fish growing very fast?

[dax29]

I've got too many fish in my 29 [acronym:34204f5739="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:34204f5739] tank but I'm planning on a bigger tank (75 gallon) soon. I've got 3 Yo Yo loaches, 2 clown loaches, 7 tiger barbs, 7 black ruby barbs, 3 corys, 1 chinese algae eater, 1 small flying fox, 2 small otos. Thats 26 fish and way over 29 inches/gallon even though all my fish are 2 inches or less right now. I've got an undergravel filter with 2 air stone columns, a Tetra Whisper 30 (145 [acronym:34204f5739="Gallons per hour"]gph[/acronym:34204f5739]) and an Aquaclear 200 (200 [acronym:34204f5739="Gallons per hour"]gph[/acronym:34204f5739]). I do 30% water changes every week. It has only plastic plants. I've been adding (and subtracting fish for 2 months now). I subtract fish by taking them back to the pet store and exchanging them and I've yet to see a "floater" in my tank. Anyway, some of my fish seem to grow before my very eyes. My 3 Yo Yo loaches seem to have grown by 50% since I've had them for 3 weeks. They were lithe, timid creatures at first and now they constantly move and probe the gravel. My chinese algae eater looks bigger too. I feed my fish once or twice a day with a small pinch or two of floating flakes and about 10-12 sinking shrimp pellets. I've give them some dried bloodworms about once or twice a week. The Yo Yo's are taking on a "football-shaped" appearance and seem to be overtaking the clown loaches in size. Am I feeding too much? The fish seem to eat all the food I give them at each feeding in about 15 minutes. Do Yo Yo's grow that fast or were they emaciated at the pet store? All this growth and seemingly pleasant behavior and activity has occured with my first ich outbreak that I'm treating with heat. All my fish seem pleased (I'm really not sure what that means) but they don't chase each other much (except the tiger barbs chase each other a little), and I don't see any fin damage now in any fish. The ich symtoms are now gone after 1 week but I'm going to keep my temp at 86-87 for 2 more weeks to be sure.

[severum mama]

I don't have any loaches, but I have heard that clown loaches are very slow growers. Don't know about the yo-yos. But if it takes your fish 15 minutes to eat all their food then I think you are overfeeding. It would be better for your fish to eat smaller meals a couple times a day, like an amount that takes them 2 or 3 minutes to finish. Sometimes I don't even give my fish that much at a time, more like a meal and then a snack later, and mine are all healthy and growing fine. You already know your tank is overstocked, and I see you are planning on a bigger one, but overfeeding in an overstocked tank will just make the problem a lot worse.
Good luck with your 75 gallon, I am so jealous!

[poppab02]

It's not uncommon for the YoYo loaches to overtake the clown loaches in size. Clown's grow extremely slow. Your experiences with your loaches are pretty common. Yoyo's are very active and grow close to full size relatively quickly if fed well.

[dax29]

Thanks for the feeding tip. I've been approved for the 75 gallon (i.e. my wife says I can have it for my birthday/father's day gift). My birthday is in between now and father's day so I will get it soon.

[dax29]

Will cutting back on the feeding hurt anything?

[pkremer]

If it is taking 15 minutes for your fish to eat the food you put in, cutting back on the feeding will actually HELP your fish. Personally, I feed my fish 1 time a day, whatever they can eat in around 3 minutes. My fish are all healthy and doing well. Some people only feed their fish once every other day!

Something interesting I've noticed about my yo-yo loaches is that they are the biggest pigs in the tank, and with what you mentioned is in your tank, I'm willing to bet they are the biggest pigs in yours. Yo-Yo's will eat and eat until (as Fruitbat humerously put) they look like little sausages. With my 3 minute feeding, my yo-yo loaches are not bloated. They are getting big, maybe 4", but they are not 'fat.' If they look like little footballs, I would cut back on feeding.

I've heard from my [acronym:78e3101079="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:78e3101079] that the more often you feed fish, the faster they can grow! So if you have been routinely overfeeding, it wouldn't be surprising if they grew more quickly than other people have experienced.

And again, as far as whether or not it will hurt, believe me, it won't. There's a saying that 'hungry fish are happy fish.' Don't starve them of course, but it is actually better that they are hungry, believe me. It is just in a fish's nature to eat and eat. In the wild, they may not get a lot of food every day, or any. So when they find food, they eat until there isn't any more. It's just the way they are. Try cutting back your feeding to once a day, and definitely don't put in more food than they can eat in 3-4 minutes. I would be shocked if any of your fish died with that feeding schedule, and they will probably even be healthier and more active!

Paul

[Menagerie]

Some people only feed their fish once every other day!

That's me! For fish entering adulthood, that's fine. I only feed fry more often.