What I found that worked for me when moving my fish to a bigger tank was taking all of my decor out of the smaller tank and adding it in the exact same manner it was in the smaller thank. I did add a few pieces to the puzzle, but nothing changed in my fishes behavior because it still looked the same, just more room to swim. With that said, that doesn't mean it's going to work for everyone and is something for people to consider when moving their fish to larger tanks.
How Does This Even Work?
- Thread starter baxtor_lex
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What I found that worked for me when moving my fish to a bigger tank was taking all of my decor out of the smaller tank and adding it in the exact same manner it was in the smaller thank. I did add a few pieces to the puzzle, but nothing changed in my fishes behavior because it still looked the same, just more room to swim. With that said, that doesn't mean it's going to work for everyone and is something for people to consider when moving their fish to larger tanks.
^^ that's actually a really good idea. I took the opposite approach, by mixing everything up making it all look VERY different and it worked short term......then, the two just decided they both had to had this one particular spot. I'll have to get some new pics up because even now, as peaceful as it is, all my fish seem to hang out in one spot.......folks look at my tank and the first impression is, "where's all the fish", then they walk 4 feet and see the big pile of fish all hanging out in an incredibly small area, which is ironically the side of the tank by our main living area lol.....
guess they've become domesticated and like our company
guess they've become domesticated and like our company
^^ that's actually a really good idea. I took the opposite approach, by mixing everything up making it all look VERY different and it worked short term......then, the two just decided they both had to had this one particular spot. I'll have to get some new pics up because even now, as peaceful as it is, all my fish seem to hang out in one spot.......folks look at my tank and the first impression is, "where's all the fish", then they walk 4 feet and see the big pile of fish all hanging out in an incredibly small area, which is ironically the side of the tank by our main living area lol.....
guess they've become domesticated and like our company
That's pretty funny and reminds me of when I first set my 110 up before I covered up the sides (I blacked out the back and sides of the tank with black trash bags, looks pretty good IMO and was cheap). All my fish when I was laying in bed would come stare at me... was kind of creepy. But replicating the small tank upon introduction and slowly evolving it and adding things to it worked. The other thing I did was added the smaller less aggressive fish first, then added the more aggressive ones. It worked out well.
^^ my wife still looks at me from time to time and says "and we spent thousands of dollars on a huge tank, why?"....
Fish don't have thoughts or belief about it one way or another. If they are healthy, this is what truly matters. No human can make the determination whether or not a fish is unhappy or depressed based solely on tank size and swimming space. A fish's primary objective is food not space.
I do agree with this statement, i think when i first saw this video and took the time to go through the persons other videos (some are WORST then this) i felt shock.
I think we all do things with these fish we know we perhaps shouldnt, i mean i added white widows in with my convict knowing they would probabley get slaughtered, i took the risk and it paid off, they co exsist perfectly, it may not be forever, but i spend alot of time studying my tanks behaviour and now iv added a female, i still feel confident my convict will leave these alone even with a bride hanging about
I have two inhabitants of my tank i know i shouldnt, one is to be rehomed and the other is so stunted i dont believe at 3 years old it will ever grow again. (i rescued the poor thing from a friend who kept it cooped for a LONG time)
I just alot of the time do not dare to mention it on here in case i get a on slaught of abuse. If one good thing is to come off this thread is the fact some of you guys are actually pretty open minded.
I achieved in my tank what most told me wouldnt work, community fish living with a subadult convict, hes nearly adulthood now and is certainly at breeding age. I would dare say i feel confident enough to add some larger livebearers at this point. I feel the shear amount of target fish is totally curbing the convicts aggresion, as i have said i feel that if he breeds this will change, at this point i will re-home the female, but in a tank of 100 gallons i think he'll just shack up in a small private area, i only plan to have a brood or two before looking at re-homing the female anyway.
I will thank Jc1119 and GaToRxxx for there input, its truly made me see that this site "bends" the rules sometimes, what works for one doesnt always work for another, i honestly do see this forum in a different light now. In a way im pleased i posted this video because i feel more confident in talking about my strange setup..... Oh and let me know if anyone wants to know what my two shouldnt haves are!
you obviously haven't met my Midas. He shows happiness and depression just like my dogs do, and it doesnt always correlate with feedings. It might not be on the same level as human beings , but he mopes when I vaccuum out his hills and valleys and rearrange his rocks during water changes. He is very hesitant to take food from strangers too. Took a cruise this year and he didn't eat for almost 4 days while my dad fed the fish. He pouted the whole time we were, gone sulking in the corner, tearing up the plastic plants and he never does that while we are home.....
While I agree most fish react towards food, if space wasnt part of the agenda then why cant we successfully house breeding pairs of festae in 55 gallon tanks? Surely there's enough space. They technically fit. Procreation is up there with food IMO, and territory or, space is needed for some fish to breed, or act somewhat normally.........
good discussion either way.......these are the threads I personally learn from the most
You're never going to know what will or will not work until you try it. But ALWAYS have a back up plan in place in the event things go wrong. When I upgraded from a 55 to my 110 I didn't ask for advice on how to do it. I just drained 20 gallons of water into 4 5 gallon buckets from the 55 and then I had 2-4 gallon buckets and 1 3 gallon. I moved the smaller fish to the 3 gallon with tank water and the bigger fish were split amongst the 4 gallon buckets. Put my substrate, rocks, slate and wood in the tank and then added the 20 gallons, then as I added the fish I added the water from the smaller buckets. Filled the rest with fresh water, it was like a big water change. But I kept everything the same in the big tank as it was in the smaller tank. I had no fights for territory and as time went on I added something here and there and evolved the set up. I feel drastic changes in surroundings can create problems as it's "new" territory. But replicating the original layout on a bigger scale, they see no changes and it's business as usual with more room.
Also look at Oscar's that have been long bonded pairs. When one dies, the other sulks and stops eating usually until it dies. So to say they don't have feelings and emotions is a bit of a stretch. My fish get happy anytime I stand up as they think I'm going to feed them and they act a little disappointed when I don't. I've seen mine show fear, anger, happiness and sorrow.
BTW, your Midas sounds like a character. He probably makes fishkeeping fun for you doesn't he? My Oscar gets so excited over food, it knows the food containers and while it gets excited over the NLS container, it goes bonkers when it sees the treat containers. I usually get soaked during treat feedings lol
i will say, i think i misread the post about food. my little convict as tantrums, frustrated moments, gets excited the lot! fish are full of emotion!
