Plain silver tetras might be a better bet then. Buenos Aires, Diamond Tetras, Red Eye Tetras. etc. I think the Buenos Aires look closest.
Atlantic Tarpon Growth Rate? Also show me your Atlantic Tarpon!
- Thread starter Loganfish
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Plain silver tetras might be a better bet then. Buenos Aires, Diamond Tetras, Red Eye Tetras. etc. I think the Buenos Aires look closest.
I am sorry but this just smacks of entitlement.
You say you are going to do it because many other people do it.
When shown why it is not a good idea and offered advice, you then turn around and put the onus of finding a suitable fish for your specific requirements on a stranger on the internet!?
That burden lies solely on your shoulders. You are the one willingly taking on the ownership of another creature's well-being and should do so being well -advised and thoroughly researched.
Granted, people make mistakes and try things. But those mishaps, accidents and husbandry transgressions are not willfully defying sound advice and logic, but we're people who should have done more research and didn't. Hence the often unpleasant replies to those threads. You however, cannot claim this.
Just be wary of soliciting opinions and then defying experienced keepers' advice that doesn't suit your desires.
If this is where you're heading, perhaps rethink the pets you want to keep. There are a lot of other rewarding pets, and creatures to keep that won't need as much of an investment in an enclosure as this idea.
Good luck with whichever you choose.
You’re 13 years old so everyone understands your excitement. It’s great you like the hobby but you really need to reconsider as your plan is inhumane…especially since the biggest tank you have is a 55.
Atlantic tarpon get upwards of 8 feet in the wild. Even half that size is too much for most people to handle and a small fingerling is gonna quickly outgrow your tank and your plans. You’re going from 0 to 100. Perhaps start out with some exodon paradoxus and move on from there
Atlantic tarpon get upwards of 8 feet in the wild. Even half that size is too much for most people to handle and a small fingerling is gonna quickly outgrow your tank and your plans. You’re going from 0 to 100. Perhaps start out with some exodon paradoxus and move on from there
Loganfish
My apologies. I did not look at your age when I posted answers in this thread. If I had have known you were so young and that was probably why you were looking to jump into the deep end of fish keeping, I would have answered a bit differently.
The idea behind what I was saying still stands but I would changed the wording a bit.,
"Try one, or two, of the more 'difficult/fussy" fish such as discus or look at breeding a few easy fish such as guppies and tetras and get a feel for how much work it takes to keep. Not just keep alive, but thriving and reaching their potential.
It is not always the fun ride that Youtubers make it out to be in their videos. It can be a bit boring and often unrewarding work. It does pay off in the end but it takes discipline to do that. This will give you an idea of just how much dedication a fish such as a tarpon would need from you in terms of special feeding, (and cost - are you parents aware of what this all will cost them), amount of water changes and filters needed. Remember growing a fish out is great, but if it is not a good-looking, very healthy fish that will survive and thrive in an enormous setup, it may not be a fish they would be interested in taking on.
Your enthusiasm for fish keeping is awesome and don't lose that passion. However, try to be realistic and patient. Start small and expand or upgrade as you work out all the kinks. Once you are sure you can do something without having to ask for help on the internet but do it just to hear opinions from people who might not agree, then you may be ready to take on that project.
Also, you are entering some of the craziest years of your life as a teenager. They are scary and awesome and always changing. You may find in the next 9 months you are in a new circle of friends and no time for babying a fish. That is when a nice simple tank would be the best choice, for you and the fish."
I second this... can you believe it's been 8 years since I first made this account? When I was 12??
My apologies. I did not look at your age when I posted answers in this thread. If I had have known you were so young and that was probably why you were looking to jump into the deep end of fish keeping, I would have answered a bit differently.
The idea behind what I was saying still stands but I would changed the wording a bit.,
"Try one, or two, of the more 'difficult/fussy" fish such as discus or look at breeding a few easy fish such as guppies and tetras and get a feel for how much work it takes to keep. Not just keep alive, but thriving and reaching their potential.
It is not always the fun ride that Youtubers make it out to be in their videos. It can be a bit boring and often unrewarding work. It does pay off in the end but it takes discipline to do that. This will give you an idea of just how much dedication a fish such as a tarpon would need from you in terms of special feeding, (and cost - are you parents aware of what this all will cost them), amount of water changes and filters needed. Remember growing a fish out is great, but if it is not a good-looking, very healthy fish that will survive and thrive in an enormous setup, it may not be a fish they would be interested in taking on.
Your enthusiasm for fish keeping is awesome and don't lose that passion. However, try to be realistic and patient. Start small and expand or upgrade as you work out all the kinks. Once you are sure you can do something without having to ask for help on the internet but do it just to hear opinions from people who might not agree, then you may be ready to take on that project.
