wild caught v captve bred
- Thread starter bathawk
- Start date
+1
Lots of inbreeding, certain genes being selected for, etc.
I wouldn’t even be surprised if there is a bit of natural selection in play, with smaller specimens being better suited for life in glass boxes.
Diet and water quality also make a difference. A wild fish fed tetra flakes and kept in nitrate soup will grow a lot smaller than a captive fish eating how it would in the wild, with pristine water.
Lots of inbreeding, certain genes being selected for, etc.
I wouldn’t even be surprised if there is a bit of natural selection in play, with smaller specimens being better suited for life in glass boxes.
Diet and water quality also make a difference. A wild fish fed tetra flakes and kept in nitrate soup will grow a lot smaller than a captive fish eating how it would in the wild, with pristine water.
In nature (in pristine habitat) wild fish live water parameters that are very low in nutrients like nitrate (single digits), and lack the hormones and pheromones nitrate indicates, that can inhibit growth. In many natural waters where fish I keep are found, the nitrate levels I've tested barely exceed 1 ppm
In aquariums nutrient loads of 10ppm nitrate and higher are considered by many aquarists to be acceptable, because of nitrates non-acute or non-deadly toxicity.
It's no wonder fish in closed systems, (often sized way too small), and allowing growth inhibiting substances to quickly accumulate would get stunted.
I am amazed at how resilient some fish are under normally poor accepted aquarium conditions, of course time often takes its toll, and is probably why we see so many captive oscars and other long lived cichlids with HITH, a chronic disease. often brought on by excessive nutrient loads.
I often see reports of this or that fish like Amatitlania convict types like A cutteri, A sajica or Rocio reaching only 4 or 5", but in my tanks with every other day water changes and nitrate in the single digits reach twice that size.
8"+ A cutteri above, plate size sajica below
In aquariums nutrient loads of 10ppm nitrate and higher are considered by many aquarists to be acceptable, because of nitrates non-acute or non-deadly toxicity.
It's no wonder fish in closed systems, (often sized way too small), and allowing growth inhibiting substances to quickly accumulate would get stunted.
I am amazed at how resilient some fish are under normally poor accepted aquarium conditions, of course time often takes its toll, and is probably why we see so many captive oscars and other long lived cichlids with HITH, a chronic disease. often brought on by excessive nutrient loads.
I often see reports of this or that fish like Amatitlania convict types like A cutteri, A sajica or Rocio reaching only 4 or 5", but in my tanks with every other day water changes and nitrate in the single digits reach twice that size.
8"+ A cutteri above, plate size sajica below
Last edited: