Do Fish Grow To Their Invironment?

[Stroker]

I think I know the answer to this one but I just want to verify. I keep getting told that fish will grow to their invironment, IE a pleco in a 10 gallon is fine because it won't get too big while it is in there. This might be true but if so wouldn't stunting their growth just shorten their lifespan?

 

[Meds081603]

You are correct. The fish will grow much slower and be stunted and die early. Nothing worse than hearing a proud goldfish owner talk about how their goldfish lived just fine in a one gallon bowl for a whole 2 years!

 

[Stroker]

Yea thats what I thought but it's what my father in law keeps saying. Of coarse if you have paid attention to my posts when I first started you all know he's a moron by now anyway but he is the one who got me involved in aquatics but it turns out he has no clue what he is doing... poor fish. I won't even start on his cats and dogs.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

A few fish do grow to their tank size, the majority as the other person said will not live a long or happy life and will be stunted. Some like the Leporinus Fasciatus can grow to 4 feet in the wild, but rarely ever gets over 10 inches in an aquarium and may be one of the rare cases of fish successfully growing to their environment. Very rare though and not worth trying to achieve, for the fishes sake or for yours.

 

[Cooky_luvs]

A few fish do grow to their tank size, the majority as the other person said will not live a long or happy life and will be stunted. Some like the Leporinus Fasciatus can grow to 4 feet in the wild, but rarely ever gets over 10 inches in an aquarium and may be one of the rare cases of fish successfully growing to their environment. Very rare though and not worth trying to achieve, for the fishes sake or for yours.

I just wanted to add that Leporinus Fasciatus do not grow to 4 feet. The max in the wild is possibly 1 or 1 1/2 feet. In any case your point is right. The best thing to do for fish is to always research them and have the appropriate size tank before purchasing. There's little point is keeping fish unless you are going to do it successfully and raise quality specimens, so always research first. Chinese High Fin sharks are the best example of fish that should not be kept in aquaria, especially in an undersized tank. http/www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums...xocyprinus.html

 

[backtotropical]

Unfortunately, it is a widely believed myth that fish will only grow to the size their environment allows.

Much to the detrement of many fish, too many people believe it to be the truth, and keep fish in tanks which are too small.

Please don't.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Stunting occurs for several reasons...and in a well maintained aquarium you also run the risk of your poor fish growing too large and thus barely having space to move!

One of the fishkeepers on another forum didn't realize how large these barbs would get: (sorry won't allow me to actually include the image in the post)
http/www.aquariacentral.com/forums/attac...mp;d=1183425306
And that tank is dwarfed by the actual size of the fish as it is actually a fairly large one...lets just say he's trying quite hard to upgrade the space.

 

[raptorrex]

a common misconception. or should i say sales aid to the LFS! many fish will adapt, but poor growth and exercise mean a sick fish.

 

[LukeFishwalker]

I thought I read somewhere on these forums that the fish's exterior will be stunted in a small tank but that its internal organs will continue to grow at a normal rate? I might just be making stuff up. In any case - definately a bad idea.

 

[andywg]

I thought I read somewhere on these forums that the fish's exterior will be stunted in a small tank but that its internal organs will continue to grow at a normal rate? I might just be making stuff up. In any case - definately a bad idea.

This is a myth.

The "fish only grow to their environment" is a somewhat misleading statement (delt with below) but the fishkeepers now seem to have adopted a complete myth to comabt something akin to a half truth.

As to stunting, there is a good thread started by rdd, which has a link to a good thread with comments by nmonks. I advise you all to read here for the science behind this.

To summarise (for the lazy ones out there) it seems that there are a number of factors behind the growth of fish, ranging from ammonia concnentrations to salinity to levels of hormones in the water. I recall reading that the "stunting" comes about from fish that findd themselves in small bodies of wter for some time which they do not want to outgrow. Once the body of water increases in size, the conditions of it will become more favourable, and the fish will commence growing at a faster rate.

Also (as mentioned on the link above) if the fish is in less than ideal conditions it will have to expend more energy maintaining the status quo, and as such have less energy for growing.

With regards to early deaths, I sometimes wonder whether that is because of being kept in less than ideal conditions, rather then simply because the volume of water/size of tank is wrong.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Another thing to think about is that even if it does happen, the fish in question isn't going to think 'well, if I grow any more I won't have enough room'. The fish might be smaller than usual, but that doesn't mean the tank is big enough. A goldfish might only grow to a couple of inches in a 5g tank, but a 2.5" fish in a 5g certainly doesn't have enough space.

 

[sizzla01]

Just wanna say thanks to all who have commented...Instresting reading indeed.

PS Can someone post up that picture that "pheonix" sent a link too....as I ain't a memba of dat otha forum & u need a user name....

 

[raptorrex]

just this once:

its worth joining, it take less than 2 min, and its not really fair to ask for someones password.
thanks to aquriacentral for the pic.

 

[sizzla01]

just this once:

its worth joining, it take less than 2 min, and its not really fair to ask for someones password.
thanks to aquriacentral for the pic.

Thanks mate....Thats a joke picture rite.

When I get time I will take at look at this otha site ...but to be honest since joining this one I haven't needed to look elsewhere.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Sorry about the link not working. >< Didn't realize...

And no that's not a joke picture. Those fish are actually that large, and I've seen 10+ photographs of them...

The guy does have some of the loveliest fish, but obviously these need new housing.