Is This Normal?

[Rexx0rz]

well i have about 50+ fry in one 10 gallon tank, 15 are like new (from today) and the rest are like a month old. is it normal for like only a few of them to be growing bigger? I am feeding enough for all of them. some are still being really tiny. D:

i hope they are ok. D:

 

[OldMan47]

It can happen that way Rexx. I find that lots of big water changes, maybe 5 gallons twice a week, will get the smaller ones growing and prevent any becoming stunted.

 

[Rexx0rz]

is it bad to be stunted? >____< *worries*

 

[OldMan47]

It is never a positive thing. You can sometimes recover and have fish grow normally if they are not held back too long.

 

[Duck and Dive]

I use RO water, as it has no nitrates to stunt the growth, I do 10% weekly, as If you do too much with RO it will buffer pH and start pH swings.

 

[OldMan47]

It is time for me to interject Duck and Dive. RO water is fine for topping off a tank where you have lots of evaporation but it is a terrible idea for water changes on typical livebearers. Livebearers, the ones that are readily available, are hard water fish or very hard water fish. Putting them into soft or demineralized water may keep a particular element out of their environment, such as nitrogen, but it will eventually make the fish sickly looking. If you have not done too many pure RO water changes you may not have done much harm but when talking about water changes I would rather a 30% change with tap twice a week to a 10% change ever with RO. RO deprives the fish of the needed minerals in their water. We don't know specifically what fish Rexx is raising but in this livebearers forum I am going to guess it is not angels or tetras that would appreciate the soft water.

 

[helterskelter]

It is time for me to interject Duck and Dive. RO water is fine for topping off a tank where you have lots of evaporation but it is a terrible idea for water changes on typical livebearers. Livebearers, the ones that are readily available, are hard water fish or very hard water fish. Putting them into soft or demineralized water may keep a particular element out of their environment, such as nitrogen, but it will eventually make the fish sickly looking. If you have not done too many pure RO water changes you may not have done much harm but when talking about water changes I would rather a 30% change with tap twice a week to a 10% change ever with RO. RO deprives the fish of the needed minerals in their water. We don't know specifically what fish Rexx is raising but in this livebearers forum I am going to guess it is not angels or tetras that would appreciate the soft water.

I totally agree you should never use full RO when doing water changes for the same reasons as above.

Course you could use minerals to buffer the water before adding, but i use tap water every time and never had a problem yet.

 

[Duck and Dive]

My tap water where I live is very hard and is high in nitrates. When I do a water change I use 10% RO and 20% tap water.