Did I stunt my Oscars Growth? ?

Question

I have two Oscars that are roughly 4 inches long. I rescued them from death when my local Wal-mart were just going to get rid of them because they were literally COVERED with Ick. Needless to say when I asked about them they told me I could just have them, since they had already accounted for the loss. I brought them home at a little over an inch long and introduced them into a 15 gallon tank that I could easily monitor their ick treatment in. After about 2 weeks of treatment they were doing well so I upgraded their tank to a 125 gallon tank. I had this Cycling the whole time they were being treated and before. I had to make some major movement changes to my apartment for repairs and their 125 gallon had to be moved. When this happened They were at the size they are at now. I moved them back into their 15 gallon, with water and substrate from their big tank. Then I bagged up the rest of their substrate and water and stored it in a closet where I could run Aerators and filters in the water to keep the good bacteria going. That was 5 months ago. My fish were out of their big tank for 1 month. And are now 4 months back into their big one. I haven't seen ANY growth in that time. Did I stunt their growth by placing them in a smaller tank. Should I have found them a better home while the changes were being made, or will they start growing again. These are my Babes and I want to see them grow up and reach full potential!

Any help would be great!

Answer 1

They will grow just give them time.I doubt you stunted their growth ,however you may have slowed their metabolism and it may take up to  a year for them to start growing again.You can also try feeding them an extra fish every day.

Answer 2

No, that is to short of a time to stunt the growth. Plus, once put in a large tank they will start to grow again, they may just be growing slow, just make sure to feed them lots to help them grow, and congrates on getting that ich off of them, and 125 is a good size tank!

Answer 3

It MIGHT have effected them slightly, but at younger sizes this shouldn't be too much of a problem.  I mean really, if I saw this as someone asking could they keep the pair in a 15 for a few months, I'd outright say no.  You did for their health and that's wonderful that you did.  You got them a nice sized tank to keep the pair, so that's even better on your part too.  From everything I've read, it seems to me like you are doing quite well for your pair, and it's refreshing to see as such.

Being they are young, and this was only a few months, should there have been any stunting, I'm sure this is something they should make a full recovery from.  They were growing in the 15, and I doubt they hit a stunting point in the 15 as they went from the 1 inch to 4 inches.  This is probably just a lull point in growth and expect them to kick in growing again shortly.  Keeping them on a proper diet, and keeping the water conditions at South American type levels, along with the water quality perfect, and I'd be surprised if your Oscars didn't grow out and live a very long time for you.  The only reason they shouldn't would be say this turns into 2 males, and one kills the other, which even in a 125, COULD happen.  Just continue to watch over them as you have already.  This is clearly a very positive experience on your end.

Answer 4

Wow,that's quite a story,and while the small tank certainly would not induce rapid growth,it should not have done permanent damage. Oscars are weird fish,and prone to be moody. I had a large Red Albino Tiger  that went on an hunger strike for 6 months and then resumed eating as if nothing had happened.

You know that life in the Oscar's natural habitat is not exactly a bowl of cherries,with the river level fluctuating as much as 27 feet every year and perhaps this plateau in their growth rate is some sort of genetic/survival syndrome.

Just keep spoiling your babies,and be very conscientious about water quality and they will probably resume their growth in a while.

Also,it's possible that some of their growth capability was used up by the previous owners. Wally World is not noted for their caring attitude toward the pets they sell.

There are lots of clean live foods besides feeder fish,worms,crickets crawfish,the list is quite long. Some of the stuff you can purchase at bait shops are excellent live food. Live foods are great for all types of fish,but Oscars especially seem to enjoy it. Learn about "gut-loading" live food,that is, feeding the live food on dietary supplements and booster nutrients just before feeding it to the predator. Lots to learn. Get some good books,truth can be sort of tenuous on the "net".

Answer 5

they will start growing again and be fine. provide live food, and they will grow much faster, but since they have probably been stunted alittle during the young age, they might not get as big as you like, but they will be fine, one month isnt going to stunt them enough to cause real damage if placed in a large tank soon enough.

you are taking good care of your fish!