Timelines

[Hutch]

These Mbuna's are so snuggly. I'm reading that they will live to be 10years or older, but what timeline is there for growth?

LFS sells babes or 1" 4/10 or there abouts. If I were to go on that quest, what size would they be down the road? How long does it take them to get to full growth? What is the period of time you have before they get "stunted" in inadequate conditions? Do they slowly slowly grow for 10 years, or do they reach a certain size and then just live that way for many years?

[funky_fish]

I don't know about the long term, but I do know that the kenyis that I bought a little less than two months ago at 1.5" to 2" have grown about .5", maybe a little less. That's feeding cichlid crisps and the occasional algae wafer (just started to throw some mini sinking pellets into the mix last weekend). The auratus (started around 2") I've had for a little over a month, and haven't really noticed that much growth. The zebras I've only had a few weeks. My guess is that they grow at different rates depending on species, but that they reach full size much, much sooner than ten years, and then stop growing sometime not too long after reaching sexual maturity.

[rangur1]

if the cichlids are kept in their normal conditions, then the growth rate is modest. it will depend on the adult size of the fish. a fish that is 10-12" when full grown will grow at a faster rate than a fish thats 4" when full grown.

if your keeping mbuna then a 1" fish probably grows about 1" per year to be full size adult in 2-3 years. just a guess though.

[kaybee]

Growth rate will vary among species and within species (for example you can have a group of 20-35 mbuna fry and they won't grow at uniform rates...I've had some batches of fry where the largest fry literally had twice the length of their siblings). Growth rate may vary among genders as well.

I think most mbuna's reach "adult size" in 3-4 years. They attain sexual maturity at an earlier age (I've had a mbuna born in my tank mouthbrood before it reached a year in age).

"Adult size" isn't the same as "maximum size" because after 3 or 4 years growth rate slows down but continues. As an example of this, the oldest of the mbuna's born in my tank are 4 years old. They're obviously adult size but are they're still smaller than their fathers and older relatives who continue to reside in the same tank.

[Hutch]

Thanks to all of you, I have a much clearer picture of what is in store now.

On the subject of fry. I have been offered some pretty good incentives to trading my fry in to LFS. I'd very much to do this and trade for a larger tank.

How long do Yellow Labs take to brood to a level where they are attractive commodities to trade in to LFS?