is the big deal with this guys tank size have something to do with the guys in here being "monster fish keepers"? lol! I graduated college in the fish and aquaculture program and this very question I recall being raised and our professor said it is a myth. A fish size is determined by the amount of food not the amount of living space. I do not really have an opinion either way. Both make some sense to me within reason
Please ID this fish
- Thread starter tito109
- Start date
fishheadPH;4587465; said:
Not true at all. I've seen plenty of people house fish in tanks too small and the fish get stunted... There was a thread on here last week about this exact thing. People housing Clown Loaches in a 20 gal, stunting them at 5"!! Loaches can grow to well over a foot...
This is the kind of understanding that gets people to buy Pacus and Red Tail Cats and put them in 20gal. tanks for life. Either they are going to starve to death, have growth deformities, or die from horrible water parameters. The OP's fish grows too large to be housed in a 35gal. tank for life. Many people here have RD, Midas, and other Amphilophus relatives and more often than not they will all agree that keeping them in something smaller than a 75 for life is just awful for the fish's health. His RD has been in their for 7months, if I remember correctly. It may have already sustained some physical ailments because of its limited housing without the owner being really aware of it. Nobody is trying to rag him for it, just making sure he knows that his fish needs a lot more space than he is giving it.fishheadPH;4587465;4587465 said:
very true, i keep my red devil in a 125g by himself, i say at bare minimum, a 75g like you said.Gruff Master;4587700; said:
fishheadPH;4587465; said:
Well to some extent you are right. The fish will grow properly if it receives a proper diet and you stay on top of the water quality. That size fish is going to foul the water much faster in a 35 gallon tank as opposed to a 75 or larger so you're going to need to be doing 40-50% water changes probably at least twice a week. If you do then the fish will grow properly and reach full size in a 35 gallon tank.
However, at full grown being 12"+ the fish really deserves a larger tank so that it has some swimming room. Do you want the fish to survive or thrive? Ultimately that's up to you but a fish that size really deserves to have some swimming space that the 35 gallon simply won't provide.
