Wet/Drys make fish grow faster....

[mark razmandi]

is this true? i have tanks with a wetdry and tanks without and i notcied my fish grow almost TWICE as fast in my tank with the wet/dry. For proof, i had red head tapajos fry and i gave 4 to brian, in about 4 weeks i gave the rest of my fry to him and they were literally TWICE as big as the fry i had given him originally and he does not have a wet/dry on his tank. I susupect the high levels of oxygen but im still not sure. Please give me your thoughts on this.

[FrontosaurusRex]

Thats crazy if thats true. Are you guys feeding the same fish, the same kind of food and the same amount of food? Are you both doing the exact same amount of water changes? I'm gonna keep up with this thread cuz this is a very cool theory.

[mark razmandi]

his tank is a 75g and mines a 90g so they are same size pretty much. The fry were the same size when i split them up. we both feed the same food and relatively the same amounts, he feeds like 6 times a day and i feed 3 large amounts a day. the fry were UNBELIEVABLY bigger when i gave him the rest from my tank about a month later.

[supadave]

I don't own a Wet/Dry but I don't think that it's the w/d that makes the fish bigger. I think it may be the difference in water changes ...the bigger size of your tank...and maybe the number and size of tank mates.

[Mzungu]

From http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/reprint/20/12/4740

We have shown previously in the African cichlid fish, Haplochromis burtoni, that changes in social status, including events such as losing or winning a territorial encounter, result in changes in somatic growth rate. Here we demonstrate for the first time that changes in social status cause changes in the size of neurons involved in the control of growth. . . Because somatostatin is known to be an inhibitor of growth hormone release, the differences in cell size suggest a possible mechanism to account for the more rapid growth rates of subordinate and socially ascending animals compared with those of dominant or socially descending fish. These results reveal possible mechanisms responsible for socially induced physiological plasticity that allow animals to shift resources from reproduction to growth or vice versa depending on the social context.

[76dragon]

I think it's more of water qulity and space that affects growth. I had the famulas in the wetdry when they were fry. Took some out and put with the trophs in the 300 vat. The ones in the vats crew much much faster. Same water quality because it's the same water. The wet dry was filtering the vats.

[Mzungu]

From http://www.pnas.org/content/96/24/14171.full.pdf

Animals in a fluctuating habitat undergo more frequent changes in social status and, importantly, these status changes regulate somatic growth rate.

I think there are a lot of factors. I'm trying to find something I read before, but I believe that some fry actually release growth inhibitors which build up in the water without frequent water changes...

[Darbex]

I am going to concur that its not the wet/dry but another factor as mentioned above

[Matt in Houston]

Had the same thing happen to me except neither person was running a wet dry. The angel fry I kept were much larger and grew faster than the ones I gave to a friend. We both have similar water and planted tanks, feeding schedule., temps...etc.

One thought might be the stress of changing environments...I bet the ones we kept were more comfortable and less stressed than the ones that we gave away.

[mark razmandi]

all this makes sense, except for the fact that my tank was HIGHLY overstocked at the time and i had over 20 geos that were from 6-7in and did water changes just as often as brian. brian had 11 3 in geos and my fry still trumped his.... infact, my fry were always bullied by my other geos, one even lost an eye to the bigger one so i cant see as how my fry were ore comfortable in my tank to make them grow faster.....im still not sure. but all this other info makes sense.

[mgarrido]

Re: Wet/Drys make fish grow faster....

Well that is a prove that geos love you and hate Brian lol

[Matt in Houston]

all this makes sense, except for the fact that my tank was HIGHLY overstocked at the time and i had over 20 geos that were from 6-7in and did water changes just as often as brian. brian had 11 3 in geos and my fry still trumped his.... infact, my fry were always bullied by my other geos, one even lost an eye to the bigger one so i cant see as how my fry were ore comfortable in my tank to make them grow faster.....im still not sure. but all this other info makes sense.

Well that throws my theory out the window...

Maybe they grew faster and bigger to survive in such company? It seems your tank and your friends tank are very different places to live.

I personally think there are too many other variables involved to pin point only the wet/dry....its just another thing different among many Im sure. I do like wet drys though, I have a big one on my 210g.

[mark razmandi]

Well that is a prove that geos love you a hate Brian lol

well, we already know this

Well that throws my theory out the window...

Maybe they grew faster and bigger to survive in such company? It seems your tank and your friends tank are very different places to live.

I personally think there are too many other variables involved to pin point only the wet/dry....its just another thing different among many Im sure. I do like wet drys though, I have a big one on my 210g.

lol my tank is not over stocked anymore. everyone is happy and healthy

[TaTeR ToT]

Well that is a prove that geos love you and hate Brian lol

WTF!!!

i got mark into keeping geos lol.

im the f'n geo king!

[mark razmandi]

yea, you got me into geos and then i trumped your *** with mine <3 you