ID Shark Housing
- Thread starter BigTrain
- Start date
According to swai farmers they reach market size(2-3 lbs) in under a year, some as quickly as six months, and have a far better feed conversion ratio than channel cats. If the fish are staying small it's almost certainly some failure in husbandry. I'm not passing judgement as it seems many who provide what we would consider at least decent conditions have the same issue.
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Maybe theyr just minis (Wich apparently is seen before), but if not these Guys are seriuesly stunted, and the big eyes point to that. If theyr 5 years old they should be 2ft to 2,5ft and are under 1 foot, Theres a real problem... Im not an Expert on stunted fish, but i dont know if a bigger tank would help, or they would just remain on this size.
Every time I've graduated them to a larger tank, they grow quickly, giving them only a few months of true free space in a tank. So, while I recover financially from tank to tank, I move ornaments and fish around to make space. So, I'm confident these are the true-blue 4' ID sharks.
I'm so glad I found this forum, and thank all of you very much for your quick, honest, and informed replies. I had no idea my progress was too slow for their growing bodies. I'll find the fastest way to find these two guys a larger home.
I'm so glad I found this forum, and thank all of you very much for your quick, honest, and informed replies. I had no idea my progress was too slow for their growing bodies. I'll find the fastest way to find these two guys a larger home.
Right. But I wouldn't rely on words in this case. We need good photos. Moreover, can someone cite a source or a study for this connection between eye size and stunting. I have never heard it and want to learn, please. Till then, please allow me remaining dubious.
AFAIK, the body parts of a stunted fish do not change their proportions significantly (we are not talking short-body fish here).
At the face value, this is a very strange statement. Elaborate, please, if you will.
Right and all agreeable, except maybe the feed conversion ratio and the undeniable fact that a large % of IDSs sold grow slow and small in proper care.
Other things than improper husbandry may explain this "seeming" contradiction. Albeit hard to support by anything.
I offered these worthless thoughts in a couple of other threads:
"... There is this notion that some farmed ones, such as Hemibagrus nemurus (most often albino), IDS, etc., are poor growers, which I don't understand as this would ruin the food fish farming business... but, indeed, we have been seeing fishes of abnormally slow growth and attaining much smaller adult sizes, it would seem of both hemibagrus and the IDS. Some suppose this is due to insufficient attention of the farmers to the maintenance of a healthy gene pool - but this can't be agreed because, as mentioned, it would ruin farmers' business...
The usual thought/conviction is that we in the trade get a tiny % of the fish raised for food.
This conundrum could be reconciled by a supposition that the ornamental fish trade is now getting supplied from a different source than food fish farms and the ornamental fish trade may even benefit from smaller fishes as more hobbyists can house them. They would also benefit as these fish would reproduce poorly too (and are more sickly). All this increases the "ornamental farmers" consumer demand and farmers' security. ATM, this is but my wild thoughts, unsupported by anything."
This is probably just silly thinking. Grasping at the straws.
I am not. The fact of fast growth does support your thinking. The fact that they remained 8" in a 125 gal does not. Can it be that your water changes are exceedingly small/rare? This leads to an accumulation of the growth-inhibiting hormones in the water and, hence, to stunted fish.
Is it possible to set up an intex pond for them? That would be cheap. Or at least a 300 gal rubbermade tub.
With cichlids at least large eyes in comparison to body means stunting. It happened with my kenyi when I first tried them (kenyi are about as elongated as an id shark scaled down of course). Their eyes were large and I thought it was normal until years laters when I got new kenyi and properly cared for them. I can't imagine this only happening with cichlids. Sorry, I have no scientific papers about this though.
