So I was thinking today about the odds of all these big fish actually getting to their adult size. Mainly, sliver arrowna, red tail cats, pacu, and clown knifes. Those fish are commonly sold at fish stores people get them and have no clue. So what you guys think the ratio is that those baby monsters you see in the stores getting to their full size. I am think 1 in 50. Mainly due to fact stores don't sell tanks big enough. Let me know your thoughts though.
Odds of a big fish getting to its size?
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Big fish like that I would say 1 in 1000, red tails can get to 4 feet in the wild and so can silver aros but many of them don’t reach 3 feet to improper tank size. Imo for big fish like that you should have a liscence to own them
In the wild? I'd say about 10% maybe. In the home aquaria? I'd say 1%.
Now if you're asking about them on here well I'd say it shoots upto about 90-95%.
A license is too much man. You should have to be able to prove that you have a tank big enough for them though.
Now if you're asking about them on here well I'd say it shoots upto about 90-95%.
A license is too much man. You should have to be able to prove that you have a tank big enough for them though.
Yeah that’s what I mean, like you have to have the right setup to buy them but you need a liscensce to prove you have that setup
I think it's kinda depends on the availability on average. My LFS got some sliver arrows in but only 5. So if there is only 5 in my area being sold I figure you times that by 10 and 1 of those slivers should get to full size. However, last week I was at the monster fish bash and they had like 100 slivers there so that would kinda throw things out of wack.
I asked the owner of my lfs last time he had an aro in (black aro), and he told me the guy that bought it had a 5k gal, and that just about all the big fish he sells go to people with big tanks (armatus, aro, rtc, O, clown knife, shark catfish, endli, haps, etc., etc,) and that's why he never has more than 3 or 4 at a time, except Os, which he only gets as donations. I'd say their odds are pretty good, except that a) in the wild very few fish even approach max. size, and b) people on MFK, with big tanks, good food and really good water quality struggle to get these fish to max size. 3-4ft is pretty much the biggest anything on here, except for people who have wels or arapaima. i think most fish just can't grow that big, just as most humans can't hit 7ft.
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I always think about a giant goramy called George I seen in a fish shop near swindon 20 yrs ago. He was recued from a 6x2x2 and temp live in a 6x3x3 in the shop until he could be move. He was over 90cm long the biggest I have seen but grown in at best cramped conditions. I know ggs tend to be lazy but not sure how he could even fit in a 6x2x2.
It's always a shame seeing a huge fish cramped in a small tank... if memory serves me correctly I remember reading a thread on here a while back where this "person" (barely) had a 12 inch red tail catfish in a 20 gallon I believe it was for either 1 or 2 years. 
It's always a shame seeing a huge fish cramped in a small tank... if memory serves me correctly I remember reading a thread on here a while back where this "person" (barely) had a 12 inch red tail catfish in a 20 gallon I believe it was for either 1 or 2 years.
I agree but it does depend on the fish …. a red tail or giant goramy need a lot less space than a pacu for example. My giant goramy shows signs he is annoyed if I drop food the wrong side of his tank. The pacu I had were always on the move and I think needed a bigger tank even though they are similar at max size.