UPDATE: Body conformation has definitely gotten worse. Beni is still holding up though there's a bit of secondary beni on the sides. Sumi is coming up. Skin still looks nice. Our growing season in VA is only 4 months a year and I have a very small pond so I definitely do not feed to get growth. In the summer I feed maybe 4-5 times per day so 2-4" of growth per year is very common for my pond. The fish is 18" now. It was 12" last June.