Would This Be Cruel?

[bex1]

your opinions please!

 

[JJ1234567]

I know that most people will say that it isnt cruel...but Im going to give you some advice. Go down to the local jail and ask to sit in the booking cell, or the drunk tank for a few hours. You will never ever look at a ten gallon tank the same. I suppose you could also look at it as sitting in your room all day. Yea your room is cool, and there is some stuff to do, but do you really want to be there ALL your life? In this instance its also cruel from this stand point: ten gallon tanks are cheap. you can get one for 8 dollars at walmart. full set ups for 30. jump big, and give your new little friend an interesting complex place to live and explore.

 

[Phoenixfish]

just a little point, its usually better then the lfs

 

[spAcE mOnkEy]

I know that most people will say that it isnt cruel...but Im going to give you some advice. Go down to the local jail and ask to sit in the booking cell, or the drunk tank for a few hours. You will never ever look at a ten gallon tank the same. I suppose you could also look at it as sitting in your room all day. Yea your room is cool, and there is some stuff to do, but do you really want to be there ALL your life? In this instance its also cruel from this stand point: ten gallon tanks are cheap. you can get one for 8 dollars at walmart. full set ups for 30. jump big, and give your new little friend an interesting complex place to live and explore.

Dont compare the way humans think to the way fish think. Fish dont think the same way as people, they dont really even think too much. Fish mostly react upon instincts. Dwarf puffers do not get big, one could happily live in a 5 gal. Also, to scale, dwarf puffers would have a lot more room in a 5 gal then a person would in a cell. Keep in mind fish swim all over where theres water, they arent limited to the ground of the aquarium. In my opinion, a dwarf puffer would live just fine in a 5 gal. Even so, the bigger the tank is, the better it is for your fish.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

I know that most people will say that it isnt cruel...but Im going to give you some advice. Go down to the local jail and ask to sit in the booking cell, or the drunk tank for a few hours. You will never ever look at a ten gallon tank the same. I suppose you could also look at it as sitting in your room all day. Yea your room is cool, and there is some stuff to do, but do you really want to be there ALL your life? In this instance its also cruel from this stand point: ten gallon tanks are cheap. you can get one for 8 dollars at walmart. full set ups for 30. jump big, and give your new little friend an interesting complex place to live and explore.

given that an 11"x11"x10" tank is 5.24 USg and the average adult dwarf puffer is less than 1" in length...

and given that a drunk tank is probably 10'x10'x8' and the average adult male is less than 6' in height...

would you care to make any more specious analogies?

 

[JJ1234567]

I stand by what I said. There is no good reason not to get it the biggest tank possible, esp when tank cost isnt even significantly higher. Just because you can put a fish in a small tank doesnt mean you should, or that its right. And I am a firm believer that fish, esp puffers, are alot more intelligent than people give them credit for.

 

[bunjiweb]

Was a bit of a silly analogy...

I kept 3 dwarf puffers happily in a 6 gallon tank. Unfortunately 2 of them wouldnt eat anything but snails so they starved. The other lived happily on cockle and mussel.

I would say you'd be absolutely fine to keep one in a 5G tank, possibly even 2, just keep on top of water changes and provide them with the right food and you will be fine.

Ben

 

[Phoenixfish]

i think your being alittle stuborn now...

 

[bunjiweb]

Oh and JJ, technically keeping a common plec in a 45Gallon could be concieved as "cruel". The common plec grows to 18", is your tank really big enough for an 18" catfish?

Ben

 

[Fella]

Comparing seperate species of creature to each other for an ethical viewpoint is a bit pointless IMO. You don't throw a ball for a fish, cats can't use computers. The diversity is too great to make decent comparisons.


A single DP in a 5 gallon tank is absolutely fine. They're dirty little creatures so be sure to keep the water clean, and feed sparingly.

 

[BOD]

a dp is smaller than a betta and people happily keep them in 1-2G for there whole lives! so yea...

 

[kubora666]

i have a 5 gallon ( uk ) fry tank, and ive seen the size of dwarf puffers they are like 1 cm ! my fry are soon reaching that and there is 150 of them, 1 uffer in my opinion would be fine as long as you keep on top of water quality

 

[Rocker]

What is it with people and minimum tank sizes? Why not give a fish the biggest tank you can accomodate?
People get into the mentality of thinking "oh I have a 5g - gotta put a DP or a betta in there" "oh I have a 10g - couldn't possible have just one DP in there better make it 2 or 3." Come on, if you only going to keep these fish then give them some room. Yes there are recommended min sizes, but why do you have to work to a min. size? Puffers, by their nature are nosey fish that explore their surroundings. They are also very messy fish so their water has to be kept in check. The bigger the tank the easier it is to do.

 

[Fella]

What is it with people and minimum tank sizes? Why not give a fish the biggest tank you can accomodate?
People get into the mentality of thinking "oh I have a 5g - gotta put a DP or a betta in there" "oh I have a 10g - couldn't possible have just one DP in there better make it 2 or 3." Come on, if you only going to keep these fish then give them some room. Yes there are recommended min sizes, but why do you have to work to a min. size? Puffers, by their nature are nosey fish that explore their surroundings. They are also very messy fish so their water has to be kept in check. The bigger the tank the easier it is to do.

This of course doesn't apply to just puffers either, it includes all fish. I can't think of any fish that benefit from being kept in the smallest aquaria possible.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

What is it with people and minimum tank sizes? Why not give a fish the biggest tank you can accomodate?
People get into the mentality of thinking "oh I have a 5g - gotta put a DP or a betta in there" "oh I have a 10g - couldn't possible have just one DP in there better make it 2 or 3." Come on, if you only going to keep these fish then give them some room. Yes there are recommended min sizes, but why do you have to work to a min. size? Puffers, by their nature are nosey fish that explore their surroundings. They are also very messy fish so their water has to be kept in check. The bigger the tank the easier it is to do.

This of course doesn't apply to just puffers either, it includes all fish. I can't think of any fish that benefit from being kept in the smallest aquaria possible.

I agree .
Keeping a puffer in a 5gal isn't cruel, but then again i wouldn't say its very desirable either. If you really, really want a fish i believe you should give it the most space posible to the best of your abilitys and not just the minimum amount of gallons required for keeping it- fish are more likely to display natural/normal behavior in a large aquarium and are less likely to get ill/sick from over-crowding or stress.
My 125gal is pretty stocked with livebearers right now, although its not fully stocked, when i get the other 2 new tanks i'm going to split the stocking into the 3 tanks and keep it at that- less maintanence and worry over desease outbreaks and things, plus i'm sure the fish'll be very happy with even more space.