Do They STOP Growing............if....

[Kindredspirit]

Okay I have a question ~ if you have discus and you just got them...or not ~ but you know they are still juvies and they spawn...they will not grow anymore?

I have always read that they stop growing if and when they spawn; is this true? No matter the age ~

Or ~

I was talking with a friend and she said she read that too but also she was told that they must actually have the fry feed off of them?........I think I have this right!:o .....as opposed to just spawning, in order for them to not grow anymore...?

I hope this makes sense!


Thanks,


Marie ~ :wave:

[dandestroy]

If they spend energy form food on producing eggs, running after the fry, feeding the fry, that's energy that they don't stock toward their metabolic growth.

So to me saying that they stop growing would be an overstatement. For sure I could imagine a reduction in growth but not a complete stop.

Couple still get ticker as they get older so...

[Apistomaster]

Fish keep growing as long as they live, but in all the cases I have seen stunted pairs that spawn and raise fry, the female barely grows. So much of her resources go to egg production and feeding fry it seems to divert them from continued normal growth.

I have seen breeding discus that were not much larger than a normal discus is at 7 months old breed. Females barely more than 3 inches in diameter. Were it not for the fact they were runts the prospect of a down sized discus breed would have some interesting possibilities.

Larry W.