Sizing fish

[Papa]

This may sound like a funny question but here goes. When looking at Angels I see sellers describe them as dime,nickel, quarter etc. Now fish to me appear larger when viewed in an aquarium as opposed to outside in a net foe instance. So, if a Angel is being a quarter size is that as viewed through glass aquarium or outside the tank?

 

[fluttermoth]

It could be either, depending on the seller; there isn't any standard.

I would say two things; first of all, you should buy them as large as possible. Younger fish are more delicate and harder to acclimatise than older ones. Secondly, all fish should really go into a tank that's large enough for it's eventual adult size from the start, or you risk them becoming stunted.

For angels, that would be a tank that's at least 3 feet long and 18 inches high.

 

[ShinySideUp]

The official method of sizing a fish is to measure it from nose to the root of the tail (otherwise fancy Betta's might come in at ridiculous lengths) however I think some folk tend to be 'flexible' on this. As The Current Mrs Treguard says, get as adult a fish as you can bearing in mind that a really big fish might also be really old.

 

[Papa]

The reason I'm interested is that when a vendor says quarter size I think the Angels in my tank that look a quarter size really are not that big outside the magnification effect of aquarium glass.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Do you have a bow-front tank? If the glass is straight float-glass there should be no change in size or aspect if the fish are not viewed at an angle.

 

[Papa]

Thanks, that's what I was wondering. I'm looking through flat glass. I also do have a bowfront and , yes there is distortion there. I imagine vendors are sizing without distortion of glass.