Also, you are entering some of the craziest years of your life as a teenager. They are scary and awesome and always changing. You may find in the next 9 months you are in a new circle of friends and no time for babying a fish. That is when a nice simple tank would be the best choice, for you and the fish."
As I've said before I used to be on the whole "how small of a tank can I keep this species in" thing, but in getting out into the (physical) field more and seeing how things actually live, I've either felt vindicated or more guilty about keeping certain species in captivity. Some fish you'll find are perfectly suited to life in a tank. Others you'll realize how small of a space you're putting them in. I am not a tree hugger by any means but you can't help but feel bad about keeping certain things, especially if you can't do them justice. ESPECIALLY wild caught fish. You can't use the "free food and protection" argument if your tank conditions are worse than what they'd have in the habitat you took them from.
Things like convicts and jewels will make several dozen/hundred strong colonies in a foot of water within a footprint the size of (or smaller than) the biggest standard tanks. Things like larger black bass species, umbees, and (to a more extreme degree) larger pimelodid catfish physically need the space of a river or lake to grow properly and survive.
Just food for thought. The curse of this hobby is that your passion keeps you sucked in enough to where you'll do anything to make things work, usually at the cost of the fish, and you'll only realize your mistakes once it's too late. You will get humbled when your plans don't work, or when you think you're doing a good job for a few years and your fish start dying years younger than they should've. As a kid it is harder to get what you want out of the hobby, my best advice is just to do more research, learn about more species, and find something you can keep and actually be happy with that is within your means. Don't go down the rabbit hole of keeping certain species for clout. There's a reason my life list is in the 130s but I only own like 16 right now. Not that I couldn't keep (most of) them, I just figured I wasn't happy enough with them, and wanted to use the space I had for things I actually liked.
Also aquariums rarely take donations. There is a lot of logistics that go into public institutions acquiring fish. It took us a full year just to get clearance to buy fish from a petstore for the exhibits at my university. The aquarium near me wouldn't even take my leporinus when I was younger, even though they already had a huge shoal of them. Think how that conversation would go with a tarpon.
Also stay away from discord and reddit.
Thank you. A couple things I wanted to comment. 90% of my fish stuff (fish, food, etc) I have to buy or pay back my parents with. I’ve came to realize that have a gorgeous “Silver King” is just out of my reach. I’ve decided to try Golden Shiners since they look like Tarpon. Thank you for advice. I appreciate changing your wording but the previous wording helped me realize that is was a bad idea. Same goes for other species I’m wanting such as Yellowcheek Bambusia, Blue Mahseer, Redfish, and more.
My apologies. I did not look at your age when I posted answers in this thread. If I had have known you were so young and that was probably why you were looking to jump into the deep end of fish keeping, I would have answered a bit differently.
The idea behind what I was saying still stands but I would changed the wording a bit.,
"Try one, or two, of the more 'difficult/fussy" fish such as discus or look at breeding a few easy fish such as guppies and tetras and get a feel for how much work it takes to keep. Not just keep alive, but thriving and reaching their potential.
It is not always the fun ride that Youtubers make it out to be in their videos. It can be a bit boring and often unrewarding work. It does pay off in the end but it takes discipline to do that. This will give you an idea of just how much dedication a fish such as a tarpon would need from you in terms of special feeding, (and cost - are you parents aware of what this all will cost them), amount of water changes and filters needed. Remember growing a fish out is great, but if it is not a good-looking, very healthy fish that will survive and thrive in an enormous setup, it may not be a fish they would be interested in taking on.
Your enthusiasm for fish keeping is awesome and don't lose that passion. However, try to be realistic and patient. Start small and expand or upgrade as you work out all the kinks. Once you are sure you can do something without having to ask for help on the internet but do it just to hear opinions from people who might not agree, then you may be ready to take on that project.
Also, you are entering some of the craziest years of your life as a teenager. They are scary and awesome and always changing. You may find in the next 9 months you are in a new circle of friends and no time for babying a fish. That is when a nice simple tank would be the best choice, for you and the fish."
If this is the maturity you are showing at the age of 13, in an assumed adult conversation, you are doing A ok. Keep up the researching and learning. It's half the fun for me. I still have an 8' x 24' x 6' river tank to build that I had the outline for since middle school. Will build it when I grow up one day. lol
Native river tank? I have a 20 Gallon heater less cold water semi-native stream tank with creatures I’ve collected locally and some I’ve bought. Just yesterday I caught and kept a Stonecat Madtom, Mottled Sculpin, 4 ish Northern Hogsuckers, several Darters (Rainbows, Fantails, Possibly Johnnys or Greensides or something similar), and some sort of minnow or shiner or chub.
(sorry couldn't resist)
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