They would be pellet fed plus lots of natural forage, and both male and female. Would females grow that much faster than males?
In optimum temps (upper 70's most of the summer) into the fall, I would expect the 6 to 8 inch perch to be 8 to 10 inches by fall possibly a few female shooters slightly bigger. This is the females,however,that do grow faster than the males. I have 2 to 3 year old males of the same age that are 3 to 4 inches smaller than the females. They look like runts compared to the females.
Your soft water and low PH could stifle growth a little though.
For me once the perch get to about 11 or 12 inches they seem to grow about an inch a year under optimum conditions.
Let's see if Bill Cody (Dr. Perca) concurs.
Bill?
