red devil growth

[tangigi3]

Hi,

about 4 months ago, I selected 3 very red (3 inchers) red devil from my old pond. these red devils, have been the result of inbreeding and overcrowding resulting in their small size. They are now living in a 23,000 gallon pond and have achieved 8 inches.

my question is will they be able to reach their full potential size (14 inches) knowing that they might have been stunted and their parent stock might not have been big in size. have been feeding them 40% protien pellets

Thanks

Lar

[BlueDempsey]

Got any pics of the red devils. Some other fellas may be interested to get some.

[RazorBlade]

Originally Posted by tangigi3

about 4 months ago, I selected 3 very red (3 inchers) red devil from my old pond. these red devils, have been the result of inbreeding and overcrowding resulting in their small size. They are now living in a 23,000 gallon pond and have achieved 8 inches.

my question is will they be able to reach their full potential size (14 inches) knowing that they might have been stunted and their parent stock might not have been big in size. have been feeding them 40% protien pellets

Hard to tell actually, since there are many other factors.

Of course, you mentioned yourself they were in an overcrowded environment and were 3 inches in size - my main question would be how LONG they were in an overcrowded environment. Fish grows larger (& larger) as they age. Full potential size depends on life expectancy & the age they expect to reach full potential size.

E.g. Life expectancy = 10 yrs and full potential size = 7 yrs. You've had them in the overcrowded tank for 3 yrs, and now they are in a larger & ideally setup tank. In this case, you should expect them to reach full potential size (barring other factors).

E.g. #2. Same as above, but in an overcrowded tank for 5 yrs. In this scenario, you can expect your fish NOT to reach full potential size.

Other factors? Genetic material. Dominant male/female status. Feeding. Water Quality. etc etc etc

Happy Fishkeeping!