Albino Oscar not growing

I purchased a baby albino Oscar fish about 4 or 5 months ago from a LFS and it hasn't grown at all. I have it in a 60 gallon grow out tank with some other cichlids, (firemouth, EBA, severum etc.).

I bought it at about 2" the same time I bought my True Parrot at 3 or 4". The parrot is 6 or 7" already and the Oscar has literally not grown at all, or if it has its under an inch for sure.

I feed 1 to 2 times a day like I do all my tanks, a variety of different foods, ( omega one, New life spectrum, frozen brine shrimp, pellets, flakes etc...)

That tank gets a 75% WC every Wednesday.

Any ideas what is wrong?

I should add that at feeding time the Oscar eats like a pig!!

 

Anyone??? Please help!

 

So now it's been roughly 8 months that I have owned this albino Oscar and he/she has grown maybe an inch in that 8 months . Any ideas what is wrong?? I take very good care of my fish, I have 2 other oscars that I have grown from babies and had no issues .

 

Please help A201 if you can lol

 

So now it's been roughly 8 months that I have owned this albino Oscar and he/she has grown maybe an inch in that 8 months . Any ideas what is wrong?? I take very good care of my fish, I have 2 other oscars that I have grown from babies and had no issues .

If it looks healthy, not sunken belly or signs of internal parasites I would not sweat it at all.
It might end up being a good thing, when it gets big that 60 gal will look like 5.
I have a discus that doesn't want to grow. It doesn't keep up with the rest. Like your Oscar it eats very well too.
I'm just going to watch it and see what happens, nothing else to do really. I certainly am not going to treat it for fun with no other symptoms other than growing slowly.

 

If it looks healthy, not sunken belly or signs of internal parasites I would not sweat it at all.
It might end up being a good thing, when it gets big that 60 gal will look like 5.
I have a discus that doesn't want to grow. It doesn't keep up with the rest. Like your Oscar it eats very well too.
I'm just going to watch it and see what happens, nothing else to do really. I certainly am not going to treat it for fun with no other symptoms other than growing slowly.

I have a 135 the Oscar will be going in I was just growing it out in the 60, I don't want to put it in the 135 at its current size because I have another oscar already in there that is about 10" and I'm afraid he will eat the poor guy.

 

The slow growth is probably due to genetics. Albinos often tend to be a little weaker.
Having a runt monster fish like an Oscar, isn't necessarily a bad thing.
It's easier to accommodate an eight inch runt Oscar over a thirteen incher. It also opens up opportunities to include tankmates.

 

The slow growth is probably due to genetics. Albinos often tend to be a little weaker.
Having a runt monster fish like an Oscar, isn't necessarily a bad thing.
It's easier to accommodate an eight inch runt Oscar over a thirteen incher. It also opens up opportunities to include tankmates.

Yeah thats true! Its just crazy cause my red oscar grew to about 8 or 9" in the first 10 months I had him, and this albino has grown an inch in around the same time lol. Aside from the growth the albino acts like your typical oscsr though, an absolute glutton with little bouts of aggression towards the tankmates. If he/she doesn't grow larger than 7 or 8" I may just keep it in the 60 gallon !

 

I keep two juveniles Chocolate Cichlids. One is growing at twice the rate as the smaller. No aggression between the two & fed the same diet. I can't figure that one out. Lol. If your Oscar remains small, maybe get a Choclate Cichlid for a tankmate. They get pretty big like a mid sized Oscar, but are fairly docile. The colors are really awsome.

 

I keep two juveniles Chocolate Cichlids. One is growing at twice the rate as the smaller. No aggression between the two & fed the same diet. I can't figure that one out. Lol. If your Oscar remains small, maybe get a Choclate Cichlid for a tankmate. They get pretty big like a mid sized Oscar, but are fairly docile. The colors are really awsome.

I've been interested in chocolate cichlids for awhile now, I have never seen one at any fish store I go to. There are 5 or 6 really good fish stores within reasonable driving distance to me and I've never seen one yet.

 

I grabbed the only two Chocolates I've ever seen offered at my LFS. They were special ordered by a customer, but were not picked up.
I don't think Chocolates are rare. Maybe your LFS can order one for you.
I think mine were about ten dollars a piece.

 

I purchased a baby albino Oscar fish about 4 or 5 months ago from a LFS and it hasn't grown at all. I have it in a 60 gallon grow out tank with some other cichlids, (firemouth, EBA, severum etc.).

I bought it at about 2" the same time I bought my True Parrot at 3 or 4". The parrot is 6 or 7" already and the Oscar has literally not grown at all, or if it has its under an inch for sure.

I feed 1 to 2 times a day like I do all my tanks, a variety of different foods, ( omega one, New life spectrum, frozen brine shrimp, pellets, flakes etc...)

