I have two JD's and two Convicts. The JD's are about an inch in length, and the Convicts are about 3/4 of an inch in length, not including the tail. Approximately how long will it take them to grow to full length?
I think it depends on what kind of food you feed the fish. If the fish are fed a variety of food, they will probably grow faster than if they only eat one kind of food. For my cichlids, I have some conditioner that says that it increases thyroid activity which promotes growth.
Full adult size? Depends on the sex of the fish, tha tank size, waterchanges/maintenance and diet.
Either way it will take a couple of years to get to "full" size. You can get pretty rapid growth by feeding a good varied diet of high quality foods, 2-3 20-25% waterchanges a week and making sure they have lots of space. My JD has grown from just over an inch long in mid July to around 5" or a little more... my old male convict grew almost as fast.
different kinds of cichlid pellets, bloodworms, blanched lettuce, and shrimp to name a few. Also cooked carrots. The lettuce, carrots, and shrimp have to be broken up of course.