New 720 Litre

[Assaye]

I spent about a third of a year in my bedroom which is 4m by 3m (I am 1.8m), after I ruptured 2 ligaments in my knee and couldnt' walk for months, and I found the boredom quickly turned to relaxation

The BGK is currently in a bare tank at the pet store after it outgrew its previous home. I may not be able to offer a massive tank, but I can promise the fish a well furnished, well planted tank and alot of attention...

The fish isn't you. It can't read or listen to music and it doesn't know that it's space is limited for wellbeing reasons. It would also be in that tank for considerably longer than 5 months.

it's always tempting to rehome fish that need it when you don't have a quite good enough set up but sometimes it is best to give an excellent home to a smaller animal than a substandard home to one you feel sorry for.

In the end it is your choice but I would strongly advise against it.

 

[arobinson1984]

I spent about a third of a year in my bedroom which is 4m by 3m (I am 1.8m), after I ruptured 2 ligaments in my knee and couldnt' walk for months, and I found the boredom quickly turned to relaxation

The BGK is currently in a bare tank at the pet store after it outgrew its previous home. I may not be able to offer a massive tank, but I can promise the fish a well furnished, well planted tank and alot of attention...

The fish isn't you. It can't read or listen to music and it doesn't know that it's space is limited for wellbeing reasons. It would also be in that tank for considerably longer than 5 months.

it's always tempting to rehome fish that need it when you don't have a quite good enough set up but sometimes it is best to give an excellent home to a smaller animal than a substandard home to one you feel sorry for.

In the end it is your choice but I would strongly advise against it.

I have to agree with assaye,

would you keep a dog in a cupboard?


Andy

 

[james_fish]

Maybe you could opt for discus? I think that would be really cool.

James.

 

[kniesh]

I agree with Assaye, even if it did only grow to 1ft, would you enjoy living in a room only 5 times your length?

Theres not gonna be much difference between 5 times and 6 times, and a 6x2x2 is more than adequate for this fish. IMO it is inactive, and it is going to be comfortable in that tank. Compared to what some of these fish are going to be kept in, this is a palace and is probably going to get a better life in this tank than being left and mis-sold to someone else.

To say would you keep a dog in a cupboard is an absolute nonsense tbh. It has no relevance to the question at hand. If that is your philosophy, you should not be keeping fish in any tank really.

I would recommend you buying this fish if you really want one.

 

[arobinson1984]

I agree with Assaye, even if it did only grow to 1ft, would you enjoy living in a room only 5 times your length?

Theres not gonna be much difference between 5 times and 6 times, and a 6x2x2 is more than adequate for this fish. IMO it is inactive, and it is going to be comfortable in that tank. Compared to what some of these fish are going to be kept in, this is a palace and is probably going to get a better life in this tank than being left and mis-sold to someone else.

To say would you keep a dog in a cupboard is an absolute nonsense tbh. It has no relevance to the question at hand. If that is your philosophy, you should not be keeping fish in any tank really.

I would recommend you buying this fish if you really want one.

The tank we are talking about isnt 6x2x2 though, its 5ft long which is a foot shorter, roughly the size of the fish so it does make a difference.

An the dog / cupboard is relevant because whether we are talking about fish, cats, dogs etc the owner still has the same level of responsibility to ensure that the animal is kept in the correct conditions.

As to say we shouldnt be keeping any fish in any tank is nonsense as long as the tank is more than adequate, I keep a pair of rams in a 4ft tank, the tank is 16x the length of the fishes max size


Andy

 

[kniesh]

I agree with Assaye, even if it did only grow to 1ft, would you enjoy living in a room only 5 times your length?

Theres not gonna be much difference between 5 times and 6 times, and a 6x2x2 is more than adequate for this fish. IMO it is inactive, and it is going to be comfortable in that tank. Compared to what some of these fish are going to be kept in, this is a palace and is probably going to get a better life in this tank than being left and mis-sold to someone else.

To say would you keep a dog in a cupboard is an absolute nonsense tbh. It has no relevance to the question at hand. If that is your philosophy, you should not be keeping fish in any tank really.

I would recommend you buying this fish if you really want one.

The tank we are talking about isnt 6x2x2 though, its 5ft long which is a foot shorter, roughly the size of the fish so it does make a difference.

An the dog / cupboard is relevant because whether we are talking about fish, cats, dogs etc the owner still has the same level of responsibility to ensure that the animal is kept in the correct conditions.

As to say we shouldnt be keeping any fish in any tank is nonsense as long as the tank is more than adequate, I keep a pair of rams in a 4ft tank, the tank is 16x the length of the fishes max size


Andy

The tank isn't 6x2x2 no, but the footprint of the tank is actually bigger. Dont always assume a fish only going to swim up and down the tank in a straight line, they dont. BGK's spend most of their time in their own territory, and come out to feed. They are not in the slightest bit an 'active fish'.

I never said dogs should be treated better than fish either. I said, if you think keeping a dog locked up in a cupboard is the same thing as putting a BGK in this size tank, then you're very much mistaken. Just to add, a lot of dogs are kept in gardens an such that probably aren't much roomier. I'm not sayin whether this is right or wrong btw.

 

[ChilliPepper]

The BGK will be fine in a 5ft tank. As has already been said they are not a hugely active fish anyway, even at night when they 'hunt'.

I am going to be keeping my Oscar, which can also reach 12", though most commonly 10" I believe, in my new 637L aquarium at 36x36x30... More than enough swimming room and turning around room.

To compare this scenario to a dog being kept in a cupboard is silly. Dogs are completely different to fish and have different requirements. It's not as if the OP is asking whether a 200L tank would be big enough for the BGK, it is a massive tank that the OP has got for it.

Of course the bigger the tank the better, but let's face facts that the majority of people buy fish which are too large for their tanks and live in blissful ignorance. At least the OP has got a very good sized tank and this fish would be happy in it for life, better than some other person buying it to go in their 200L aquarium...

 

[VaegaVic]

I'm going to agree with both parties here and hopefully add a balanced view to the mix.
BGKF can grow rather large, over 12" in captivity, however, it is not an active fish like a danio. If an active fish grew to 12" I would definitely say no, as they would be zooming all over the tank at all hours and have absolute no space to live in.
Also, if he doesn't give the poor thing at least a semi-decent home, who's to say that it won't go to a smaller tank from the sheer desperation of the LFS trying to shift stock? I'd rather it went to a 5ft than a 3ft.

HOWEVER.
I do have serious reservations about ANY BGKF being kept in captivity, for the simple reason, they can be incredibly hard to keep alive for a full life span, not only that, they prove to be rather hard to house with most other things.
It will eat small fish like neons, so keeping a large shoal of anything is pretty much out.
It's nocturnal, meaning you will very rarely see it with the tank lights on, making it a useless edition if you want pretty things to look at.
It needs pristine water quality, so water changes are a must, atleast 20% every week, which is alot of work on a 720L tank (144L a week!)
It's incredibly timid, so it needs a dimly lit area with hiding places.

That all being said, they are absolutely breathtaking fish, as the video below shows, but I can't help but think that maybe this is one fish that shouldn't really have a place in the hobby.
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZJH340ImNQ&feature=related

As a final note, I love the idea of Discus in that size tank.
A nice big group with Neon tetras and corydora's would look absolutely smashing!

Hope this helps.

 

[kniesh]

I'm going to agree with both parties here and hopefully add a balanced view to the mix.
BGKF can grow rather large, over 12" in captivity, however, it is not an active fish like a danio. If an active fish grew to 12" I would definitely say no, as they would be zooming all over the tank at all hours and have absolute no space to live in.
Also, if he doesn't give the poor thing at least a semi-decent home, who's to say that it won't go to a smaller tank from the sheer desperation of the LFS trying to shift stock? I'd rather it went to a 5ft than a 3ft.

HOWEVER.
I do have serious reservations about ANY BGKF being kept in captivity, for the simple reason, they can be incredibly hard to keep alive for a full life span, not only that, they prove to be rather hard to house with most other things.
It will eat small fish like neons, so keeping a large shoal of anything is pretty much out.
It's nocturnal, meaning you will very rarely see it with the tank lights on, making it a useless edition if you want pretty things to look at.
It needs pristine water quality, so water changes are a must, atleast 20% every week, which is alot of work on a 720L tank (144L a week!)
It's incredibly timid, so it needs a dimly lit area with hiding places.

That all being said, they are absolutely breathtaking fish, as the video below shows, but I can't help but think that maybe this is one fish that shouldn't really have a place in the hobby.
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZJH340ImNQ&feature=related

As a final note, I love the idea of Discus in that size tank.
A nice big group with Neon tetras and corydora's would look absolutely smashing!

Hope this helps.

I like this post, however i have to disagree with it not being a fish suitable for the hobby. This is a very docile fish that just isn't active in any way. A tank of this size is more than suitable. It is correct it will eat smaller fish during nightfall, but i dont see you keeping anything small enough for it to eat. I would strongly recommend you buying this fish as it seems it will definately be looked after properly.

 

[The Noob Fish Shepherd]

Sorry for the late reply, I've been busy with work and other bogus stuff... Thanks for all your guys opinions btw, and for the record I have kept a BGK before but it never got very big even though I had it about a year and a half (then it was given a new home)

I'll be keeping the BGK in the 700L tank along with my Pearl Gourami's and Peacock Eel. Definitelly will keep you guys posted

And if you guys have anything more to say I'll take it to heart!

 

[The Noob Fish Shepherd]

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