What's more important for a fish's growth rate -- more water changes or more food?

[Jc1119]

Of course genetics is a factor but big parents don't necessarily = fry that will all grow big (just as colorful parents doesn't necessarily mean colorful offspring).

Matt

True. Genetics are beyond our immediate control. Diet, water, tank size...... those are the things we can control and change at will.


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[dreadhead]

I would say environment (water parameters, tank size, temp) are more important than food provided it's a 'normal' situation. Water quality doesn't mean much if you're feeding mostly filler, and high quality food won't do much if the fish lives in a cramped, filthy tank. But we have a tendency to over feed and you can only increase the amount of nutrients before you're doing more harm than good (imbalanced nutrition, fatty liver disease, and decreased water quality). I assume fish in nature have adapted to grow fast on adequate or less than adequate nutrition to avoid predation. Poor water quality is like swimming in a soup of toxins; it impacts a fishes health which makes them spend more energy trying to fight off infection or heal compromised systems. So I'd say given an adequate, average diet water quality is mute important

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You said it all , would agree with everything .


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[popss]

kind of a silly question you are asking, which one should some concentrate on to have a big fish. you can raise a large oscar in a small tank with bad water quality and feeding gold fish,They are hardy fish to a point. after about a year or so you will be posting how my 12" oscar is sick has HITH and soon after will be dead. A well kept Oscar will not get to 12 inches in a year, if he does you are feeding to much protein and shortening his life span. Oscars can easily live 10 to 18 years but most do not make it 5 to 8 because they are fed the wrong diet.

 

[JayC74]

I'll pick food since a hungry fish in clean water will not grow
Improving water quality enhances the appetite & helps prevent disease, but the food carries the nutrients which makes fish get bigger. Food makes fish grow, not the size of the tank. If a fish eats the same quantity & quality of food in a 500gal tank compared to a tank the size of an olympic swimming pool, his growth rate will be the same
Fish in nature that live in monster clean lakes with a low forage base to eat from with high competition will stay undersize. Just because the lake is huge with clean water will not ensure monster size fish
Fish in small ponds that have nutrient rich water which allows for an abundant of forage to thrive along with low competition for food will tend to carry consistant monster fish

 

[snowman17.5]

What a group of fish and some seem to outgrow the others this is what happening with my mbuna. I keep up with water changes feed NLS and some of the fish I got starting off have grown and at adult size and some seem to have grown but not nearly as much.

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