CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Hey Stillearnin, my midas fry are just now starting to get bigger, they are in a 55 gal with a Emperor double bio-wheel, they get water changes once a week like the rest. I have them on tropical fish flakes, crushed. and they like to chase and eat big pellets Harkari gold. Do you think over crowding might be a prob.? they are not even really using all the tank space, they still stay grouped up somethimes. I feed them 2-3 x a day. Just curious.
this was taken 3/13/04 -- feeding time, such pigs..

Do you think over crowding might be a prob.?

Nope...

they are not even really using all the tank space, they still stay grouped up somethimes.

Same thing I've noticed with red devils (and alot of other cichlids)

and interesting thing I'm seeing now with the red devils, I have them seperated,when I seperated them I did it buy guessing (I'm sure you know how hard it is to count the little ones) anyways here's what I'm seeing.


Feeding them all 4-5 times a day with brine shrimp,flakes and bloodworms now on some of the larger ones , 50%+ water changes every other day.Here's what I have
50 red devils - 40 gallon tank- with sponge and aquaclear 300 = 1-1.5 "
62 red devils - 45 gallon tank with sponge and aquaclear 300 = 1-1.5 "
42 red devils - 15 gallon tank with sponge filter = 2.5-3"
38 red devils - 15 gallon tank with sponge filter = 2.5-3"
38 red devils - 30 gallon tank with sponge filter and biowheel 160 = 1.5-2"

sold 300 to another wholesaler from this batch he seperated them into two 200 gallon troughs they're all still under an inch


sold about 600 to a local wholesaler about two weeks before these hatched,he put them all in a 1,000 gallon vat and they're all 1.5-2" with a few strageling behind at only half inch or so.



So they're growing better with less room.
I would say they're growing better with less filtration but with my water changes I think the waters staying the same on all the tanks.



Got another batch of eggs today so thankfully most of the growouts are sold tommorow,but I'm going to try to keep a few just to see if they keep growing faster in smaller tanks.



Thought I was just losing my mind at first but seems a few people with discus and angels experiance double growth rate between 20 and 40 gallon tanks also.



Might be time for me to buy some more small tanks

NOW that is weird. you would think that it would be the other way around. I don't have a smaller tank available. so the dears are just going to have to tough it out in the 55 gal. What you have done is amazing to say the least. I would never have thought of that unless one was injured and he/she was in a smaller tank for a extended time. I don't feed anything but what i posted. not fond of bloodworms, but have some in a 'can', would it hurt them being this young? the little pigs will eat anything I'm sure.
PS: the Midas's eggs hatched yesterday. So I know the feeling on MORE FRY! I have some dealers interested. and I want to keep one or two of batch #1. think Hubby will get me a bigger tank? Me either...

not fond of bloodworms, but have some in a 'can', would it hurt them being this young?

If you mean feeze dried? I doubt it can hurt them but I never tried it - I use frozen bloodworms

Stillearnin, have you ever heard of bloodworms giving fish dropsey? I have read many post (not here) from fishkeepers that say on some cichlids, it causes bloat-dropsey. I advise a lot of folks to not feed but once a week, not everyday. they were feeding 2x aday and wanted to know why their fish were sick don't know if it was freeze dyed or frozen. Have you had any experiences with this prob?

Is their a way to copy the Red Devil Fry tanks you have posted with out copying the whole thread?

Sorry cich1 for Using you thread. Congrates on the tanks! That is a great deal for you to start out with. And I thought 9 tanks was a lot! Just wait till water change day!:(

never heard of bloodworms causeing problems, but I know lots of people have problems feeding tubiflex worms.

For those who don't know tubiflex worms are basically grown in sewage,so I never did understand why they're sold as fishfood.