in comparison but only my Clown seemed to be maybe 1/4" bigger.

Have beginner corals and what not (mushrooms, zoes, leathers, etc.) and they have all done VERY well. Grown considerably since I got them and show nice coloration. I honestly thought with my first reek tank I'd have more issues with the reek part rather then the fish aspect.

[mcgyvr]

Sounds normal.. It can take YEARS for fish to grow to maturity..

[sde1500]

I'd say its impossible to compare to fish at a fish store. You have no idea how old they are, and probably don't know how old yours are either. Half the fish you have are going to stay pretty small anyway. Clown, RG and Cardinal are relatively small fish.

[Aqualoon]

Thanks.

I come from the freshwater cichlid world where things grow rather rapidly and if you don't see growth in a year something is severely wrong.

[sde1500]

hmm interesting. Never had any of the more complex freshwater fish, stuck to guppies and tetras when I had a tank, but yea they did grow pretty fast too. But didn't live nearly as long. Some people here have clowns 20+ years. If the fish only grows to 3 or 4 inches, but lives that long, it has plenty of time to grow bit by bit. My oldest clown I've had for 2ish years now and I honestly can't tell if it has grown at all.

[Aqualoon]

Okay this is making me feel much better.

For the past 5 years I've had CA/SA Cichlids where they grow from fry to 8+ inches (full grown) within a year.

[fishchef]

We had a Kole in a 55 for some years and for the past 6 he was in a 125. His life span was over 20 years and never got much bigger than 6 inches. I know what you mean because we had Frontosas for 12 years and they got to be 10 inches fairly quick.

[Sk8r]

I find that the dominant fish gains size rapidly, and then nobody else does. Your most likely dominant, the tang, depending on species, may be inhibited by tank size.

[ali1]

Cichlids grow by the day. Kinda the opposite for your selection of saltwater fish

[75mixedreef]

All you have to do is make sure they are fat and then they will be happy.

[Scottedontknow]

Also remember some of those fish (clowns) have a VERY long life span 13+ years easy. It takes a lot of time for them to grow out. Also tank size can effect their total size.


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