Someone here mentioned a while back that albinos grow extra slowly.

Now that I have combined my Albino Socolofi fry with the Lab. Hongi fry who are 10 weeks younger, I find that the Hongi are rapidly catching and passing the Albino Socolofi in size.

Coincidence or pattern?

That was me, Pseudo. :ph43r:

I remember asking you about it in one of your topics, but you hadn't had the fry long enough to notice any differences.

I can only speak from what happens in my tanks and that is that my albinos grow much more slowly.

Back when I was keeping the fry from a fish I later found out was a hybrid, she would spit about 25% albinos. If I didn't separate those albinos from the others, they would die within a few days. When I did separate them, they were way behind their normal colored siblings in growth. idunno

I acquired three differnet species earlier this year that were albino, 6 Protomelas sp. Steveni "Taiwan Reef" (Albino), 8 Aulonocara stuartgranti (Ngara) "Flametail" (Albino) and 8 Aulonocara jacobfreibergi "Eureka" (Albino). I lost all 8 of the Eureka to a freak cleaning acident, my youngest son tried to help Daddy clean the tank...he added a cup of laundry detergent to the tank. I lost three of the Taiwan Reefs to aggression from the dom male in the group. But I still have all 8 of the Flametails. These are my first true bred albinos, meaning ones I have purchased for the reaon they were that way. I have had a lot of Malawan haps down through the years. And I have had tons of fry from those same haps. The albinos peacocks I have now are the slowest growing juvy peacocks I have ever seen. When I got them, the Taiwan Reefs were about an inch long. I have had them for approximately 6 months, they are at 2.5 or better. The Flametails were at the same size, about an inch long. The Flametails are only now begining to reach the 2 inch mark. I was told both spawns happened with in days of each other, but the Flametails came first. So I am asking myself the same question...do albinos grow at a slower rate than normal color fish? I dont have a lot of experience with albino fish, but it would seem that it is a fact.

i have a buddy who was a hard core breeder and bred alot of the first albino steveni and albino eurekas, and what i learned from him was that they do grow alot slower becuase the albinism makes for very bad eyesight. when they are mixed with regular fish they often do not do well as they re the last to sense the food, and see it, then they become very skinny. He bred all of his in species tanks and fed his groups about 5 times a day heavily, and did water changes throughout the week, and you would never see any skinny fish. it took him about 5 monthes to growout albino eurekas he first aquariured from fishthoughts to 3.5" breeding adults. I then remember getting fry off him and he was the only guy i knew that could grow the steveni past 1" in a month. He then did the same thing with the albino eurekas. took about 1.5 monthes to get a 1.5-2" albino eureka! I was very amazed by it, but when i got some, they didnt grow very fast and my adults slowly became skinny. i was only feeding 1-2 times a day, so i believe most true albinos need some seriour dedication if you plan on spawning them and keeping them healthy. Aslong as they are with no other species tht will devour the feeding opportunities for them, they should grow like any other fish....

Brad, that was some awsome info. I wouldny have thought of eye sight being a problem. I will increase the frequency and amount I am feeding my albinos,and see if that kick starts them.

Really useful post, Brad -- thanks very much!

My albino Socolofi followed the EXACT pattern you described. I ended up putting the mother in the grow-out tank with her kids because she was slimming away in the main tank!

Don

Would this make it better to mix these albinos with Haps and Peacocks rather than Mbuna, since they're less aggressive competing for food?

Or am I taking logic too far in a wrong direction?

I keep and breed Albino Eureka Red Peacocks, Albino Ngara Red Flametail Peacocks, Albino Taiwan Reefs and Albino Labeotropheus Trewavasae Red Stripes.

I keep all of my albino African Cichlids segregated from the non-albino varieties (there may be one or two non-albinos mixed in with them from time to time). I began doing this because I saw that the albinos were not competing well with the non-albinos and were beginning to suffer because of it.

The non-albino African Cichlids were overpowering to the albinos when it came to aquiring food and showing dominance in just about all cases.

Besides the segregation from birth, I use the same methods in raising the albinos that I use with the non-albinos. It is true that the albinos have poor eyesight. I observe them missing pieces of food all the time. Without the non-albinos to compete with, they eventually find and get their fair share of the food. Their poor eyesight is probably the one single largest hindrance to them.

The growth rate of the albinos that I keep appears to be slower than the same fish in a non-albino version. I would guess that the albino growth rate on average is about 60% that of a non-albino.

Very informative post, Pkut! the Clap

Nice to see around again as well! Cheers!!!