I believe I have a L021 Pterygoplichthys pardalis. It's about 5-6 years old and only about 6-7 inches long though he's hard to measure through the glass. When we first setup the aquarium and bought him we thought we'd researched him well enough in that the info we found was that they were like pigs and would only grow to fit the tank so we never worried that he wasn't huge. We're moving now and were looking at replacing the tank with as small a tank as possible as it's only him and a single ghost shrimp in the tank now. This is when I discovered that we've likely stunted him.
They're in a 45 gallon hexagonal tank. I haven't tested the water recently, but historically the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and pH values have all been within normal ranges. He has a cave, two fairly large pieces of driftwood and the bottom of the tank is covered in plants. He also gets algae wafers and some flake food.
He doesn't look funny to me as in he doesn't appear misshapen and he moves around the tank. My concern is that some threads I've read on stunting say they're in pain. My question is: if we put him in a bigger tank (and how big exactly?) will he grow anymore at this age? Also, being this size is he in pain and if so, what can I do if anything?
They're in a 45 gallon hexagonal tank. I haven't tested the water recently, but historically the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and pH values have all been within normal ranges. He has a cave, two fairly large pieces of driftwood and the bottom of the tank is covered in plants. He also gets algae wafers and some flake food.
He doesn't look funny to me as in he doesn't appear misshapen and he moves around the tank. My concern is that some threads I've read on stunting say they're in pain. My question is: if we put him in a bigger tank (and how big exactly?) will he grow anymore at this age? Also, being this size is he in pain and if so, what can I do if anything?
