At what point does it become cruel to keep a silver in a 180 gallon?

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johnnytaboo

johnnytaboo

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 4, 2005
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MD, DC, VA
I've raised my little silver in my 180 over the past year. I got him when he was probably 8-9" long, and he has grown to just about 24" and nice and thick. Beautiful fish, but I must admit that I underestimated the growth rate of these guys (despite having read all the threads :shakehead). Now his growth rate has definitely slowed in the past couple months, but by no means has it stopped.

I'm just curious, at what point would it be considered cruel to continue housing him in my 6x2x2 aquarium? He seems happy now, plenty of room to turn and such, I just want to make sure he's housed properly.

Thanks for the input,
John
 
Do you have any better location for it? Any place where it will have more spacce and be as well cared for as you obviously care for it?

If people tell you it is crammed and no one receives it, will you euthanize it?

Let us be realistic. Aros need space, but silvers turn on a dime. With your footprint you have long before worrying.

Of course, the thousands of members who have private oceanariums will tell you otherwise :)
 
HAHAHAH! Love the bit about the Oceanariums!

In answer to your questions; no, I am not able to put a larger aquarium in my home, so the 180 is it for now. And euthanizing Gyarados is not an option, no matter what people say.

I just got concerned because I noticed for the first time last night that my Silver stretches almost completely from the front of the aquarium to the back, meaning that he is almost truly 2' long! Now I know we're used to monsters here, but this is the biggest fish I've ever owned. I know he turns well, and he is as happy as a giant fish can be in a glass cage of this size. I just don't want to keep him past the point that it's deleterious to his health. As of now, he seems fine, and it looks like I could comfortably house him for a few more inches.

I know a 3' fish in a 2' wide tank is wrong, but is it wrong to keep a 2'3" fish in a 2" wide tank? Where does one draw the line? I guess that's what I'm curious about.
 
Bigger tank/pond... right now. IMO your fish is to big for your tank already.
 
well silvers are slender and flexible aros. maybe for a while more?
 
I have a 26" jardini in a 180. He seems content in there. Eats good swims back and forth all day. I would love to put him in my 750 but he is too nasty and I have another aro who claims the big tank. I don't plan on getting rid of him so he will continue to stay put until I can run dual 750s . Don't feel bad take a look on arofanatics. See how many are jammed into a 120g
 
It will not pass much more than 2 feet. Let us revisit this in a year.
no matter what people might say, silvers turn with utmost ease, and that footprint will have to do if you have no other option.

I keep aros for more than 20 years. The bigger space, the better, of course. But one has to cope with what one has or give it away, which is not guaranteed.

But, as said, you still have plenty of time to study the alternatives.
 
Typically silver's growth slows around the 24-25" mark to just 1 or 2" per year, though they do get more bulky from that point on. More or less, it boils down to how comfortable you are with keeping the silver in that sized tank. Over the next year or so your silver really isn't going to notice much difference. Their are many who keep and plan on keeping their silver aros in 180g type tanks for life, even though these silvers are near or longer then 30".

Personally I believe a silver aro should be in a tank at least 3x it's length, that being said I kept my two silvers in a 180g for 18 months after they hit the 24" mark. I'm sure I was more miserable about that then they were. Now lately have been getting the same feeling about their current tank. Though not too small for any one of them I do feel it is getting to cramped for the group.
 
Bderick67 said:
Typically silvers growth slows around the 24-25" mark to just 1 or 2" per year though they do get more bulky from that point on. More or less it boils down to how comfortable you are with keeping the silver in that sized tank. over the next year or so the silver really isn't going to notice much difference. Their are many who keep and plan on keeping their silver aros in 180g type tanks even though these silvers are near or longer then 30".

Personally I believe a silver aro should be in a tank at least 3x it's length, that being said I kept my two silvers in a 180g for 18 months after they hit the 24" mark. I'm sure I was more miserable about that then they were. Now lately have been getting the same feeling about their current tank. Though not too small for any one of them I do feel it is getting to cramped for the group.
Click to expand...


This.
 
Well, the fact about growth rate is comforting. IF I can keep him happy for another 18 months in this current tank, then there is time to explore other options... such as a new home..... or possibly a new wife? (kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidding! She would kill me for that if she was on this forum).
 
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