How big should I go?

[Backfromthedead]

Read the whole thing. My thoughts, from someone who's never kept an aro:

8'x24"x30" is too small for silver long term obviously. Dont need to have experience keeping to say that a tank not as wide as the fish is long is too small. And 24" isn't even cutting it close.

I would think that a 10x4 footprint 500g would be a SIGNIFICANTLY better long term tank for a silver aro than a 8x3 300g. I dont know what the idea here is arguing that, I can say with all confidence, again with no experience, that every inch, every gallon counts.

What else is there to say that common sense won't, but has somehow been debated hotly for 15 pages?

 

[Joshuakahan]

Read the whole thing. My thoughts, from someone who's never kept an aro:

8'x24"x30" is too small for silver long term obviously. Dont need to have experience keeping to say that a tank not as wide as the fish is long is too small. And 24" isn't even cutting it close.

I would think that a 10x4 footprint 500g would be a SIGNIFICANTLY better long term tank for a silver aro than a 8x3 300g. I dont know what the idea here is arguing that, I can say with all confidence, again with no experience, that every inch, every gallon counts.

What else is there to say that common sense won't, but has somehow been debated hotly for 15 pages?

I’m debating that a 500 is significantly better for a couple reasons. First is that if it’s the space for the aro to move around, I doubt that it’s really going to notice that it can swim for a split second longer in either direction. The second reason is unless it’s something ridiculous like keeping it in a 60, I doubt it’s intelligent enough to be significantly more happy/miserable in a a 300/500. Which is why i chimed in when someone said something about a 300 being bad and a 500 being good. If it’s about the fishes perceived happiness, it should be in a pond or 2000 gallon tank. But like the video i attached, an aro can be healthy in a 300. I don’t think about a fishes happiness since I don’t think they have that emotion. They know hunger, pain, discomfort and other instinctual things.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I’m debating that a 500 is significantly better for a couple reasons. First is that if it’s the space for the aro to move around, I doubt that it’s really going to notice that it can swim for a split second longer in either direction. The second reason is unless it’s something ridiculous like keeping it in a 60, I doubt it’s intelligent enough to be significantly more happy/miserable in a a 300/500. Which is why i chimed in when someone said something about a 300 being bad and a 500 being good. If it’s about the fishes perceived happiness, it should be in a pond or 2000 gallon tank. But like the video i attached, an aro can be healthy in a 300. I don’t think about a fishes happiness since I don’t think they have that emotion. They know hunger, pain, discomfort and other instinctual things.

I think happiness is a loose term to describe comfort, state of well being etc. I don't think it means the fish will be smiling singing what a wonderful world while smoking a fat doobie.

 

[Joshuakahan]

I think happiness is a loose term to describe comfort, state of well being etc. I don't think it means the fish will be smiling singing what a wonderful world while smoking a fat doobie.

If a fish did do those things, I’d give it a room and xmas gifts

 

[Ogertron3000]

I think happiness is a loose term to describe comfort, state of well being etc. I don't think it means the fish will be smiling singing what a wonderful world while smoking a fat doobie.

possibly that might make the OP happy after reading through all of this.......

 

[DrownedFishonFire]

out of all aro species why do people go for the South Americans if they want to stick them in a 300g when they like the space and is always moving when I see them vs an Australian like the Jardinii thats more immobile or am I just dreaming it when seeing them? Silvers to me are like constant graceful slender dancers that need to be moving and twirling stretching from one side to another looking so constrained vs when I see them in wide open ponds using the space they have while the Australian just like a blockhead bodybuilder moving one direction slowly but what do I know. IM the one with two fire eel growouts and a failed tank upgrade plan lol. With Jardiniis you will have a fish with temper tantrums with its tank mates on the other hand.

 

[dan518]

When talking about intelligence you can not use fish as a term, a goldfish is more closely related to human then it is to a hagfish for instance. It's the same as lumping all mammals together and saying humans, hamsters have the same intelligence.
The EQ scale, brain to body weight ratio doesn't work well outside of mammals, birds in the corvids family are now thought to be as intelligent as chimpanzee and dolphins, they have relatively small brains but more densely packed.
As a whole fish have much smaller brains then birds but there is a big difference between different family's and species. Some may be little more then floating potatoes others might be far more intelligent then we give them credit for.
In a recent study they found fish being bred for wild release to repopulate areas had a 1% survival rate over the first year for fish raised in plane ponds and a 40% rate for fish raised in a pond enriched to mimic there natural environment. We certainly can turn fish into little more then floating potatoes.
So when talking about tank size in my opinion for what it's worth, the fish should be able to move about freely, have enough water volume to keep parameters stable, have a suitable aquascape, cover if needed for that species, tankmates if shoaling etc. Personally a fish acting in a slightly more natural way will always be far more interesting then a fish that has lost the ability to do anything other then float about and eat.

 

[mattybecks]

When talking about intelligence you can not use fish as a term, a goldfish is more closely related to human then it is to a hagfish for instance. It's the same as lumping all mammals together and saying humans, hamsters have the same intelligence.
The EQ scale, brain to body weight ratio doesn't work well outside of mammals, birds in the corvids family are now thought to be as intelligent as chimpanzee and dolphins, they have relatively small brains but more densely packed.
As a whole fish have much smaller brains then birds but there is a big difference between different family's and species. Some may be little more then floating potatoes others might be far more intelligent then we give them credit for.
In a recent study they found fish being bred for wild release to repopulate areas had a 1% survival rate over the first year for fish raised in plane ponds and a 40% rate for fish raised in a pond enriched to mimic there natural environment. We certainly can turn fish into little more then floating potatoes.
So when talking about tank size in my opinion for what it's worth, the fish should be able to move about freely, have enough water volume to keep parameters stable, have a suitable aquascape, cover if needed for that species, tankmates if shoaling etc. Personally a fish acting in a slightly more natural way will always be far more interesting then a fish that has lost the ability to do anything other then float about and eat.

well said. Fish acting in a more natural way is more pleasing and fulfilling.

We want our fish to thrive, not just survive.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Well sai

When talking about intelligence you can not use fish as a term, a goldfish is more closely related to human then it is to a hagfish for instance. It's the same as lumping all mammals together and saying humans, hamsters have the same intelligence.
The EQ scale, brain to body weight ratio doesn't work well outside of mammals, birds in the corvids family are now thought to be as intelligent as chimpanzee and dolphins, they have relatively small brains but more densely packed.
As a whole fish have much smaller brains then birds but there is a big difference between different family's and species. Some may be little more then floating potatoes others might be far more intelligent then we give them credit for.
In a recent study they found fish being bred for wild release to repopulate areas had a 1% survival rate over the first year for fish raised in plane ponds and a 40% rate for fish raised in a pond enriched to mimic there natural environment. We certainly can turn fish into little more then floating potatoes.
So when talking about tank size in my opinion for what it's worth, the fish should be able to move about freely, have enough water volume to keep parameters stable, have a suitable aquascape, cover if needed for that species, tankmates if shoaling etc. Personally a fish acting in a slightly more natural way will always be far more interesting then a fish that has lost the ability to do anything other then float about and eat.

Well said mate.

 

[esoxlucius]

Within dan518 post is pretty much the standard by which fish should be kept. The problem is though, and will always be, different hobbyists have different ideas of that "standard".

There isn't a magic formula where you can punch known variables into an algorithm and an ideal tank size pops up. It's all about eye balling it with a mix of common sense. Some of us are pretty good at it, others not so much.