# Heavily Stunted Fry



## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

I breed my bettas this summer and my one fry now is months behind in growth. I will post pictures and more details later tonight, but I was wondering if anyone thinks she/he will ever grow to full size. I am hoping for someone with a similar experience. Thanks.


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## ShadeSlayer (Jul 20, 2015)

I’ve never had experience in this, but may I ask how he is doing? If his quality of life is fine I wouldn’t worry about it, but if he’s struggling he may need to be put down. Pics would be great!


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## TahitiHawaii (Mar 24, 2015)

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=457330

Someone just recommended me this post. maybe it'll help you as well


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

I can't say for sure. Some do while others don't or take much longer to catch up - especially those once sick. But those that catch up may grow bigger than the siblings.

For future: separate the stunted ones from the fast growers. Without intimidation, some will grow faster and catch up. Constant food supply also helps growth. But this is only possible if you use live foods that can survive in their water.


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## Lilalein (Nov 11, 2015)

I'm not sure about this but I heard Young betta's produce hormones that makes the little ones grow slower/less. Refreshing water reduces these hormones. All you can do now is indeed separate the little ones from the big ones.


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Whoopsies! Forgot to post pics! So Fatso is almost seven months old and he is still quite the tiny thing even though he had a big growth-spurt a couple months ago. He is in a heated 2.5 gal bowl. ~30% water change every few days to a week. He eats crushed pellets, frozen and dried bloodworms. I put him in the 20 gal for size comparison with one of my males. He had his ventral fins bitten off 1.5-2 mos. ago and they never really grew back. I've been thinking about moving the divided males to bowls when I get back to school and putting fatso in the 10 or 20 gal. tank.

(Once again, sorry about the blurry photos, still haven't cleaned the outside of the tank!)


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

indjo said:


> I can't say for sure. Some do while others don't or take much longer to catch up - especially those once sick. But those that catch up may grow bigger than the siblings.
> 
> For future: separate the stunted ones from the fast growers. Without intimidation, some will grow faster and catch up. Constant food supply also helps growth. But this is only possible if you use live foods that can survive in their water.


He was actually my biggest fry. I had the other fry in a breeder net and did not know he was in the main tank. When I found him a few weeks later he was six times the size of my largest fry! The rest all died one by one before they reached 2 mos. old.


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

ShadeSlayer said:


> I’ve never had experience in this, but may I ask how he is doing? If his quality of life is fine I wouldn’t worry about it, but if he’s struggling he may need to be put down. Pics would be great!


He is a great little guy and always comes to say hello when I put my face near the tank. The only thing that might cause concern is that he has trouble breaking the surface to gulp air, but I think that's just because he is still so little....at least I think he's a "he"...I really have no clue...


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Finally got a nice fin shot of Fatso.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Some never catch up. I don't know why.

The growth hormone thing has not actually been established whatsoever in the literature for betta fish. If they are isolated but share water, growth normalizes. If they get very few water changes but are in a cycled tank with enough live plants to remove ammonia / nitrites / nitrates, growth is normal.

Stunting appears to be a combination of factors including the individual fry's food drive, toxin exposure, and genetics. The one thing my runts have all had in common was exposure to massive levels of ammonia early in life.

The ones that would eagerly eat grew once they were removed to clean water, and the ones with low appetite instead failed to thrive.

I have had 4 fish that never caught up, and those were the few babies that survived exposure to my tap water. They remained tiny and grew very slowly.


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

hrutan said:


> Some never catch up. I don't know why.
> 
> The growth hormone thing has not actually been established whatsoever in the literature for betta fish. If they are isolated but share water, growth normalizes. If they get very few water changes but are in a cycled tank with enough live plants to remove ammonia / nitrites / nitrates, growth is normal.
> 
> ...


I don't get it, he hasn't shared a tank with any other fry for at least five months now, he eats all the time, water changed frequently, when I had them all the first month I was meticulous about their water, I was aware of their sensitivities to hormone and ammonia buildup. He was the fastest grower and now the only survivor. It's so frustrating.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

There my be something wrong with your source water. Exposure to certain chemicals can permanently retard growth. There isn't any growth hormone that they broadcast though. It really, honestly, truly does not exist. They have their internal body chemistry and that is it.


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

We have well water and it's delicious.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I have a female wild betta that would have to be around a year or so now, and she's always been the runt. She eats the same amount of food, shares the same water, and was exposed to identical conditions growing up, but she's only about half the size of her sister and other siblings. 

It may just be that some fish are genetically destined to be smaller.


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