Biggest Fish you will accomodate in your current tank
- Thread starter redtailfool
- Start date
for any fish that swims back and forth the tank should be at least 4 times as long and twice as wide as they are long. most people put to many fish in any tank even if there is enough room they dont look unhappy they probably are would you live in an 8' by 8' cell and be happy "no!!" but there is plenty of room for you to walk back and forth
Lets try not to argue here. The topic is only about how big of a fish youre willing to pack in your tank. Not to preach on someone elses. 
That tank is nice... it only looks crowded because it was taken from the side and not the front...
That tank is nice... it only looks crowded because it was taken from the side and not the front...
OK OK enough guys! Here I'm going to settle this here. Alfon76, is an experienced hobbyist, with maybe over $50k investing into his fish, tanks, equipments, etc..he has bought a household generator that can last 3 days just so his fish don't die from a power outage. He is a close friend of mine and we've shared notes on weekly basis.
My personal view of how many fish you can "cram" and talkinga about being humane and ethical! Here are my 2 cents. If we want to talk ethics, then we shouldn't even keep any pets. Who says a german shepherd is even happy, they were wild dogs roaming, and we inbred them to get a certain trait. A pug might look happy, but have you ever noticed, they almost look like they have down syndrome, just because we think its cute so we inbred them for that trait. So same with with, some people have 200 gallon tanks with only a few small fish, but probably still not meeting the fish needs, while others have 20 xxxl fish in a 500 gallon tank might seem extreme, but with continuous water change system and uv sterilizer and ecolizer, etc...probably the fish are happier. Earlier someone mentioned that the fish feel crammed, honestly, we don't know that, its not fact, but merely speculation. And they are not necessarily happier in the wild. In the wild, many fish have to stalk and wait for food, and die of hunger at time, and it might be natural. In a fish tank, food is contantly there, predation is minimized, honestly...
Think for a second, what would you rather be, living in the jungle where man use to roam and forage and hunt for food? Or live in a house but have shelter and food on time daily, without having to worry about the lion thats going to eat you? There is no absolute, anid to my knowledge, nobody has been able to talk to the fish and ask them what they like. Honestly, any type of pet keeping or what we do mostly in this world is merely for our amusement, which in return makes us grow, learn more etc...
If you read another post of mine I've talked extensively about how some fish can stop growing at a certain size due to food limitations or space restrictions, without any observable harm done, and it happens in the wild, maybe someone can find me that post.
We should not jump to conclusion, nor should we judge. Like Alfon76 said, he has plenty of measures to keeping these fish, and growing them out. He has ponds 500 gal., tanks, 400, 900, and many more, and he's a lot more consciensious than I am about his animals, actually
My personal view of how many fish you can "cram" and talkinga about being humane and ethical! Here are my 2 cents. If we want to talk ethics, then we shouldn't even keep any pets. Who says a german shepherd is even happy, they were wild dogs roaming, and we inbred them to get a certain trait. A pug might look happy, but have you ever noticed, they almost look like they have down syndrome, just because we think its cute so we inbred them for that trait. So same with with, some people have 200 gallon tanks with only a few small fish, but probably still not meeting the fish needs, while others have 20 xxxl fish in a 500 gallon tank might seem extreme, but with continuous water change system and uv sterilizer and ecolizer, etc...probably the fish are happier. Earlier someone mentioned that the fish feel crammed, honestly, we don't know that, its not fact, but merely speculation. And they are not necessarily happier in the wild. In the wild, many fish have to stalk and wait for food, and die of hunger at time, and it might be natural. In a fish tank, food is contantly there, predation is minimized, honestly...
Think for a second, what would you rather be, living in the jungle where man use to roam and forage and hunt for food? Or live in a house but have shelter and food on time daily, without having to worry about the lion thats going to eat you? There is no absolute, anid to my knowledge, nobody has been able to talk to the fish and ask them what they like. Honestly, any type of pet keeping or what we do mostly in this world is merely for our amusement, which in return makes us grow, learn more etc...
If you read another post of mine I've talked extensively about how some fish can stop growing at a certain size due to food limitations or space restrictions, without any observable harm done, and it happens in the wild, maybe someone can find me that post.
