A dovii in a 12x4x3 i would then have more than 1 female lol
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jaguar or dovii????????
- Thread starter Josue12
- Start date
I'm saying it's not a black and white issue of the tank being big enough or not, but I do believe that tank size has more of an effect on growth rate and ultimate size than we think. With the tank in question the 36" height will be of little benefit, but with a 72x28" footprint he will obviously be able to house a dovii or a pair for some time. There was a thread a few years ago with a bunch of massive dovii pics (can't find it now) and the thing that struck me was that most, if not all, of the really massive (20"+) specimens were either A; wild caught, B; in public aquaria, or C; kept in generously sized home aquaria. There may be the occasional freak that gets huge in a 180g, but I would be willing to put money on it [if you could somehow test it] that a fish like that would get considerably larger if given more space. So while the OPs tank may be big enough for a dovii for some time, my personal feelings would be that in the interests of giving the fish the best chance at reaching it's potential maximum size, a bigger tank would be better in the long-term.
I will say I've never kept dovii as they aren't on our list of allowed imports, but I do have experience with many other cichlids and non-cichlids alike, and across the board with everything from sajica to clown loaches to uaru to midevils, raising fish in large tanks rather than "grow outs" and "minimum" size tanks has always given me far better growth rates and larger fish. If other people want to keep the biggest possible fish for whatever size tank they have then that's up to them. Personally I prefer to see the fish, regardless of size, have ample room to move, grow and behave naturally.
Exactly. Another point, Mel's big male is considered by many the largest dovii in private home aquaria, and his beast is over 10 years old. How many other 10+ year old dovii do you know about? I know of none. That I feel is due to several reasons. Mel takes tremendous care of all of his fish. And he doesn't skimp on tank space. Now I'm not saying that you can't get a dovii to live 10 years in a 6x24-30 inch tank, but it is much less likely. I feel like you don't see many huge dovii because they don't live long enough and don't have adequate space. I for one want to ensure that my fish can live out a full life healthy and happy. Some people have a different perspective on healthy and happy and are entitled to that opinion.
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One of the reasons I've always admired Mel's collection is because of the stocking levels and tank sizes he gives the fish, they never look cramped or battling for space.
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so you are saying that dovii's kept in 6' aquariums usually grow to 2' because there growth is stunted ?
so if the dovii's growth is stunted it could live it could live in a 6' aquarium no problem right?
and not every body has the money or the space to tank that big
Could say so.. Look at goldfish for example - put it in small tank, it remains 5" ...put it in pond and you get fish over 1' long... Lifespan as 5" fish - 5 years...lifespan in pond - way over decade
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Here comes the age old argument, tank size. No matter what anyone says, someone will always disagree. Truthfully, imo I think that tank size should not be determined by your experience but rather by a large majority. Such as a sticky
to end all tank size arguments that just continue to drag on and on and on. Ill start it to hopefully end all these argumentsSent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
I agree that you're never going to get 100% agreement as to the tank size debate, and as I mentioned there is a huge grey area as to what is acceptable and what isn't. In this case, for example, a 14-16" dovii may look like it has enough room in a 180g tank, but what isn't so obvious is what the long term effects on size and lifespan are.
That depends if you consider stunted growth and shortened lifespan a "problem". And of course not everybody has the money to provide a 1000g aquarium for their fish, but there is also no reason to buy a fish you cannot house adequately.
That depends if you consider stunted growth and shortened lifespan a "problem". And of course not everybody has the money to provide a 1000g aquarium for their fish, but there is also no reason to buy a fish you cannot house adequately.
