Atractosteus spatula experiment
- Thread starter Jakob
- Start date
Very shortly after posting this I realized this would probably be the response I would get.
Yes that would count as deliberately stunting a fish, I understand your concerns.
Maybe I should have underlined that I won't be starving the fish, not at all. But many people who keep larger growing fish are stuffing their bellies every day, which is unnecessary. Feeding a fish as much as it needs to stay healthy and feeding it as much as it can possibly eat are two very different things.
Many fish in the wild become stunted due to lack of food found in their natural habitats for parts of the year, for example the dry season of the amazon.
When I say that he will be fed a bare minimum, do take in count that he won't be starved. A fish can stay very healthy even though it is a little stunted, I think some of you are thinking that I'm going to raise a skinny and sickly gator, that is not true, like I said previously, maybe this will be a huge failure and he won't be stunted at all, but even so I can still house him in a large outdoor pond.
Yes that would count as deliberately stunting a fish, I understand your concerns.
Maybe I should have underlined that I won't be starving the fish, not at all. But many people who keep larger growing fish are stuffing their bellies every day, which is unnecessary. Feeding a fish as much as it needs to stay healthy and feeding it as much as it can possibly eat are two very different things.
Many fish in the wild become stunted due to lack of food found in their natural habitats for parts of the year, for example the dry season of the amazon.
When I say that he will be fed a bare minimum, do take in count that he won't be starved. A fish can stay very healthy even though it is a little stunted, I think some of you are thinking that I'm going to raise a skinny and sickly gator, that is not true, like I said previously, maybe this will be a huge failure and he won't be stunted at all, but even so I can still house him in a large outdoor pond.
I'm not even considering feeding him so little that health issues may arise.
No cruel intentions, he will still be fed enough to be a healthy fish, I just won't be stuffing him up everyday like many fishkeeper.
No, definitely not the human equivalent of this experiment. And no, you don't sound like a dbag, criticism is definitely not a bad thing, as I plan on keeping this fish happy, and not exactly underfed, per say, just fed enough to still grow and maintain its metabolism.
Bare minimum was a poor choice of words for my part. Most fishkeepers feed their fish much more than many specimens are able to eat in the wild, few days off, few days on, that is exactly what I'm aiming for, a more natural/controlled diet. And given the two factors that the gar is in captivity and it is fed "a few days off, few days on", that should potentially decrease it's maximum size by some measure.This is almost as bad as the kid who thinks it's OK to snag goldfish just because they are "tough" fish.
There is power feeding, and there's feedling a lot, and then there's a more natural diet - where the fish has a few days on, a few days off - just as in nature, but I completely agree with the kid analogy.
If we all fed our kids the bare minimum, we could try to start a generation of dwarves.
Get a poster of an Alligator Gar and put it on the wall next to your tank. Cheaper, and you don't have to feed it a thing, and best of all - if you want a small one - get a picture of a small one..
You could consider what I'm aiming for stunting, but stunting won't be in any drastic measure, just not feeding it as much as it can possibly eat, everyday.
This could be considered as stunting, but will in no way be so drastic that it will cause health issues/starvation.
No I would not consider this roasting at all, and I do accept your criticism. The main misunderstanding that is going on here is that I will not be underfeeding the fish, I will be feeding him enough to grow and keep his metabolism going strong. But given the two factors that it is a captive fish, and it won't be fed as much as possible, I would consider that this experiment has legitimate ground as it probably wont reach anywhere close to maximum size, and I have done my research.
Feeding a fish "naturally" like we agree upon - does not lead to stunting. It leads to a healthy fish that will reach its' full potential, on a more natural timeframe, as opposed to faster.
Stunting is a direct result of starving. (This is why the analogy with people is valid.)
There are no two ways around it. Either you are starving/stunting the fish due to poor diet, not enough food, poor water quality, OR you are giving it a more natural life, which will result in a healthy, full-sized fish in a natural span of time.
You don't need to do research to know these things. You wouldn't do it to your kid (or would you?) Same thing.
Stunting is a direct result of starving. (This is why the analogy with people is valid.)
There are no two ways around it. Either you are starving/stunting the fish due to poor diet, not enough food, poor water quality, OR you are giving it a more natural life, which will result in a healthy, full-sized fish in a natural span of time.
You don't need to do research to know these things. You wouldn't do it to your kid (or would you?) Same thing.
This is exactly what I'm going to do, although I think the changes in growth will be more than expected.
Just to clear things up completely:
The first post of this thread was very poorly worded, also reveals my misconception of the term "stunting".
By no means do I intend to underfeed the fish, but to feed it just the amount it needs, no more, no less.
I have no interest in raising a fish with health defects, nor to give him anything but a happy, healthy life.
The experiment itself, is to investigate how much of a growth difference can be seen between a fish that is fed as much as possible, and a fish that is fed just the natural amount. How much slower will it grow, and if it does indeed reach maximum size eventually. As some people claim that it will, in time reach it's full size, and others do not. The term "feeding the bare minimum amount" was probably my poor choice of words, where "bare minimum" is still enough for a healthy fish.
The first post of this thread was very poorly worded, also reveals my misconception of the term "stunting".
By no means do I intend to underfeed the fish, but to feed it just the amount it needs, no more, no less.
I have no interest in raising a fish with health defects, nor to give him anything but a happy, healthy life.
The experiment itself, is to investigate how much of a growth difference can be seen between a fish that is fed as much as possible, and a fish that is fed just the natural amount. How much slower will it grow, and if it does indeed reach maximum size eventually. As some people claim that it will, in time reach it's full size, and others do not. The term "feeding the bare minimum amount" was probably my poor choice of words, where "bare minimum" is still enough for a healthy fish.
It is going to grow large on a "normal" diet, so if you want a small gar, you need to pick a different gar. I feed my growouts normal amounts of food every day, skipping several days a week, and all my fish grow to their expected sizes.
Yes, you will notice slower growth than someone who power feeds, but full potential will be achieved with regular normal feedings, barring poor water quality or tank size, but that's a different topic entirely.
Yes, you will notice slower growth than someone who power feeds, but full potential will be achieved with regular normal feedings, barring poor water quality or tank size, but that's a different topic entirely.
That is incredibly absurd to value a fish let alone any animal to the life of a human.
Lets kill off anyone associated with poaching endangered species, since they'll survive at the price of just a few humans, since they are equal right? If we were going off some dumb liberal logic here.
If you have any reason to why a single human life is equal in value to any animal I'd like to hear it. At the end of the day, people are worth more than animals.
So because you value a human life more than a animals that makes it perfectly fine to keep them in insufficient requirements?...
Why not hunt poachers for sport? Actually, way better idea, lets offer them permits to hunt the animals they are poaching at the price of having to survive said poacher hunt. Damn I need to be in legislation...
