Big Fish's Small Tanks

[carpking]

Hi all

Let me ask the silly question

I hear all the time on this forum about people who have tanks that are to small for there fish or not enough of them. My tank is 180l and I have one can loach of about 1.5inchs in length who we love dearly so were not about to re home him are we better off keeping him as a single or get him some mates of his kind would more mean they would stay smaller for longer? Same with silver sharks if you had one I'm sure it would get big fairly quickly but if you had say four would they all grow at the same rate as a single fish.

Look forward to people opinions

 

[techen]

What kind of loach is my question?
 
Also no, Fish will grow as much as possible until they get stunted growth. Which will cause stress and uncalled for deaths. Not worth letting a fish suffer in a tank too small for it.
 
Put a child in a box and let him grow up in it, Same effect.

 

[Wills]

Clown Loaches and Bala Sharks are not that great to compare - Clowns grow really slow and Balas dont, they are not the fastest growing fish but they do grow at a decent rate.
 
Also not comparable on growth rates as Bala Sharks will grow pretty evenly but in some cases some Loaches will stay small in a group as a sign of sub-ordinance sometimes its a few cm but other times its really noticeable I had a group of Botia Histronica that did this. But not 100% how much clowns do this. 
 
Over all though they will grow at the same rate regardless.
 
Big fish = Big tank = Good idea

 

[carpking]

Thanks for the comments so far and I look forward to more however if this is the case why do so many fish keepers have many years of happy fish keeping with the fish question when they are kept in a smallish tank, also what about some Plecoptera fish I've seen some real big guns in small tanks but they seem ok I guess there not as active as other fish

 

[fluttermoth]

I guess it's more about what's right, rather than what you (not you personally!) can 'get away with'.
 
Sure, people keep fish in tanks that are too small, and they can live a long time (although, in nearly all cases, not for as long as they would have done in the appropriately sized tank). I could keep a shire horse alive on my lawn for years too, if I fed it enough hay etc, but it wouldn't be right.
 
On this site, we like to promote 'best practice'; that means recommending fish and ways of fishkeeping that are of the very highest standards.
 
P.S; by the way, I think you mean 'plecostomus', 'optera' suffixes are for insects

 

[sadguppy]

At the end of the day, it is entirely up to you what you put in your tank.

I see my fish as pets and want the best for them - others see them as disposable 'art' to make their living room more cheerful. I think you'll find on this site you won't find many of the latter but they do exist, personally I wouldn't want to put anything in that I may get attached to and have to get rid of in years to come, but other people will happily get an oscar in a 30gal and not care too much about the future, as they are cheap and 'only fish' - I ate a sea bass yesterday which was far bigger than any fish I'll ever own, so I can see from that point of view kind of... However I see many of these people on local facebook groups struggling to give their fish away and wouldn't want to be in that position, where they have clearly outgrown the tank and you can tell it's cruel just by looking at them.

 

[carpking]

Hi All

Thanks for the posts again, ive been thinking that we all make a lot of judgements based on the facts that these are wild creatures however it must make a difference the fact that most of the fish nowadays are breed in captive enviroments and have never seen a river system so there must be a stage where the fish are used to being in smaller enviroments almost has become part of there DNA. whats do you think?

 

[fluttermoth]

Nice idea, but no; fish haven't been 'domesticated' in any real sense.
 
Captive bred fish are still 'wild' to all intents and purposes. There hasn't been enough time for any significant genetic changes to accumulate; certainly when we're talking about size and behaviour rather than colour mutations. All their instincts will be identical to wild caught fish.

 

[r.w.girard]

The point that you have just raised is one simply of conditioning. Let us remember that stress is both affect and effect.  A dog can be conditioned to live in a box but few would readily accept that that dog was living in optimal conditions. Because, although confined, the dog may seem healthy, happy even, but what we do not see if the effect of latent stress, i.e. through lack of exercise due to confinement.  Thus, when one sees a big dog in NYC [or London], one cannot help but feel a little sad for it.  But the same is true of small dogs because smaller size does not necessarily equate smaller necessary space: small but active fish need long tanks in order to "stretch their legs," as does any small or big dog.  The difference between wild or domestic thus has little relevance and not simply because of what fluttermoth has suggested correctly above.  And, lastly, evolution is not the a product of use and disuse but a product of fitness as expressed through activity and coloration, both expressions of dominance.  It would be worth googling the effects of inadequate housing on large fish.  A good place to start is here: http/www.bigfishcampaign.org.

 

[Daveo026]

Funny enough iv just been having an arguement with some fool thats got 2 oscars in a juwel 180 and i was told to go die that the fish are happy and dont need a bigger tank and said i knew nothing....

The tank was also divided as the oscars dont get on.
Thats facebook fish pages for you meh

 

[This Old Spouse]

i was just talking recently about a woman on a Facebook group who's keeping her 5 goldfish in a 5 gallon tank. Ridiculous.

 

[raptorrex]

Hi All

Thanks for the posts again, ive been thinking that we all make a lot of judgements based on the facts that these are wild creatures however it must make a difference the fact that most of the fish nowadays are breed in captive enviroments and have never seen a river system so there must be a stage where the fish are used to being in smaller enviroments almost has become part of there DNA. whats do you think?

If only it were true.
but dogs still need exercise and the amount varies according to breed, yet we have been domesticating them for thousands of years.
Captive breeding has allowed fish like Discus, to be kept without many of the problems associated with wild caught versions.
Yes fish have got cheaper because of it.
But it’s also been responsible for massive "in breeding" which causes fish and keepers much stress

 

[TallTree01]

I don't understand why some people can keep a big fish in a small tank. The very idea that a fish is not able to reach its full size is shocking. I mean , this is very hard to put into words, having a fish not being able to reach its full size is just.... Inhumane. When ever you see someone with a serious injury ( e.g one arm ) you feel sorry for them, but when a person sees a fish that should grow to a foot long, be in a 5 cm body he says its okay. These are living creatures for gods sake. They have feelings. They have brains. Yet people believe that because they are ' just fish ' they can abuse them however they please.

 

[This Old Spouse]

+1

 

[TarkMalbot]

I did have ONE Bala in a 165 litre tank for 3 years or so and it grew to about 6 inches.  I blame my LFS but now I know much more abotu it I have a 450 litre 5 foot long tank and have 5 in it which I am still told is too small but at the moment they are all smaller than 7" so should take a while to outgrow the tank.