My Firemouth Its Not Growing At All...

[cichlids-enthusiast1]

Hello everybody, I'm a new member, I like cichlids and I have 2 tanks... I have a firemouth and I noticed that his not growing.... I bought him like 4 or 5 months ago... Right now he is like 2" 1/2 inches.... He was maybe like 1" or 1" 1/2 when I got him.... So he has grow a little bit, but he stop the growing.... Why is that?? What can I do? I check the water every 3 days and its fine... I change the water once a week (25%) he is in a 20 gallon tank with 2 plecos and 1 red jewel that it's no growing either..... I don't understand....

 

[fluttermoth]

What are the actual numbers from your tests, and what test kit do you have?
 
Your tank is really too small for the fish you have, so your fish could well be stunted.
 
You could try upping your water changes, to more like 50 or 75%, as a build up of nitrate seems to be linked to stunting, but a bigger tank (in the region of 55 gallons) would be the best solution.
 
Do you know what species your plecs are? They might need a very large tank indeed.

 

[ech0o]

Yea i'd say that's about right on par with when they would begin stunting in a 20gallon tank.   You unfortunately will have to rehome them, as in time they will get exponentially more aggressive with each other, and of course they will stop growing and begin deforming due to the constraints.   Like fluttermouth said, you will want to look into the realm of 50+ gallon tanks for those types of fish.

 

[Squidward]

Current tank volume aside.
 
I have had this happen to me a few times over the years.
I buy a fish put it in my tank, and it stays more or less the same size as the day I bought it.
IMO, the stunting could have happened at the fish shop. And I have an new policy that I won't buy fish that have been in a fish shops tanks for months.
 
To illustrate this.
About a year ago, I bought a small group of Silver Dollars.
A few months later, I took them back to the same fish shop as I was completely changing my fish keeping (went over to Discus).
The ones I returned were about 1/3 bigger than the ones that were left at the fish shop.

 

[wrightt3]

Is this a 20 gallon long or a 20 gallon high? Whilst a high would cause stunting, I can't see as a long would. Water quality, overcrowding, underfeeding and stress can all affect growth, It isn't just about tank size. What are your actual water parameters? what Plecos do you have? is there aggression between the two cichlids? these are all important factors.