Why You Shouldn't Buy This Fish

[tlef316]

one of my co-workers just started a 38 gallon for her son, and of course, stuck 2 of these in there, along with a few plecos and other things. (without any type of filter cycle) I tried to tell her how big they get and that she should have returned them, but she didnt want to hear it and i wasn't about to hound her.

Of course, they got ich, and 1 died yesterday. The other one probably died today. They'll probably just replace them too. People just wont listen as long as petco keeps stuffing tanks full of these things. Too bad.

 

[Tommy Gun]

There can be little doubt that some fish do not grow as large in captivity than the wild (the cigar shark is one, it usually hits 20" in the aquarium, but up to 4 feet in the wild).

Hey Andy! You are the one who prompted me to take another look at the organ growth issue and I agree, it doesn't seem to be very founded. However, the fact that some fish do not grow as large in captivity doesn't apply in every case and probably can be noticed more in marine than freshwater and I think it is dangerous to not mention that so we don't start hearing how a Bala shark is a 1 foot fish in the wild but not in captivity

or a fire eel

or black shark

tinfoil barbs

or probably one of the most common (besides bala sharks maybe), the ever-popular clown knife fish

because, as you can see, they are still large fish in captivity.

There is also a myriad of other reasons why attempting to 'stunt' a fish is going to cause problems...many of which can be summed up as stress and we all know where that leads.

 

[jourdy288]

I believe stunting is possible and should be avoided as much as possible. I think I stunted my bettas a short while, but they started growing again, but a bit more slowly. They are OK. But you should do your best not to stunt fish.

 

[andywg]

Aaah TG, are you not showing me pictures of some of those fish in public aquaria? Many such tanks are a little larger than the systems we would use in the home

But your point is more than valid, many fish do not seem to appreciably stunt (though I would contest that they may well take much longer to reach "full size" - if such a term can be applied to animals that continue to grow until death). Even those that I mentioned will only stay smaller, not small. 20" is still a fair amount of fish to house.

 

[chibi]

I believe stunting is possible and should be avoided as much as possible. I think I stunted my bettas a short while, but they started growing again, but a bit more slowly. They are OK. But you should do your best not to stunt fish.

May I ask how you "stunted" him?

 

[dwarfgourami]

From what I have read, it does seem as if stunting (as in slow growth) is more likely to happen in some species than in others. Goldfish are said to be particularly prone to it, which makes sense- think of those specimens in goldfish bows, they don't burst at the seams.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

you say it was a noob mistake but still left it to be stunted in a small tank for 3.5 years?

Stunting..is a myth...there are many topics on this. The fish is healthy and doing well, but, will definitely need a new home soon...not only for IT but for the safety of my fish. Some of them are starting to look 'mouthsize'. As I said, this guy took in 3 full size spirulina tabs the other day. He's probably closer to 9 inches or even 10.

I agree that the fish shouldn't be sold in local lfs'. Also, there are prone to Ich in the beginning. They spook easily and can injure themselves in the tank. SH

Stunted growth is not a myth (at leastyour sharks size is not anywhere near as large as it should be thats for sure) but there are a few myths as to how it comes about, and it can come about in many ways. Even though your tank is not large enough for the shark, it should have grown larger than it currently is even in a tank of that size. Are you sure you are feeding this fish the correct sort of diet and in the right amounts too? You're not just feeding it algae wafers are you? If you aren't feeding it the proper diet then that would explain why it hasn't grown much.

 

[jourdy288]

I believe stunting is possible and should be avoided as much as possible. I think I stunted my bettas a short while, but they started growing again, but a bit more slowly. They are OK. But you should do your best not to stunt fish.

May I ask how you "stunted" him?

Them, you mean. With their diet, I didn't add the right foods at the right time. So, if you were to see them, they grow, but are still rather small, and growing take longer.

 

[Tommy Gun]

Stunted growth is not a myth (at leastyour sharks size is not anywhere near as large as it should be thats for sure) but there are a few myths as to how it comes about, and it can come about in many ways

The thing to keep in mind here is that the argument is not really if a fish will stop growing or not - so yes, in that way, stunting is not a myth - HOWEVER, the contention that is being made when people say that stunting is a myth is to say that it is not possible do both, stunt a fish so that it can remain in a small tank AND keep the fish in the same tank for its entire potential lifespan. For example....

think of those specimens in goldfish bows, they don't burst at the seams.

...tons of people are keeping a goldfish alive in a bowl and they stay small but the fish(es) only live for a couple of years; not the 20+ years they could otherwise last. Additionally....

I think I stunted my bettas a short while

This 'stunting' is almost always related to fish which become very large adults and I honestly think that you would have to keep a Betta fish in an extremely small tank before it could be stunted. In fact, it is my understanding that Bettas live in very small bodies of water in the wild, so they may not need the room in the first place. Make sense?

 

[8inary]

I have had those as a newbie, a pengi as we called them, before realising that we should not have them. They do grow very large and eat a lot also lol.

The worse purchase I have made as a newbie (3ish years ago) was buying 2 pacus. The guy did not tell us much about them, but once they hit around 10" we had to rehouse them, unfortunately, every fish shop we contacted slated me for buying them in the first place. We did find one shop that took them, but would not advise anyone to get those.

 

[PRW1988]

Just so we are clear, ID sharks have a growth rate of that similar to the clown loach (about 1-1.5" a year). Very sold growth on them. I remember when I made that mistake lol, luckily 2 years later (and a new 55gallon tank just to keep the blasted ID shark from breaking my tank) I found a HUGE reptile store (Reptilia incase anyone was wondering) and they were setting up a "zoo" of reptiles. One exhibit was with Crocs, turtles, Pacus, ID sharks and some kind of BIG lizards (the lizars were atleast 2.5 feet). I offered them my now 8" ID shark and they said sure The were happy they didn't need to spend money on it, I was glad it'd go to a home with adiquate space and I was just glad to be rid of that tank buster lol.