By browsing through the MonsterFishKeepers forum, I found that many experienced fishkeepers have claimed that water-change frequency and water quality is what determines a fish's growth rate. This claim became the focus of my next research project, where I try to test if water-change frequency increases a fish's growth rate. I found a literature review source by Makori et al., which agrees with the forum members' claim that ambient water quality accelerates fish growth.

Because of my limited supplies and budget, I did not want to jump straight in to the experiment and purchase 20 mbuna cichlids and another fish tank, so I decided to start with a pilot study. I bought a 4cm long Red Zebra cichlid to be the focus of my pilot study. In this pilot study, I am doing water changes at a frequent rate by doing 50% water changes every week. As such, I am replicating my treatment group of "frequent water changes" on this Zebra Cichlid. After 2 or 3 months, I will re-measure his length to determine if the fish grew significantly longer.

If the fish will grow significantly longer, then I will proceed with the experiment and buy 19 more mbuna cichlids and another fish tank for the experiment. However, if the fish does not grow much, then I will choose my alternative experiment which involves analyzing different treatments and their efficacy in treating Aeromonas bacterial infections. Stay tuned!