Size And Growth Rate...

[Wills]

I'm just wondering how their actions in the tank affects their growth rate. My HRPs are breeding like crazy at the moment but their existing fry are eating the eggs!! How ever this has led to my male to keep frantically digging pits and caves all over the place!! And I was just thinking all this work must be building up his muscles so would this kind of activity promote growth in fish? Like similar activity would make a human bulk up.

We were out of town yesterday and we have come home to a 4 inch pile of rock and gravel in one corner and various pits over the tank the gravel is quite normal sized but there are a few small rocks hes pushed around.

Is this a silly question?

Wills

 

[star4]

Its just natural, the biggest fittest fish usually are the ones to breed in the wild, so I would presume it would be the same in an aquarium.

 

[shroob]

Breeding actually slows a fishes growth rate I believe, especially females (not as sure on males)- as more energy goes into developing eggs than towards growth. I know that when I had my breeding pair of HRP, although bigger initially the female was quite smaller than the unpaired fish I had in another tank by the time I rehomed them, and the male had been caught up in size if not overtook by an unpaired male in a seperate tank.

 

[Davo86]

Agreed with Shroob, This is noticed quite frequently with Convicts (or any other prolific breeding cichlid tbh), if you have a single specimen or same sexed pair then they will usually grow much quicker and larger than an established pair that is breeding on a regular basis.

Therefore if you want a pair of larger specimens I feel it is best to grow them up in seperate tanks before putting them together.

 

[Wills]

Ah right cool thanks guys. I am happy for them to breed at the moment as it is their tank. Ive noticed a bit of growth in about 4 months more so in the male but the female has grown a little too.