That tank gets a 75% WC every Wednesday.

Any ideas what is wrong?

I should add that at feeding time the Oscar eats like a pig!!

Late reply but in general cichlids emit growth neutralizing hormones if they are the largest in th tank to try n stunt others n Oscar’s r extremely susceptible to this hormone. Had th same thing happen w/ parrot cich so wish I had seen this sooner u jus gotta give th Oscar a solo grow out it sounds boujie but if he’s w/ bigger fisher he jus won’t grow n if he’s w/ smaller ones he will eat em

 

Late reply but in general cichlids emit growth neutralizing hormones if they are the largest in th tank to try n stunt others n Oscar’s r extremely susceptible to this hormone.

Some salmon might do this but my understanding is cichlids specifically do not -

It's important to note that some fish clearly don't work this way, for example Tilapia (cichlids farmed as food) can grow to large sizes seemingly regardless of stocking density provided water quality is adequate**. Aquarists will also be aware that catfish like plecs, Channel catfish and Iridescent catfish also seem to reach large sizes, even in overstocked tanks.

read more here; Do hormones restrict the growth of fish?

**Note the water quality here is critical.

It is true that all kinds of hormones and other pollutants accumulate in our relatively small, closed systems and can affect the stress levels and growth rate of all fish in the tank. Studies have shown that excess GABA (common neurotransmitter) or the stress hormone cortisol both can stunt growth as well and these are common to all fish.

IMO 3 possibilities:
* genetically stunted fish. I have had cichlids that just don't grow out despite being in a huge tank and having other frymates who all grew at normal rates under the same condition
* stress of general overcrowding prevents fish from normal growth, *despite sufficient filtration. whats the 'scape look like? some fish are very stressed by having bigger fish around, unless the scape suits them and provides feelings of security
* water is overwhelmed by bio load, need more water changes. If some kind of hormone or other stress-enducing chemical is accumulating, doing enough water changes can help you can avoid the stunting

 

Some salmon might do this but cichlids specifically do not -

It's important to note that some fish clearly don't work this way, for example Tilapia (cichlids farmed as food) can grow to large sizes seemingly regardless of stocking density provided water quality is adequate. Aquarists will also be aware that catfish like plecs, Channel catfish and Iridescent catfish also seem to reach large sizes, even in overstocked tanks.

read more here; Do hormones restrict the growth of fish?

Regardless, it is true that all kinds of hormones accumulate in our relatively small, closed systems and can affect the stress levels and growth rate of all fish in the tank.

in agreement with MrMuggles. there quite a few factors at play here, but I honestly don't believe in the growth inhibiting horomone theory when it comes to cichlids.

My opinion it's food competition and quality of the food and frequency of feedings as the likely cause. people do not realize Oscars are eating and pooping machines. if you want them to grow they have to have the ability to eat at least 2% of their body weight daily in order to gain mass which can then be used to grow.

You can't just feed once or twice a day, you need to feed 3-4x a day, about what the fish can eat in about 30 seconds to a minute. if other fish are faster to the food, he won't get enough with just one or two feedings, and if you feed heavy in one or two feedings he can eat too much and have digestive problems and get sick and decline.

The food should be high in protein, moderate in fat,low in fillers. and have some roughage in the form of greens or plant matter, and they do occasionally eat nuts or fruits in the wild when the water is high, so you can try fruit for vitamins and nut like peanut for protein, but as a treat if he likes it, fat content is high with nuts. in the wild Oscars eat smaller fish, shrimp, crustaceans like snails, worms, and bugs, and a bit of plant and fruit and nut to round it out.

the key to growth is feeding enough and frequently enough so the fish can gain mass, and if the fish can gain mass, then it will gain in size, if it's running deficient on calories or the bare minimum due to the food quality or competition for the food, it can't grow, there has to be excess so the fish can put on weight.

genetics is a factor also, with every spawn there are fast growers and slow growers and middle of the pack. the fast growers tend to also be vigorous eaters, slow growers tend to seem sort of lackadaisical about food. and there is no real health reason for it that I'm aware of, unless they just don't have the capacity to thrive from birth.

I would suspect if the fish has an appetite, it's just the feedings needing to be ramped up or the protein quality of the food being increased.

 

I think genetics is probably the main issue here. I have experienced a similar situation with my Mesonauta. When I first got them they were very tiny and quite picky eaters. One of the 5 never grew much at all and eventually died, all the rest grew slowly initially. Then I moved them all to my large tank (220 gallons) which is still quite understocked. Their eating improved and two of them are now really big, probably full sized for their species. The other two have stayed quite small despite appearing to eat well. I have had them since April 2021. I bought two more small ones a few months back and they are now the same size as the two original small ones and still growing, I think they will soon overtake them.