How Large Can These Fish Grow?

[rothenb1]

I am working my way through school at a pet store as the animal caretaker. When people get fish I really try to steer them in the right direction of fish that would be suitable for their tank. However, I don't know the maximum size of each species. Could anyone help?


Tropical:

South American/African/convict chichlids
Tiger/red oscars

Mollies (black, silver, creamsicle, sailfin, gold dust, balloon, marbled, dalmatian)
Platies (I can only identify red wags, the others are considered "mixed")
Swordtails (brick, black, green, neon)
Fancy guppies

Tetras (neon, black neon, phantom black, white/black skirt, serpae, red eye, bleeding heart, columbian red finned, glass, bloodfin, flame [I think I'm missing some])

Danios ("mix" longfin, zebra, giant)
Gouramis (blue, gold, opaline, banded, dwarf powder blue, pink kisser)

red paradise fish

Silver dollars/red pacus

Common pleco

sharks (iridescent, black fin, rainbow, bala)

Knife fish (black/African)

Barbs (tiger, albino tiger, green tiger, rosy, longfin rosy gold, cherry)

Catfish ("mix" corydoras, albino corydoras, ghost glass, striped raphael)

dwarf puffers



Goldfish:

Sarassa
Shubunkin
Black moor
Calico/red fantail
"Fancy" goldfish
comets



I know that many of these fish get quite large, but unfortunately, in the pet trade, every animal is sold as a baby so no one believes me when I tell them this. Someone actually asked me if we sold a turtle that didn't grow (after I told them I would not sell them a 5 inch turtle if they were going to buy a 10 gallon tank).

Anyway, any input would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

 

[OldMan47]

You might want to have a look through the fish index, it is up by the welcome area of the forum. Here is a link. There are some good descriptions of fish, their individual needs and other relevant facts. Some have pictures and others do not but they are all worth a quick look. If you are in the fish trade, you should have the ultimate size information available on a card or even on the tank label. That way people can judge size for themselves. I think a classic misleading fish that people buy is clown loaches. I was at a club member's home last night and he had some older clown loaches in his display tank that were about 8 inches long. Fortunately he had a tank big enough to actually accommodate them but that is seldom the case for people who are doing all their shopping at the LFS. This guy is like me and gets much of his stock, especially the hard to find items, at club fish auctions.

 

[snowflake311]

Google

 

[rothenb1]

Google

Tried google, came up with different results for the same fish, I didn't trust it.

 

[Rust]

These are only ROUGH sizes

South American/African/convict chichlids - Males up to 6"
Tiger/red oscars - 13/14"

Mollies (black, silver, creamsicle, sailfin, gold dust, balloon, marbled, dalmatian) Largest getting to be about 5" (sailfin)

Platies (I can only identify red wags, the others are considered "mixed") 3"

Swordtails (brick, black, green, neon) male up to 4/5" (with sword)
Fancy guppies - 2/3"

Tetras (neon, black neon 2", phantom black 2", white/black skirt 2", serpae 2/3", red eye 3", bleeding heart 2/3", columbian red finned ??, glass, bloodfin 2", flame 2" [I think I'm missing some])

Danios ("mix" longfin, zebra, giant) giant aprox 5/6" other 3"
Gouramis (blue 4/5", gold 4/5" , opaline 4/5" , banded ??, dwarf powder blue2/3", pink kisser 8"+

red paradise fish male upto 5" (excluding long fins)

Silver dollars 6/7" /red pacus 30"+

Common pleco upto 20" if not bigger, i just got rid of my 18"er

sharks (iridescent, biger than u lol 3ft+, black fin red tail, black body and fins?? 5", rainbow 5/6", bala 12"+)

Knife fish (black ghost 10/12"/African ??)

Barbs (tiger 2", albino tiger 2", green tiger 2", rosy 2", longfin rosy gold 3" with fins, cherry 1/2")

Catfish ("mix" corydoras 3", albino corydoras 3", ghost glass 3/4", striped raphael 6")

dwarf puffers - 1/1.5"

You owe me a drink now lol

 

[rothenb1]

These are only ROUGH sizes

South American/African/convict chichlids - Males up to 6"
Tiger/red oscars - 13/14"

Mollies (black, silver, creamsicle, sailfin, gold dust, balloon, marbled, dalmatian) Largest getting to be about 5" (sailfin)

Platies (I can only identify red wags, the others are considered "mixed") 3"

Swordtails (brick, black, green, neon) male up to 4/5" (with sword)
Fancy guppies - 2/3"

Tetras (neon, black neon 2", phantom black 2", white/black skirt 2", serpae 2/3", red eye 3", bleeding heart 2/3", columbian red finned ??, glass, bloodfin 2", flame 2" [I think I'm missing some])

Danios ("mix" longfin, zebra, giant) giant aprox 5/6" other 3"
Gouramis (blue 4/5", gold 4/5" , opaline 4/5" , banded ??, dwarf powder blue2/3", pink kisser 8"+

red paradise fish male upto 5" (excluding long fins)

Silver dollars 6/7" /red pacus 30"+

Common pleco upto 20" if not bigger, i just got rid of my 18"er

sharks (iridescent, biger than u lol 3ft+, black fin red tail, black body and fins?? 5", rainbow 5/6", bala 12"+)

Knife fish (black ghost 10/12"/African ??)

Barbs (tiger 2", albino tiger 2", green tiger 2", rosy 2", longfin rosy gold 3" with fins, cherry 1/2")

Catfish ("mix" corydoras 3", albino corydoras 3", ghost glass 3/4", striped raphael 6")

dwarf puffers - 1/1.5"

You owe me a drink now lol

Ahhhh you are amazing thank you so much!!!!!!!

 

[indigoj]

Black Ghost knife gets bigger than 10" - try 18+ in the right environment. Others vary from about 8-10" to 24" or the green knife in Bolton Aquarium is about 3ft

Also raphael catfish reach 8"+