bgk

[mostanks]

hi guy's-while moving all these fish around this past week i got a really good look at my black ghost knife,he's now well over 4yrs old and has stopped growing at about 7".
most of his life he lived in a 55g w/some non agressive community fish.
then i moved him to my 90g which at the time housed only my green terror and a few other oddballs but they got along fine(eating really good)well he lived there for over a yr and never grow an inch,is this normal?i know they can grow close to 2ft am i right?are there size differences between males and females?

thanks

 

[Gibbo]

I think (in the case of Red Tail Cats anyway) that a growth inhibiting pheremone is released into the water that slows growth right down if at a sufficient concentration. Lots of large water changes will help elleviate this. Maybe BGK's are the same and the bigger tank you've put it in enables the pheremones to be less concentrated and this triggered the fish to start growing again, but only a bit. we have a Gibbiceps that was housed in a 2ft tank. We took him in at 6" (he had been that length for a year or so) and put him in a 4ftx2ftx2ft. That was about 4 months ago and he is 8-9" long now. That is incredible growth rate (he does look a bit 'leggier' though). Maybe you'll see your BGK do the same if you try larger water changes, say 40% every 7-10 days or something, see what happens....

 

[mostanks]

hi gibbo,thanks for the reply.
i'm not so sure it's the water changes,i do 40% water change every week and i mean every week(when the 90g was a ca/sa tank)i had to.

is his health is at risk coz he's not growing?

 

[Gibbo]

I cannot be sure. I know the life expectancy of a RTC is shortened if it cannot get to full size but it may not be true of all fish! Quite a lot of captive fish never really get to full size anyway, not even some Tetras (Red Eyes for instance - 2.5" in captivity, up to 4" in the wild). So long as it seems healthy I wouldn't worry m8

 

[mostanks]

So long as it seems healthy I wouldn't worry m8

except for the beating he took he's looking fine,he eats like a pig lol

thanks for the input

hey!!red eye tetras grow to 4"s?in the wild? if they got that big in an aquarium i'd get some they'r cool lookin.


well thanks again Gibbo

 

[cichlidmaster]

I agree with Gibbo on several points.....

The pheremones that fish excrete are a truth although the reason for them varies with whose opinion you ask.

I believe they are given off by a dominate male to prohibit sub dominate males of the same species from attaining adult size and coloration. Henceforth no compition for available females.

As for the BGK not growing when it was placed in larger quarters....pretty simple I think, and don't take this personally Most as you know I tell it like it is.......

The fish may have been stunted!! Even though it was in a 55 which is a lot of room, it may not have been enough room for it to continually put on size.

Once a fish is stunted no matter what size the stunting starts at it is pretty much not going to grow any further. Stress also plays a factor in the fishes overall health and therefore growth.

Now on the other hand, I have had many BGK fish during my time in the hobby and I have never had one get bigger than around 9" and this was in a 90 gallon tank from the get go.

Some fish just automatically never reach their full potential in size in the confines of an aquarium.

I don't believe the fishes health is at risk though. As long as you continue your maintenance routine (which sounds like a VERY good one) it should continue to live a good long life.

Hope this helped and made even a little sense.

CM

 

[mostanks]

The fish may have been stunted!! Even though it was in a 55 which is a lot of room, it may not have been enough room for it to continually put on size

ok-that makes sense now i feel crappy that i had him in there,but my idea was (he's only like 2 1/2"s at THAT moment)and my plans were to have a 6ft tank but that changed coz my floors wouldn't take it.so i got a 90g and kept him there a few yrs

pretty simple I think, and don't take this personally Most as you know I tell it like it is.......

and that's why i'm here B) i mean c'mon if you don't tell me what i did wrong how will we learn.you don't ever have to worry about that man i'm here to learn.
so teach me cichlidmaster teach me please

 

[juanveldez]

yes teach him CM teach him!

 

[mostanks]