How do you make fish grow faster?
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Very frequent water change. Most breeders perform daily water changes to speed up growth. Aquaculture commercially works under the same premise. Pheromones accumulate in our aquariums acting as a growth inhibitor. By diluting these levels through water change fish will grow at a much higher rate.
Also ensure your aquarium is properly buffered, to ensure there is adequate calcium and other minerals present in the water. Our "sticky" on water quality in BC explains this.
Also ensure your aquarium is properly buffered, to ensure there is adequate calcium and other minerals present in the water. Our "sticky" on water quality in BC explains this.
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water changes as per Grant from Island Pets. Apparently Fish release hormones in the water which make them i guess you can say "uncomfortable" so when you do a water change apparently all of those hormones are lost and fish will gain size from having a clean change.
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you beat me to it!! hahaha
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Hey Ben, Pheromones are naturally produced by fish as natures defense against outgrowing their environment. These Pheromones are diluted naturally in the wild but in a closed system they accumulate. Yet another reason why water changes are crucial to an aquarium. I cant tell you how many hobbyists don't perform water changes at all.
Pheromones don't evaporate.........
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thats some cool info !.. there you have it folks..KEEP DOING YOUR WATER CHANGES!!!.. i heard Clown Loaches will grow faster if you do changes 3 times a week. So I assume its with all fish.Hey Ben, Pheromones are naturally produced by fish as natures defense against outgrowing their environment. These Pheromones are diluted naturally in the wild but in a closed system they accumulate. Yet another reason why water changes are crucial to an aquarium. I cant tell you how many hobbyists don't perform water changes at all.
Pheromones don't evaporate.........
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yeah the pheromones are produced by the fish which also has receptors for these pheromones, a higher concentration of them will imply a smaller body of water and the fish wont grow as big, a low concentration and the body interprets this as a large body of water and keeps growing
daily water changes will keep the pheromone concentrations low, simulating a large body of water, = fast growth and large final size.
but it doesnt stop there either
enzymes work best within a specific ph as well as temperature, they can start to become denatured outside of the optimal conditions. like most reactions, heat will usually speed up how fast the enzymes are working (heat means the molecules in the solution are moving around faster, therefore they collide and "fit" into the active site on the enzyme more often. you want to have the tank on the warmer side of the fishes optimal temperature range keeping in mind most enzymes are more tolerant to being cold than hot, so dont go too hot!
long story short, do lots of water changes and keep the temperature near the high end of what the fish like, and keep the PH in the optimal range to keep the enzymes cranking out products as fast as possible.
daily water changes will keep the pheromone concentrations low, simulating a large body of water, = fast growth and large final size.
but it doesnt stop there either
enzymes work best within a specific ph as well as temperature, they can start to become denatured outside of the optimal conditions. like most reactions, heat will usually speed up how fast the enzymes are working (heat means the molecules in the solution are moving around faster, therefore they collide and "fit" into the active site on the enzyme more often. you want to have the tank on the warmer side of the fishes optimal temperature range keeping in mind most enzymes are more tolerant to being cold than hot, so dont go too hot!
long story short, do lots of water changes and keep the temperature near the high end of what the fish like, and keep the PH in the optimal range to keep the enzymes cranking out products as fast as possible.
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someone didnt read my wall of text.
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I do smaller, more frequent water changes. Grant gave 1 really good explanation. I have no problem doing a 5 gal water change in a 40 gal breeder every 2 days. Whenever I do a water change, I do it as a vacuum. I also have at least one more sponge filter than I think I need. Remember too, quality of food is a factor.
Sometimes you'll see a few grow a lot faster than the others. This is due to competition for food. If you can have several grow out tanks so you can keep fish of different sizes separate.
Steve
Sometimes you'll see a few grow a lot faster than the others. This is due to competition for food. If you can have several grow out tanks so you can keep fish of different sizes separate.
Steve
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So, if you don't want your fish or a particular fish to grow fast, the reverse is true then? Do rarely water changes?
I thought also that growth rate was somewhat depending on feeding rate and amount and quality of food. Yeah?
I thought also that growth rate was somewhat depending on feeding rate and amount and quality of food. Yeah?
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yeah, i read you can stunt monster fish growth on purpose this way, soak up the nitrogenous wastes chemically and let the pheromones accumulate.
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If your new water parameters are close to your tank's, 50% is fine. I do 50 to 75% on all my tanks. For juvenile fish I'm trying to grow out, I do daily water changes.
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50% is considered the maximum safe water change. More than that can shock the fish unless the parameters are adjusted in the new water to match the aquarium conditions. Even then, it can be hard on the fish to do so.
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There is a fine line between slowing the growth of your fish and stunting your fish to the point of deformity. Assuming your aquarium size is appropriate to the fish being kept, there is no moral reason to restrict their growth.
So basically daily 50% water changes with a bit of Replenish will increase fish growth.
Replenish is added in with each water change? or is it like aquarium salt. where you add most of it in the first time and then slowly add some more every couple of months
Replenish is added in with each water change? or is it like aquarium salt. where you add most of it in the first time and then slowly add some more every couple of months
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I have caused a nitrite spike with frequent large water changes (measured with my test kit). That is why I do more frequent and smaller water changes. The large number of sponge filters is not only an effort to keep the levels steady, but to give me cycled filter media when we need to set up a new tank. I make my own filters.
Steve
Steve
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