Growing Speed.

[Miss Dib Dabs]

Lol ok not very clear that. I was taking a good look at my synos (eupterus types) this evening and they all appear to have grown alot lately. Just how fast do they grow?
I really don't know how old they are as they had been unwanted that a store had taken in and I, in turn, brought home. Even the youngsters in my other tank seem to have suddenly gotten bigger. They are major eaters, highly active, and the older group aren't scared of anything. I love them to pieces. Just wondered how long they take to reach full adult size. I'm guessing they've grown a half inch each in the last month minimum.
Hugs,
P.

 

[Inchworm]

Can anyone answer this?

 

[freddyk]

Just wondered how long they take to reach full adult size

The answer to this question for pretty much any fish is this: When they die. Fish never stop growing and the average maximum size of a fish is gerally speaking from birth to death. The larger they get, the slower they grow. At some point growth is so slow we may as well say they're not really growing - but they are. So, you will find that after the first initial growth spurts growth will slow.

Fish growth rate isn't any specific number either. When it comes to fish, their external environment directly impacts their growth rates. In cold water they grow slower then in warm water (providing overly warm water to force growth leads to a shorter life span). The more we feed them, the faster they grow. Warm water increases their metabolism, so these two are interrelated. Other factors that affect their growth is the cleanliness of the water, the quality of the food, and the size of tank they have to grow into.

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

Ok. So the fish in question live in a 55g, fed a wide variety of foods from live to average catfish type pellets etc etc. Highly active group of four, five if you include the very young synopetricola who only joined them a week ago. Water changes done twice a week at no more then 10% a time (Unless need dictates otherwise).
Space shared with loaches, platies, endlers and a G.N.plec. Live plants, hidey holes galore, barely used, sand substrate, ph a gnats wing under 8, temp approx 24C and lighting dimmer then average for the depth. Must work for them.
So saying the youngsters live in a 35g long with heavy cover due to alot of live plants and some slate caves, bright lighting (I grow up all my plants in there) and their growth varies from each fish greatly. Seems more to do with the hierarchy system. I guess because the boss gets the lions share of the food despite all efforts. Although all occassionally get on the wrong side of the forever bubblenesting gouramie and thoroughly told off. He'll even go for me now if I put my fingers too close to his territory.
They rarely come out for anything except their catfish pellets and live bloodworm. I would say, judging by the differences in the way each group act that the dimmer lighting in the bigger tank suits synos, as a nocturnal species, possibly the bright lighting actually causing some level of stress to them. Happily they won't be staying there indefinitely but moving to a larger tank in the near future.
Hugs,
P.
P.S:I do hope they slow down or they'll be the biggest synos in captivity within a very short space of time and I'll need a much much bigger tank.