I'm not happy with any of my tanks

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A 75 gallon is as small as I'll go for any fish. I know some species can be kept in smaller tanks but I just cant settle for something like that. And id certainly never keep any cichlid in anything smaller than a 125.
 
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duanes said:
I'm late to this, but I have my own rule. "Minimum" of 10 gallons of space per inch of adult cichlid (not per fish in a tank) or any good size fish, I mean a 10 inch fish, whether 1 or 3 fish, require "minimum 100 gallons.
Of course it is true that a 10" oscar will "survive" a while in a 75 gal tank. But will it act like a normal fish? I doubt it. When I see posts by those who complain there fish is lethargic, acting weird, or paranoid, the tank is almost always way too small.
I followed a 12" uropthalmus across a 100 yard cenote, and could barely keep up, and yet the fish was not laboring, just aimlessly passing thru.
Whenever I see someone recommending a 75 gal for an adult oscar, or jag, or any substantial cichlid, I realize they really have never watched these fish in nature.
And using the criteria that if a fish can turn around in a tank, it is then of adequate size for that fish to live, is to me equally ridiculous. A great dane can comfortably turn around in a small bedroom, but would you keep it in one 24/7.
I attended a lecture by one of the most respected experts on fresh water rays not long ago, who spends time studying them in S America, she said nothing under 300 gallons for the smallest rays.
Below, one of the small cenotes
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Absolutely. A fish needs room to swim, explore, hide and change scenery.
 
Well, actually 2 foot longer
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Oops, right you are, that was posted before coffee. lol Either way, IME it won't typically make a big difference (if any) to that species of fish when flying solo. Outside of spawning season, many adult males of this species prefer to be alone. Give them some structure to utilize as a cave and for the most part they will display the same behavioral traits. Sure they will burst from end to end at times, but really, only in a humans world will an extra 2ft make a difference to a fish of that size and stature. A mature midas or RD can swim from one end of a 6ft tank, or 8ft, or 10ft, in the blink of an eye. Most of us just can't replicate anything even remotely close to what these fish would experience in the wild.
I like to see fish in as large a tank as humanly possible, who doesn't, but for some species, and even some individual fish, it isn't always practical.
 
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I don't think my fish will think "oh I have two extra feet or swim space." I'm just saying the tanks look cramped. I think they looked cramped.
I'm sure that my midevil is the last "large" fish I'll ever own.
 
convict360 said:
imo you can enjoy smaller fish as much as the big ones...in the past month or so I was forced to break down my 90; so my friend has my cichlids. In my house I now have white clouds, and some cories in a hospital tank and thats it.

I'm actually enjoying the white cloud minnows, more than I did my cichlids tbh...because even though they're in a 60 litre long tank, they have quite literally 43x body length swimming room; and don't look constrained in the slightest.

I don't know if its something you're interested in, but planted tanks have recently really re-ignited my interest in the hobby...for once the fish are actually kind of secondary to the needs of the plants, but makes for a real challenge balancing everything. Plus side is that you can totally enjoy these smaller set-ups too, I recently bought a 15 litre cube and can't wait to start it; 6 months ago I'd have laughed if someone offered me that
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Man, I'm on my third planted tank and I hate it haha. I struggle so much setting up planted tanks.

My convict and barbs have really sparked my interest in smaller fish and keeping them in large tanks. When my convict was an 1" he had so much room in my 45 gallon. I kind of wish he had stayed that small haha. Next fish I buy will probably be some kind of dwarf species.
 
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When I look at my four Goldfish living in my 75 gallon tank I feel very sorry for them in that they can barely turn around. I personally feel that tanks ten gallons and under should have warning labels on them to warn would be fish keepers how many and how big of a fish they can keep in the tank.

For those of you who said keeping goldfish is a waste of tank space I have plans of getting a minimum of a 500 gallon tank for them or even a 1000 gallon if I get the chance. I also have plans of getting two Kio but only after get a 700 gallon fiberglass tank with a viewing window for them.
 
Ocean Railroader said:
When I look at my four Goldfish living in my 75 gallon tank I feel very sorry for them in that they can barely turn around. I personally feel that tanks ten gallons and under should have warning labels on them to warn would be fish keepers how many and how big of a fish they can keep in the tank.

For those of you who said keeping goldfish is a waste of tank space I have plans of getting a minimum of a 500 gallon tank for them or even a 1000 gallon if I get the chance. I also have plans of getting two Kio but only after get a 700 gallon fiberglass tank with a viewing window for them.
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doesn't matter what others think, it's what makes you happy. I don't like arowanas, gars, or poly's; which is probably sacrilege to some, but there's no point in keeping something you can't enjoy.

koi are super impressive fish, you can count me among the ones that'll watch your 500g build tank
 
duanes said:
I'm late to this, but I have my own rule. "Minimum" of 10 gallons of space per inch of adult cichlid (not per fish in a tank) or any good size fish, I mean a 10 inch fish, whether 1 or 3 fish, require "minimum 100 gallons.
Of course it is true that a 10" oscar will "survive" a while in a 75 gal tank. But will it act like a normal fish? I doubt it. When I see posts by those who complain there fish is lethargic, acting weird, or paranoid, the tank is almost always way too small.
I followed a 12" uropthalmus across a 100 yard cenote, and could barely keep up, and yet the fish was not laboring, just aimlessly passing thru.
Whenever I see someone recommending a 75 gal for an adult oscar, or jag, or any substantial cichlid, I realize they really have never watched these fish in nature.
And using the criteria that if a fish can turn around in a tank, it is then of adequate size for that fish to live, is to me equally ridiculous. A great dane can comfortably turn around in a small bedroom, but would you keep it in one 24/7.
I attended a lecture by one of the most respected experts on fresh water rays not long ago, who spends time studying them in S America, she said nothing under 300 gallons for the smallest rays.
Below, one of the small cenotes
Click to expand...
that's some good sh*t right there, Dewie

Ocean Railroader said:
When I look at my four Goldfish living in my 75 gallon tank I feel very sorry for them in that they can barely turn around. I personally feel that tanks ten gallons and under should have warning labels on them to warn would be fish keepers how many and how big of a fish they can keep in the tank.

For those of you who said keeping goldfish is a waste of tank space I have plans of getting a minimum of a 500 gallon tank for them or even a 1000 gallon if I get the chance. I also have plans of getting two Kio but only after get a 700 gallon fiberglass tank with a viewing window for them.
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No, I admire your passion.....I don't think it's a waste, I just expected posts saying it was for obvious reasons.
 
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