I've seen worse.........

[Ogertron3000]

Later this year I will be moving house and will be stripping down my 4 x 2 x 2 tank. Once we've moved I will be setting it up again and am already thinking of which way to go.
I've got some ideas but one thing I've never done is grow a monster from a baby to an adult. I'm aware the tank isn't that big but when I drop into the LFS and see all the small jags, dovis , oscars etc. and know most will end up in an small unsuitable set up And know I could provide a decent appropriately scaped set up and I think to myself ,as the title otf the thread says "well I've seen worse" .

Meaning we have all seen oscars in 40g tanks, 5 goldfish crammed into an unfiltered bowl and crazy mixes of all types and nationalities of fishes mixed together in small tanks and compared to that a suitably scaped decnt sized tank that's maintained regularly and set up with a particular type of fish in mind isn't such a bad scene for the fish to end up in even if it's not the "perfect" tankfor them.

As a disclaimer I will say I probably won't do this as I like the planted amazon look and have been inspired by some of the awesome set ups I've seen here , especially stanzzzz7 recent thread. Also I worry I would get bored with just one fish and sometimes a big fish looks goofy if the tanks not decorated suitably. My wife also thinks a solo fish will be lonely! But I still get the devil on my shoulder urging me to give it a try every now and then so was wondering what your opinion is?

 

[esoxlucius]

In the first part of your post you're talking yourself into it, and the second part of your post you're talking yourself out of it!!! You also don't mention which monster fish you are planning on growing out from juvenile to adult, which i reckon should be the most inportant part of your post if you want a better opinion.

The best advice i can give you is to forget about your monster grow out project, it's obvious from your post you are far more excited about the awesome amazon planted set ups. I think this is where your heart is. Go with it.

 

[Yoimbrian]

So if someone kills 10 people does that mean it's ok for you to only kill 2 people?

Basing a bad decision on the fact others have made worse decisions is quite sad. Even worse that many of those people can claim ignorance (or they believed the tank requirement sign at Petco) - you can't.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

I agree with the others that you shouldn’t keep a fish that will end up not being suitable for your tank unless you plan to upgrade the tank size for it later. However, your 120 is plenty big enough to house some types of monster fish. Oscars, for example, will be just fine in a 120 and you could easily keep two in there, I think. However, getting something like a red tail cat or a peacock bass and keeping it “just because it will probably be kept in a worse tank if you don’t buy it” is not a good decision, unless you will upgrade later or have a way to rehome it. If you want to go with a single monster fish, or a species that you can keep a few of, then I recommend you post a thread asking for suggestions on what fish will be a good fit for your 120. The people here are very knowledgeable and can definitely help you choose a good species of fish to go with.

I will say, it is very cool to watch a larger fish grow from being very small to very large. I bought my two largest fire eels when they were about 4” and skinny. Now, they are near 24” long and fat. Very awesome to watch them grow.

Another suggestion, if you’re willing to put the time/money into them would be a group of discus. They can get anywhere from 5-8” and are beautiful fish. You could easily get a group of 10 in your 120.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Davidiator]

Community! All the way
I hate having just 1 fish in tank

 

[Ogertron3000]

Thanks for the replies guys, I am just throwing ideas around at the moment. This post was inspired by seeing a kid who looked 12 buying 3 tiny oscars and thinking it's doiubtful they will be going into a suitable home and a friend moving into a tiny but very modern and slick studio apartment and thinking "I could actually live here even though it's very small", I didn't have a particular fish in mind it was more a philosophical thing.

Nothing will happen until much later in the year anyway and I have several ideas, this is just one of them. It's exciting to have a blank canvas to work with but I might just move my current set up of EBA and orange head geos too but I've moved stocked tanks on the past and it's very inconvenient. I'm also thinking a pair of salvinis or a rio nanay angel community. No doubt I will have lots of other ideas before we actually move house and my wife would prefer I concentrate on that, not what I can do with my fish tank!
When I am ready to make a decision I will be asking you all for advice again.