Maximum fish sizes
- Thread starter Moontanman
- Start date
I think that along with the ideas about size length of life is something we as fish keepers need to look at. If you keep a sturgeon and it gets to be four feet long (lets say that it it's maximum size) and it lives to be five years old no chest thumping will convince me you did a good job, that fish was capable of living several decades. If it lived five years and reached it's maximum size something was wrong with the way you kept it. I think a better rule of thumb for keeping fish is the length of it's life not it's maximum size.
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
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
I agree with this, I'm constantly hearing of how dovii's can get 24" however have yet to see one near that size in an aquarum. However I am curious to see the biggest on MFK
swackattack;2046573; said:
BINGO!
new2natives;2045256; said:
I understand your point, and I agree for the most part (especially considering the types of fish this site refers to) but in the wild many fish use only a few square feet of space for the majority of their lives. BUT THAT DOESN'T APPLY TO MONSTER FISH! A pair of convicts can be kept in a 180 and never want for more, but a P-Bass needs something more along the lines of what you indicated.
Moontanman;2041611; said:
Agreed...but on MFK that seems to be the staple. Seeing how fast and large you can grow something out, or japanese style tanks. It never really occurred to me that although you have great growth, color etc...the fish's longterm outlook may not reflect that.
Great read! I agree with most of the stuff here too.
Another issue i see is how the larger the fish normally gets, the comparatively smaller tank is given to it.
Minimum tank size for a Krib in many people's opinion is a 10 gallon tank. That is around 4x as wide and around 9x as long as they get. With something like a Convict they are usually said to need a 20 gallon tank that is around 3x as wide and maybe 8 or 9x the length. A JD needs a 55 gallon which is a little over 1x as wide and 4-5x its length. And the bigger the fish it seems the less space they need comparatively.
How come people aren't suppose to keep a full sized male convict, lets say 6" in a 10 gallon tank, but "experts" know a 20" dovii is completely fine in a 6x2x2!
It seems when enough people want something they all justify it and say its fine and everybody else with contradicting opinions is wrong.
Of course I'm still going to keep a JD in a 55 gallon tank and a Texas in a 75 gallon, I'm just saying.....
Another issue i see is how the larger the fish normally gets, the comparatively smaller tank is given to it.
Minimum tank size for a Krib in many people's opinion is a 10 gallon tank. That is around 4x as wide and around 9x as long as they get. With something like a Convict they are usually said to need a 20 gallon tank that is around 3x as wide and maybe 8 or 9x the length. A JD needs a 55 gallon which is a little over 1x as wide and 4-5x its length. And the bigger the fish it seems the less space they need comparatively.
How come people aren't suppose to keep a full sized male convict, lets say 6" in a 10 gallon tank, but "experts" know a 20" dovii is completely fine in a 6x2x2!
It seems when enough people want something they all justify it and say its fine and everybody else with contradicting opinions is wrong.
Of course I'm still going to keep a JD in a 55 gallon tank and a Texas in a 75 gallon, I'm just saying.....
Moontanman;2029966; said:
I agree. My RD/Midas is over 8 years old, and barely 8". She's still slowly growing, but she'll likely never reach her "max size" of 12-14"
She's healthy, though. never been sick, and lays eggs from time to time.
Expecting every fish to reach "maximum size" is like expecting the entire human population to grow up like Shaquille O'neille or Yao Ming.
its ludicrous.
Edit: that said, one should be ready to accomidate "maximum size" when buying a particular fish. don't expect your RD to only reach 8".
