I always figure 10 gallons per inch of adult fish for myself, so my own rule for me, would be nothing over 6.5 inches of fish in that size tank.
It's basically a glorified puddle.
It's basically a glorified puddle.
Largest Fish that can be kept in a 240l (64 us gallon) tank for life?
- Thread starter BobCat
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Every aquarium is a glorified puddle though, even the relatively larger ones. It's always going to be a point of contention, personally I always base my own opinions on the behaviour of fish in the tank they occupy. If they can reasonably demonstrate behaviours that they'd tend to display in the wild, I usually go on that. Obviously that's not a foolproof approach, as its not always easy to be certain.
I would tend to agree, almost all our tanks tanks are mere puddles compared to nature. But considering how a species might live can have a significant effect on how we treat them, especially with something like a goby, that simply sits in 1 place and waits for a meal to swim by, or bettas that live in actual puddles.
However when I have watched fish like cichlids in nature, compared to the space they inhabit, we aquarists tend to cut them short.
I've watched a pair of JDs guard, and chase off any other cichid in a 4ft X 4ft X 4ft area. And in the yucatan, male uropthalmus chase others away in an area twice that size. In the video below you can see torn up males that came too close to an alphas territory, and see the actual vistas of openspace these cichlids live in.
Below where JDs are found, lots of open space, and it gets used, if one needs to escape a more dominant individual. It also seems uncommon to find deadly aggression in these open spaces, which leads me to believe the term aggressive cichlids is more a captivity phenom, due to the aquarium keeping (lack of space), than actual cichlid reality.
However when I have watched fish like cichlids in nature, compared to the space they inhabit, we aquarists tend to cut them short.
I've watched a pair of JDs guard, and chase off any other cichid in a 4ft X 4ft X 4ft area. And in the yucatan, male uropthalmus chase others away in an area twice that size. In the video below you can see torn up males that came too close to an alphas territory, and see the actual vistas of openspace these cichlids live in.
I agree wholeheartedly, in fact i've had to swallow pride in the past and re-home fish such as oscars; that I could technically keep with water changes etc, but just didn't feel right in the tank they occupied. It's certainly an interesting way to approach it the stocking debate, from a technical perspective.
One of the things I find interesting, is that depth does not seem to be a factor.
Although in my videos above, depth can be from 10' to 30', I have also seen cichlids congregate in areas of less than 1 ft, as long as there was open, deeper water they could quickly escape to if needed.
So although gallons may be significant, I really believe its about footprint.
An example might be a kiddy pool with 200 gallons and a 4' X 8' square of only 1 ft in depth, would be a much better space to house a number of cichlids than a typical 6ft tank 200 gal tank.
Although in my videos above, depth can be from 10' to 30', I have also seen cichlids congregate in areas of less than 1 ft, as long as there was open, deeper water they could quickly escape to if needed.
So although gallons may be significant, I really believe its about footprint.
An example might be a kiddy pool with 200 gallons and a 4' X 8' square of only 1 ft in depth, would be a much better space to house a number of cichlids than a typical 6ft tank 200 gal tank.
that's interesting, I always figured big fish would become skittish being that close to the surface; but I guess in the wild they'd occupy a range of different elevations
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/the-one-inch-per-gallon-rule.88431/
A very good read through....
A very good read through....
Thanks for all the replies. Its been interesting reading.
The dimensions of the tank are approx 50" long by 18" wide.
Im guessing its too small for an adult oscar judging by the comments. Would it be ok for a gulper cat?
It is a tank I inherited from a friend that is currently overstocked and Im hoping to sell off what is in there and go for some sort of specimen fish.
The dimensions of the tank are approx 50" long by 18" wide.
Im guessing its too small for an adult oscar judging by the comments. Would it be ok for a gulper cat?
It is a tank I inherited from a friend that is currently overstocked and Im hoping to sell off what is in there and go for some sort of specimen fish.
