Lily's not growing :S

[ElmoFish]

Lily was my first female betta, I've had her a couple months, she was tiny when i got her, and she's still tiny. When I started my sorority a couple weeks ago, I picked up one of her sisters, Luna, whom I'd been eyeballing from the time I got Lily, so that she wouldn't be the only smaller girl in the tank. Since I got Luna she's almost doubled in size.. she started out slightly smaller than Lily, and now she's significantly larger than her. I always assumed I didn't notice Lily growing since I see her every day, but now to have another fish to compare her to, she really doesn't seem to be growing at all.. Does anyone know of anything that may cause her not to grow, or to grow slowly? She eats well, and her tank has always been very clean.. Any ideas?

[Kim]

Well, it sounds like you're doing everything right. She could just be the runt *shrugs* I mean, I'll probably be getting a "pet quality" betta from a breeder (yay, I'm so excited!) which can be anything from ones that are too small, to ones that just don't have show quality finnage, etc. so I'm sure that stunted bettas are much more common than you'd think.

At any rate as long as she's healthy and happy I think you're doing a fine job :)

[ElmoFish]

I've always liked how dainty and cute she was anyway.. it just worried me today when i saw her and Luna swimming next to each other to see how much Luna has grown in just a couple weeks.

[Jupiter]

I think Bambi and Lolita are still the same tiny size as when I've gotten them, but I never really put much thought into it. Are the supposed to grow quickly then?

[ElmoFish]

I don't really know how fast they normally grow, I've always had males before, and they were full grown, or at least close to it when i got them so I didn't notice growth.. I never gave Lily's lack of growth a second thought until I saw how fast Luna's growing since she's from the same spawn.. I hadn't really watched the girls in a few days, other than health checks to check for nipped fins, etc.. and today i actually sat down and watched them for a few minutes and I was amazed at how big Luna is getting, while Little Lily seems to have stayed the same..

[ElmoFish]

I bet Bambi and Lolita are growing tho, you probably just don't notice since you see them every day, and if they're both growing at the same rate it would be hard to notice a change..

[Jupiter]

Yeah, that's true. Though Gloria is still the giant among them all. :P

Well, maybe bettas are like people. Some grow quickly while others don't? but if she's acting normally and eating well I don't think it's too bad.

[giypsy]

While doing my "all-things-betta" research I came across this growth chart two days ago. Hope this helps you figure out Lily's size;
http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/bettagrowth.html