keeping "bigger fishes" in "smaller tanks"

[thefuture]

if fishes grow up to what their environment allows them to then why is it wrong to keep a tang for say in a 30 gallon or smaller? i was pondering on this idea and thought i would ask

[emperior911]

Because they need plenty of room to swim. most tangs get over a foot. why would you want to put something like that in a two foot tank?

[Fishfreak218]

ya.. putting them in a smaller tank doesnt mean that they wont grow as big......
where did u hear that it did??

[thefuture]

no tang police plz. if you read my post i said "for say" which means for example and etc.

[marrone]

I guess if you could control a fish growth and the fish would still be healthy and fine I guest there wouldn't be any problem. I guest the question is how or what do you define being healthy.

You do see this when animals get trap on an island and they dwarf over time yet they're still healthy just dwarfed.

[Cutiewitbooty]

well it can stunt their growth, saying "grows to the size of the tank" makes it sound not that bad. Imagine this if you put a dog in a small crate for its life, even if you feed it good, it's not going to get the exersize it needs and will be in aconstant state of stress causing it not to get as big as it should. So it probally can be done, but IMO it's not healthy or fair to the fish.

[thefuture]

o ok. thanks.

[Fishfreak218]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7045968#post7045968 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thefuture
no tang police plz.

Im no tang police.. i kept a Regal Tang in a 2.5g tank for a few weeks.... and then in my 30g... now he is in someone elses tank

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7047742#post7047742 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fishfreak218
Im no tang police.. i kept a Regal Tang in a 2.5g tank for a few weeks.... and then in my 30g... now he is in someone elses tank :eek1:

[BTTRFLYGRL]

This gets old

Hard to tell when someone is sincere or trying to annoy people

Research and learn before you buy a fish..



http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=739380

[doody]

Not trying to sound like a jerk, but think about it. Would you like me to make you live in a closet? Not P.Diddy's closet either. I mean the avg Joe's closet.

[garvondavis14]

i think he was just curious guys, calm down....i do understand why someone would wonder that though, i remember hearing a lot of peopole say that when I was growing up

[thefuture]

true doggy.

BTTRFLYGRL
it was a thougth i was pondering on, i had no intentions of annoying anyone. i herd that from some1 that most fishes (animals) grow as big as thier environment allows them to, so like if you have a fish that you want to grow much bigger you place it in a much bigger tank. thats why i asked to see if it was true and it seems evident that its not.

sorry but i cant really do research much on these boards because RC never lets me search and google does a crappy job (because you cant pinpoitn threads) so i ask my questions or do my research through methods of posting threads.

[doody]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7048642#post7048642 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by garvondavis14
i think he was just curious guys, calm down....i do understand why someone would wonder that though, i remember hearing a lot of peopole say that when I was growing up

That's why I said "not to sound like a jerk".
I know most people are curious. Sure you could keep a 10" fish in a 10"x 10" tank, but for how long? A week, a year? Who knows, but how healthy/happy would it be? That';s why I use the closet senerio. Sure I could make you sevive for years in my closet, as long as I fed you. But how healthy/happy would you be?

[adamsky27]

Well I'm no expert, but Majestic Sea Life (a lfs here in Tucson) has had a Vlamingi tang in a 29 gallon (I think that's the size) for about a year at least now and I don't think it has grown one bit, but seems fat and healthy.

[Cutiewitbooty]

if you read what i posted, i expaned why, but i bet that fish wont be happy and healthy in a year from now. I wouldn't shop at any LFS that had practices like that.

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7045501#post7045501 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thefuture
if fishes grow up to what their environment allows them to then why is it wrong to keep a tang for say in a 30 gallon or smaller? i was pondering on this idea and thought i would ask

That is more true in freshwater than saltwater. In marine tanks, fish will have some stunted growth, but there's growing evidence that along with this comes a significantly shortened lifespan.

Dave

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

a Vlamingi in a 29g :eek1:

the one in my lfs is in a 180g. and he is cramped! he's about 1.5 years old and is about 10" long...................can you say stunted?

[NaClH20NMYVEIN]

"Well I'm no expert, but Majestic Sea Life (a lfs here in Tucson) has had a Vlamingi tang in a 29 gallon (I think that's the size) for about a year at least now and I don't think it has grown one bit, but seems fat and healthy"

Wow, just because someone else did it does not make it right or fair, you obvisoly know that what they were doing was questionable or you would not have brought it up here. I cant believe as adults people still say well so and so is doing it so why cant I. Most "adults" are kids, their growth just has not been stunted like the fish your talking about, but they act just like kids!

[marrone]

I think the big problem is that people do see such a large fish being kept in such a small tank for a long period of time, and the fish is living and seems fine, and think that it's not a problem and that they can do it also. A lot of this also comes from people keeping freshwater and goldfish as stunting fish is much more common.

The reality is people do keep fish that get large in smaller tank than they should be kept in for long period of time. Because of either poor condition or not being food enough or correctly the fish don't grow to their correct sizes. Some have shorter lifes while others actually do live for quite some time.

[shakara_b]

Interesting comparison I just had while reading this thread. My father is a deputy sheriff and he once told me that inmates who spend alot of time in "the hole" sometime come out mentally lacking to say the least. :bum:

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

well....thats usually sensory deprivation, not sure if its the same or not? maybe a doc could chime in?

[adamsky27]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7050937#post7050937 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by evolust
Wow, just because someone else did it does not make it right or fair, you obvisoly know that what they were doing was questionable or you would not have brought it up here. I cant believe as adults people still say well so and so is doing it so why cant I. Most "adults" are kids, their growth just has not been stunted like the fish your talking about, but they act just like kids!

I wasn't saying that it was right, I was just providing an example.

[TrojanScott]

Everyone needs to remember that even if your tank is 1000 gallongs, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the ocean, or even the reef it came from.

I find it comical when people bash others for keeping any sort of fish in any size tank....it's all how you look at it.

I look at it this way.... I have fish in a decent size area where they don't have to compete for food or worry about predators. I kept a maroon clown for almost 9 years.. would it have lived longer on the reef, or been eaten at some point before then?

You try to care for these animals the best way you can, but please, no lectures about a human being being kept in a closet and trying to compare the two. We're all guilty of housing fish in cramped quarters, period.

[El Langostino]

TrojanScott,

Well said.

[adamsky27]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7056347#post7056347 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by El Langostino
TrojanScott,

Well said.

Ditto, very well said!

[marrone]

Same old argument.