We should not jump to conclusion, nor should we judge. Like Alfon76 said, he has plenty of measures to keeping these fish, and growing them out. He has ponds 500 gal., tanks, 400, 900, and many more, and he's a lot more consciensious than I am about his animals, actually
fugupuff said:OK OK enough guys! Here I'm going to settle this here. Alfon76, is an experienced hobbyist, with maybe over $50k investing into his fish, tanks, equipments, etc..he has bought a household generator that can last 3 days just so his fish don't die from a power outage. He is a close friend of mine and we've shared notes on weekly basis.
My personal view of how many fish you can "cram" and talkinga about being humane and ethical! Here are my 2 cents. If we want to talk ethics, then we shouldn't even keep any pets. Who says a german shepherd is even happy, they were wild dogs roaming, and we inbred them to get a certain trait. A pug might look happy, but have you ever noticed, they almost look like they have down syndrome, just because we think its cute so we inbred them for that trait. So same with with, some people have 200 gallon tanks with only a few small fish, but probably still not meeting the fish needs, while others have 20 xxxl fish in a 500 gallon tank might seem extreme, but with continuous water change system and uv sterilizer and ecolizer, etc...probably the fish are happier. Earlier someone mentioned that the fish feel crammed, honestly, we don't know that, its not fact, but merely speculation. And they are not necessarily happier in the wild. In the wild, many fish have to stalk and wait for food, and die of hunger at time, and it might be natural. In a fish tank, food is contantly there, predation is minimized, honestly...
Think for a second, what would you rather be, living in the jungle where man use to roam and forage and hunt for food? Or live in a house but have shelter and food on time daily, without having to worry about the lion thats going to eat you? There is no absolute, anid to my knowledge, nobody has been able to talk to the fish and ask them what they like. Honestly, any type of pet keeping or what we do mostly in this world is merely for our amusement, which in return makes us grow, learn more etc...
If you read another post of mine I've talked extensively about how some fish can stop growing at a certain size due to food limitations or space restrictions, without any observable harm done, and it happens in the wild, maybe someone can find me that post.
We should not jump to conclusion, nor should we judge. Like Alfon76 said, he has plenty of measures to keeping these fish, and growing them out. He has ponds 500 gal., tanks, 400, 900, and many more, and he's a lot more consciensious than I am about his animals, actually
i can talk to my fish
their happy!j/k
i like what you said, you clearifed alot of that
thanks
I cannot say for certain that a fish is happier in my tank or Alfon76's tank, but being fed, good water, they "seem" happy. While it most definitely could be the opposite, but then again, being in the wild, in a 10 billion gallon lake cannot guarantee their happiness either. This world is a continuous movie of evolution, and believe it or not, life is tenacious and adaptable to the extreme. Look at gold fish, discus, guppies, oscars, all these are man made, bred for our amusements. Do most of you know, or have seen, where these fish are bred? In farms, Hong Kon, Thailand, China, there is more fish than water, and they are just fed to breed and sell, there is no so called, "quality" of life. Who knows if they are happy or not. Maybe their mere existance is just to breed, so if they can, do so by injecting them with hormones or living in a crammed tank with thousands of others, maybe that is what they like, I do not condone nor do I support this. But if we take it to the extreme that would make us have to abandone the hobby altogether. True some people provide great tanks for fish with ample swimming space, and thats great, but its not the absolute, "TRUTH". And how about feeder fish, and fish we eat, how about chickens bred and raised for our palate. How about cows, wait how about blood worms, they live in a tub of water in our fridge to be used as food or they die in a mass of others. And if you are truely a believer of animal rights and PETA love, then shouldn't come visit this site. If not, then we should all get along, just a mere different walk in life of animal keeping. I should be on PENN & TELLER
Cheers!
Wes
I should be on PENN & TELLERCheers!
Wes
rock on wes!! and nice to see you showed up Ivan.....for those out there who havent seen his fish...Ivan has some of the healthiest and just plain badass fish...his tanks and husbandry of them are well defined....I can only wish to be half the keeper that he is one day. with that said...wes pretty much summed up all thoughts I had above...well done 
