Cichlid growth and color

[Eternal919]

Hi all, new to the forum. Just have a couple of questions. First off i have had my fish for about two years and they dont seem to grow much. I have tried everything including weekly water changes, feeding small amounts 3 times a day, feeding brine shrimp i even got a bigger tank and nothing. The other thing is they dont seem to show bright colors. Any help will be appriciated. Thanks

 

[Sidman24]

What kind of cichlids are they? Some cichlids only get to be about 3 inches

 

[Eternal919]

Most of them are african cichlids from lake malawi they are all different but they are all in between 1-2 inches. I also have some american cichlids but they dont grow much either

 

[Sidman24]

Pictures would help people identify them.

 

[Eternal919]

 

[Lady_Alia]

What size tank are they in?

 

[Eternal919]

They are in a 110 gal tank right now. I had them in a 75 gal before

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

They are that big and you've owned them for two years?! All of those fish should be adult size and they are not. Were they stunted (kept in a small tank)

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

As for types I'm surprised they haven't killed each other. I see a green terror, firemouth, auratus, yellow tail acei, demonsoni

 

[Lady_Alia]

The yellow with black stripes is an aurutus. The orange one is a red zebra and the light blue with the dark blue striped is a kenyi. I don't know about the others.
They should be 4-6" by now, especially in that big of a tank!
How old are they? Did you get them from someone who kept them in a small tank?

 

[Eternal919]

Yup none of my fish grow that much. A friend and i get fish together and we both get the same size and in about 5 months his are like 3 times bigger than mine. And yeah haha the dont really bother each other much

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

I literally have no explanation why they haven't grown. Especially if everything your saying is true. What's your nitrate level?

 

[Eternal919]

Well i bought them at petsmart when they were babies

 

[Eternal919]

Nitrate is around 8.0

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

What tests are you using?

 

[Rivers2k]

The fire mouth looks like it is in horrible shape. These are the only fish you have in a 110?

 

[ghostking010]

Those fish should not be together poor fire mouth they aren't so aggressive so he must be getting bully wen the lights go out i ha to rehome mine so i went all mbuna and hap js

 

[IADave]

Those fish should not be together poor fire mouth they aren't so aggressive so he must be getting bully wen the lights go out i ha to rehome mine so i went all mbuna and hap js

Same with my firemouth, he was a lonely victim in my tank. Had to go for his own survival.

 

[ghostking010]

Trade em at your lfs and get some nice mbuna what i did for my fire mouth and banded leporeanus probly miss spelled lol but got an ice blue and red zebra and yellow lab for two fish so i gained one more fish lol