Blue Dolphin

[Becca]

I've got a 75-Gallon that I've had for about a year, with a ton of various cichlids. (See my signature). 99% of the fish are the same fish I bought when I finished cycling the tank, but there were a couple of fish that I've added since, but everyone gets along swimmingly (pun intended, lol).

I do have a question regarding my Blue Dolphin. I've had this little guy for about a year now. He as purchased with the rest of my community when my tank cycled. Quite a few of the fish in that community have doubled or tripled in growth; however, my little dolphin remains quite small. He's now the smallest guy in the tank. I'm sure he is growing, but it's *definitely* at a much slower rate than the rest of the community.

Can anyone tell me how long it's taken their Blue Dolphins to put on a few inches? He's right now about 2 1/2", the rest of my community averages about 5". If ya need more info, let me know.

 

[G_Sharky]

how big is he when you first purchased him???..I've read that blue dolphins have a slow growth rate, but I would think that he would be a lot bigger after a year....The only thing I could think is that the probably got stunted..maybe suffered from high ammonia and nitrite during cycling period.....Just MO.....I could be wrong though....

 

[Becca]

I take the measurement back, I measured him through the glass and he's at about 2 1/2", I believe he was about 1 1/2" or 2" when I bought him last year. So, in the past 9 months, he's grown about an inch - give or take.

I doubt he's been stunted from anything I've done...
1) No fish were in my tank during the cycling process as I did a fishless cycle.
2) He was bought, and placed in my tank at the exact same time as 99% of the rest of my fish - none of them appear to be stunted, they're growing like mad.
3) If he did happen to get stunted, it's not from my water quality. With this tank, my water readings are usually quite excellent. I've got enough filtration to support about a 500 gallon tank, LOL. I'm currently running a Rainbow Lifegard 300 (for biological filtration) and a Rena Filstar xP3 (for a bit of extra biological filtration, and water polishing). The Lifegard is rated for tanks up to 300 gallons, and the Filstar is rated for tanks up to 175.

 

[Becca]

Ok, I got my answer. I knew Blue Dolphins grew slowly, but I wasn't sure *how* slowly. I referred back to the bookmark I made about the dolphin and checked it out. (I've got bookmarks for fish I want/like, fish I have, and fish I'm considering, LOL, comes in quite handy!)

According to this article, ti takes about 2 years for Blue Dolphins to reach 4-5 inches. Also, according to this article, they will grow to a max of 6.5 - 8 inches, depending on whether it's a male or female. So, since my Dolphin is about a year and a half old, and he's right around 2 1/2", chances are, he's right on track. Eeesh, talk about your slow growth!

 

[G_Sharky]

that's good to hear Becca cause i have a blue dolphin too and he's about 2" and i really don't have the space for him once he's fully grown..I guess he's got about 2 years in my tank before he moves out....