Growing from Food

[octoxpuss]

So, I have a 55 Gallon that is housing a gold severum and to my knowledge he should have grown more than he has. I got him at about 1.5 inches now he is about 2.5 and it has been almost 4 months. I feed him Cichlid pellets, made by aquate or something of that nature. I wanted to start substituting raw fish or raw shrimp. Would this help him grow out. The only other tank mate is a Feather fin catfish. (7") So I do water changes 1x a week 10 percent with 2 55 HOB fillter ratings and I feed him only as much as he will eat. So What will make him grow a little faster?

[CassieLEO]

I think you need a little more filtration and bigger water changes if he is going to get very big and healthy. Varied healthy diet works very good.

[Honey Badger 1]

gold severums are omnivorous. try adding some veggies to his diet. proper diet, along with clean water and plenty of room should be enough to get him to grow out nicely.

[skullduggery1]

raw shrimp will not hurt,peas,cucumber,hikari gold pellets.four months and grown a inch is not bad.Here it is,if you see a fish everyday,then it looks like it has not grown.But if somebody who has not seen it in a while usually will notice the size difference.Just do not overfeed because powerfeeding fish can lead to bad water quality and unhealthy,fatty fish,with the associated organ problems.

[octoxpuss]

I do not over feed. He gets so many pellets per 5 minutes. Say he eats one then I give another until 5 minutes is over. I ment 20% weekly changes. TYPO :( Anyway, The to HOB filters are all I have at the moment and will have to be suffecient until I can afford a Canister.

[KingFisher]

10% waterchanges are nearly a complete waste of time. Try upping them to at least 25%. Along with the bad stuff you test for, fish secrete hormones and stuff that also builds up in the water over time.

A more varied diet, as already mentioned, will also help.

edit: you changed the percent while I was posting.

[octoxpuss]

Ok I was just doing 20 because every time I test I get almost 0 nitrates. P.s. my tank is cycled. I will deff. up the waterchanges.

[CassieLEO]

It cleans the water out too. Water changes arent just for nitrates. You should check craigslist for filters. Im amazed at all the stuff I find on there. Do you have a python to make water changes easier for you? I used to use buckets for months, then said skrew it and bought a water changer...

[octoxpuss]

No my aquarium has easy access to the outside so I just chuck the hose out the window and bye-bye water then I use a a 15 gallon tote to refill it is easiest for me

[Honey Badger 1]

two hob filters rated for 55g each on a 55g tank, isn't bad. it's the minimum that is usually recommended, and since you have two filters, if you set them at opposite sides of the tank you should have decent filtration as long as your tank isn't heavily stocked. just up the water changes like kingfisher suggested and your fish should be fine.