Ideal tank dimensions for a Mbu?

[Clay]

There is a full grown, yes full grown Mbu in a 300 @ my LFS. Agreed that the width it too tight, but if the tank had the same length, height and you added to the width making it somewhere around 450-500 gallons...it seems to me that it would be fine. This has nothing to do with water quality or any of that, just stating size wise.

This one?
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361180

 

[kevinfleming21]

Yeah, he is only $399 now!!!

 

[Pufferpunk]

Poor thing...

 

[Egon]

This one?
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361180

Someone bought it, going into a 125

 

[johnny1234]

Since my fahaka (at 10 years old) is only very close to 12", it is my opinion that he is stunted in the 125g he lives in.

man hes major stunted. fahakas need a huge tank too. my buddy fahaka is pushing 18 inches at least its 6 years old.the one at the Vancouver aquarium is pushing 21 inches if not more . i dont care what any one says about mbus and they need a 1000 gallons. i think that major BS and you have Half the world believing what you said and wrote . mbu should be housed the smallest 72L 36D 24H and what ever bigger than that . as go for fahakas they should never be in a 125G at 10 years . the need 150G and up trust me on that. ive seen with my own eyes big big fahakas. you preach that every one needs 1000g and up because that's what you believe . that's so not true. fahaka need at least 150 and up after 2 years . your a major hippocrate you have a fahaka in a 125g and you tell every one a 1000g is what a mbu has to be in sorry just my to cents

 

[Pufferpunk]

You are correct, my friend & if I knew that 10 years ago I never would have placed him in a 125g.

 

[johnny1234]

I've had fahakas before. I was actually trying to place the puffer as a centerpiece along with some smaller african cichlids. That wouldn't work well with a fahaka (probably not), but might do ok with a pustulatus if I could find one.

As far as RTR, you can certainly see my confusion on the subject, right? I've seen varying tank sizes from 400-450-800-1000-and now 4500. RTR mentions a tank no less than 400 (in one of the links I posted earlier), Li$a a 450 for hers, Mike (I think you know him as arapaimag) has his in an 800 (not his 52k not his 15k), the ever popular 1000g that everyone throws out (clearly an arbitrary number), and now a 4500.

I'm trying to demonstrate a point that opinion =/= fact. People are very content to present an uninformed opinion as their own and not have any empirical evidence to support it. I'm not blaming anyone, I'm trying to get people to exercise their brains and advance the hobby. There have been several instances of a blanket opinion touted as fact, and the poster couldn't even say why.

Now, should an mbu be in a 375g tank? Who knows? Should any fish be in a tank? The fact that we keep any fish in a closed environment and call it humane is somewhat inhumane if you get down to it. But that is the hobby we love, and this is the nature of the hobby.

right on

 

[johnny1234]

You are correct, my friend & if I knew that 10 years ago I never would have placed him in a 125g.

ya mine was stunted and died sucks. the fahaka is only like 4 to 6 inches smaller than the mbu . mbus tail are very long, fahaka not as much. body wise i would say fahaka is bigger . know i have a mbu i stress every day when im gonna get a huge tank. but i got him in a 180g with 9 frontosas mbu growing very fast i would say 4 inches in 2 months and im gonna order a 72L 40D 24H so it will fit in my house, im more worried about him turning around then the space for know. there's a guy that has a 500 gallon tank with 2 mbus and its so sweet there like dogs he putts his hands in there and they want a belly rubb .