This Is Gonna Sound Crazy

[Antinerf]

So I've been monitoring my fry lately, and I'm unable to do frequent water changes since only my father is able to set up the siphon (I've tried, I'm not strong enough). So I've kinda been watching them grow, and up until now they were still kinda puny.
 
24 hours ago, I added some water into the tank via a container to make up for evaporation... except I forgot to add a dechlorinator. It wasn't several gallons or anything so I wasn't too worried when I woke up the next morning and realized I had forgotten. So I went about my day, and I'm checking on the fish again. They look HUGE. I'm not joking. It's bigger than Fucillo Huge. It looks like they gained about 1/8 inch in about a day. Is it possible that dechlorinating water may stunt growth this much? Seems kinda counterintuitive, since chlorine is toxic from what I know. Or is this just a fish version of a growth spurt?
 
Thanks,
Antinerf

 

[Antinerf]

Also, I might have to say that these fry are permanently stunted... over 3 months and they've grown to about 1 inch. I have no idea what else to do. I can't increase water changes since nobody will do it for me except for every other weekend. Can't even perform regular bucket changes since the lid won't allow for it and removing it is essentially impossible.
 
I'm currently picking fry to cull or move, haven't decided if moving them is feasible yet.

 

[TallTree01]

What brand of dechlor are you using? I've never heard that dechlor can stunt fish... Adding a few gallons of chlorinated water to your tank would not cause a lot of growth ( unless there's like radiation in your tap water or something ) .

 

[Antinerf]

Lol that's not the case fortunately. My fish are too small anyway at barely one inch in over three months. Might have to resort to scooping water, and even then that would be everyday for how badly stunted their growth is.

 

[Antinerf]

Also, sorry for not answering your question earlier- Seachem Prime.

 

[DreamertK]

Actually if you change the water every day then the fry will have the best growth potential. Betas can become adults in 3 months with daily WC. You're removing growth inhibitors from the water each WC, so if possible keep doing WC's!! The dechlorinator probably did nothing, if there was chlorine in the water then the fry would have died.
 
I wouldn't be complaining about the WC if I were you. I had to do it for a month for a fish in cycle.

  Every. Single. Day. Hauling buckets of water in and out.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The dechlorinator is not stunting growth, the lack of water changes was.  As Dreamer says, there are growth inhibiting hormones released by the fish, so that was the cause of the slower growth.
 
 
The more frequently you change the water, the closer the fish will grow according to their maximum growth potential.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Actually if you change the water every day then the fry will have the best growth potential. Betas can become adults in 3 months with daily WC. You're removing growth inhibitors from the water each WC, so if possible keep doing WC's!!

 
 

The more frequently you change the water, the closer the fish will grow according to their maximum growth potential.

 
This is truly interesting (something I did not know

  )
 
A great fact to try and remember for sure
Thanks to both Dreamer and Eagles

 
Learn something new every day

 

[BiggTexx]

Ditto on Charlie's post!

 

[Byron]

I agree that dechlorinator will not inhibit growth, but I still can't explain the rapid growth spurt literally overnight.
 
Fry growth rates largely depend upon feeding and water conditions, as well as physical space which affects the latter but also is relevant in its own right.  The more often you feed fry, the faster they will develop.  But with this comes the water changes as the more food going in the more waste coming out and this plus the hormones JD mentioned means that water changes must be increased, regular and substantial.  Discus breeders often change 90% of the water in fry tanks every day; some do this more than once a day.  It allows them to raise more fry in the given space and the fry develop better.  There is obviously a limit to this, if one reaches overcrowding, so all is relative.  Dividing the fry into more and more tanks, or larger tanks, regularly during the first few weeks is also important as this affects physical space which can affect growth, plus the water quality.
 
An addition of a small amount of chlorinated water without dechlorinator will normally not hurt most fish, provided the volume is not significant, and here I'm thinking of "top-ups" for evaporation.  However, fry are much more sensitive than older fish so one has to be careful.  A more significant water change without dechlorinator can be deadly within a few minutes to all fish, depending upon the chlorine level in the water and the volume of the change.  In most areas of North America, water authorities add a fair amount of chlorine (many are now using chloramine as well) so it is seriously risky not to use a dechlorinator.  I understand that in the UK chlorine is used minimally (by comparison) so some aquarists can get away with not using a dechlorinator provided the volume of water changed is not too great.
 
Byron.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I agree that dechlorinator will not inhibit growth, but I still can't explain the rapid growth spurt literally overnight.
 

 
I agree with that, as well.  If the growth is as rapid as mentioned, that's striking.  I wonder if it was just noticed recently, but a bit more gradual.