johnsmith Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 I was at Gold's recently and saw some yellow labs that looked really big. They looked like they were ~ 4" - 5". Given that wild labs are 2" - 3" (if I understand African Fever correctly) are these things freakishly large or normal for tank raised fish? Or am I just really bad at estimating the size of fish in tanks? BTW - I'm just wondering - I'm not trying to get my fish larger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishManTy Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 WC I thought were from 3"-5"... Mine at home are 5" and 6". The male is freakishly large maybe closer to 7. I have never really gotten the chance to really measure him. Im just basing it on guesses.. I've unfortinately never seen Kyle's WC's But yeah, I don't think thats Freakishly large, when comparing to mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Tank raised specimens of most species grow larger than wild......such as 7 inch fryeri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 From what i have read WC fish are usually smaller then tank raised fish. Kyle said WC labs are 2-3" but we regularly see them 4"+ in tanks. I beleive peacocks in teh wild get only about 4" but in tanks you can get 6"+ peacocks. I believe it has to do with better conditions in our tanks. The fish get better quality food and larger quantities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted February 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Well, I guess now I don't know what to expect from my four. They don't seem to be growing much so maybe they'll stay on the smaller side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 I don't know if the larger size in our tanks has to do with the 'better' conditions or the fact that most people overfeed their fish. I don't see why any fish in captivity couldn't grow to similar max size as wild fish if they were fed the right amount. My WC male is definitely not larger than 3.5", probably just under 3", with all four females around 2". I guess size is somewhat of a personal choice as to how much you want to feed your fish, but I've never seen a 5"+ yellow lab that doesn't have poor black markings everywhere. And the largest yellow labs I've seen have also been the ugliest, with very poor colour and black everywhere it shouldn't be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted February 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 And the largest yellow labs I've seen have also been the ugliest, with very poor colour and black everywhere it shouldn't be. Same here. I just assumed all labs looked like that when they got older. I guess that's one reason to try to keep them on the smaller side if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 Think of it this way....scavenging through the bio-cover in Lake Malawi, trying to pick out every little mass of food you can possibly find, or...... being fed several pellets in the space of one minute with tonnes of nutrition packed in. Most fish keepers overfeed their fish due to not understanding this difference. And it is also why people wonder why they cause a riot when they walk past my tanks...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 The majority of people overfeed their fish, the fish get big, and with labs, usually ugly. Simple solution, feed less ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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