Do You Agree With Keeping Big Fish?

[Dskize]

Lets face it , no matter what anyone posts the 'your tank is too small' brigade will jump on them anyway , I find it a bit weird that we can measure our hobby on the level of cruelty we are prepared to accept , however the reality is we are making an unnatural situation as comfortable as possible for our little fishy prisoners anyway so why not get hung for a shark ......as it were.

Personally I have a Dolphin in a bio orb and had to get the sod in with a shoehorn and Vaseline

 

[Chad]

This is an article on the subject that I particularly like http/www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/arrested-tang-police-i-refuse-confess.
One of the main points it makes is that just because a fish has a large territory in the wild doesn't mean that is a requirement. Tangs (as it mentions) are a great example of this. A yellow tang ranges over a large area. It does this to find the food it needs but if it can find all the food it needs in a small undisturbed area it will stay there instead of ranging far and wide.
 
This article has much in it that is in keeping with my own ritual of deciding on what fish to stock. I've posted this several times before, but will again, the list of criteria I use for stocking.
 

1. max fish size (for that sex and species)
2. temperament
3. type of food
4. quantity of food
5. metabolism
6. fish compatibility
7. coral compatibility
8. invert compatibility
9. substrate requirements
10. swimming requirements
11. swimming ability
12. flow requirements
13. sensitivity to changes in parameters
14. sensitivity to water quality issues
15. sleeping habits
16. rock work requirements
17. lighting preference
18. body shape (deep keeled vs. shallow)
19. territorial requirements (I can only keep 1 male clown goby in my 210 gallon tank and that fish is tiny).
20. escape and jumping potential
21. temperature requirements (temperate vs. tropical also temp range and how temp affects metabolism)
22. growth rate 

If an aquarist can meet the requirements for a particular fish I see no reason they should not keep that fish. If they cannot, even if the fish is a 1.24 inch bumble bee goby, then I feel they should not be kept. Size is relative. A 5 gallon tank is as small to a serape tetra as a 20 gallon is to a goldfish or a 50 gallon to a bala shark or a 100 gallon to a pacu etc.

 

[wrightt3]

Lets face it , no matter what anyone posts the 'your tank is too small' brigade will jump on them anyway , I find it a bit weird that we can measure our hobby on the level of cruelty we are prepared to accept , however the reality is we are making an unnatural situation as comfortable as possible for our little fishy prisoners anyway so why not get hung for a shark ......as it were.

Personally I have a Dolphin in a bio orb and had to get the sod in with a shoehorn and Vaseline

I've never understood how a fellow fishkeeper can make this argument?
This is a forum dedicated to providing the proper care and environment for our fish and most of us do that very well. True, fish tanks are unnatural but nature is cruel anyway. Fish tanks provide an environment that is safe from predators and provides a constant supply of food.
If a fish has enough room to swim around and enjoy itself then that isn't cruel. If a fish can barely turn around (the case for the majority of BIG fish) then that is cruel. I see no grey area TBH.
tcamos made a good point there about the tangs not necessarily having to have massive territories.

 

[Blobfish]

I would like an end to seeing these big fish in LFSs.  If someone has the space, equipment, money and dedication to look after a fish like a Red Tailed Catfish then I'm sure they would not be put off if they had to special order one.  People get tempted into buying them seeing relatively small specimens in a shop and many LFS owners having got these fish in are only too willing to persuade someone that they are not so hard to look after.

 

[Unseen]

I would say yes over all. Plenty of fish have been put in smaller tanks than they should, and I am guilty of that. It's far too easy to make that mistake.
 
It's a bit like dogs for me. Some people are far too careless and are bad dog owners. However there's no rule that people need a license etc...