its funny, the other day i was thinking of things about this site that annoy me, some of them being related to this thread, and here i am finding someone already started it!
anyhow, i am torn as to which opinion is right, and i think the answer is somewhere nearer to the middle.
i was at the lake 2 weeks ago, and as i watched the baby bluegill swimming, i thought to myself, they have 3 miles to the north that they can swim, and a mile to the south ... and yet on MFK the standard is 75g. he may not use all 4 miles of water, but i bet if we asked the fish, he would ask for more than 4 feet...
and thats a SMALL fish!!! obviously NOONE can replicate the "ideal" environment, even for a "tiny" fish.
i guess my point is, there is no tank size that is going to be sufficient for any wild animal. everyone who keeps fish is putting them in a box smaller than they would like to be in. even the guy with the 50,000g indoor tank, his fish would prefer 51,000 or 52,000....
i think people need to come to terms with what they are doing as a "fish keeper" --
you are putting your fish in a box. plain and simple.
that being said, you should give it a decent sized box, and you should keep the water in the best condition that you can. you should feed your fish to be healthy, and not just to become overnight monsters. and give the fish enough room to turn around!
but everyone else should back off a little bit when it comes to the new people who come home with a 3" RTC, or a 4" silver aro. almost everyone can house them for a little while, and most people on this site can house them for a year or two, and it will still be a healthy fish (if we help them with their questions). then once it outgrows the largest tank that MFK'er has, SELL IT ON THE FORUM!!!
its a great solution. people can actually buy the fish they want, and not just the small ones! and it means cheaper fish for those of us who want big fish
and who knows, maybe some of those people will end up like me, and falling in way over their heads. i started with a 2.5g, then a 20L, now i have 6 tanks, one being a 180. i have another 180 in the very near future, and i even have plans for that "
always important pond" ...
the guy at the store wouldn't let me put 15 fish in that 2.5g like i wanted to. instead they educated me, and helped me. and the tank worked out, i learned how to do it, and the fish stayed alive. 2 years later i am invested more into it, and now i have the fish that i really want, the tanks i want, and i am passionate about them and want to keep them properly.
or at least as properly as a fish can be kept in a box