Oversize fish in undersize aquaria - opinions?

[Matt]

Hi,

I'm interested in people's opinons regarding keeping fish that grow very large (angels, tangs, triggers, boxfish) in small (<60g) aquaria, with the intention of passing them along to others or back to the LFS when they outgrow your reef.

Many of the most spectacular marine fish are out of reach of the hobbiest without the space or money for the larger tanks.

If you have kept such animals, which ones seemed best suited?

Regards,
Matthew

[OCDP]

Heh, this will be a touchy subject for some people.. IMO, yes... if you without a doubt get rid of the fish before it outgrows your aquarium then I personally see no harm ... if the fish IS small.. and has lots of swimming space.. then it's ALMOST the same as putting an adult in a massive tank with lots of swimming space... haha that was put very bluntly but you get the idea.

[Invigor]

The fish's life of luxery is over long before you buy it from the LFS anyways, so being a "humane" fishkeeper is an oxymoron if you ask me. Go on and argue with that point, but you cannot tell me you're doing any fish a favor by taking it out of the ocean and sticking it any size of glass box.

It doesn't matter if you have 1 regal tang in a 1000gallon tank, it's a far cry from the acre or two it's used to in the wild.

[andresont]

Originally Posted by Invigor

The fish's life of luxery is over long before you buy it from the LFS anyways, so being a "humane" fishkeeper is an oxymoron if you ask me. Go on and argue with that point, but you cannot tell me you're doing any fish a favor by taking it out of the ocean and sticking it any size of glass box.

It doesn't matter if you have 1 regal tang in a 1000gallon tank, it's a far cry from the acre or two it's used to in the wild.

Totaly oximoron, i agree.

[Xtasia]

OH the humanity. How do we sleep at night.

[StirCrazy]

Matt, instead of relying on some one to take it when it gets big (which can be hard to do at times) why don't you concider some of the spetacular smaller fish like dwarf/pigmy angels and such.


I voted no because most people say they will buy a bigger tank when it needs it. You know what.. Most of the people who say this don't because they never intended to or found they can't afford to.

As for the argument presented above, think about it. Because we take it out of the ocean we can justify putting it a tiny tank because even a 1000gal tank is smaller than what it is used to??? Give your head a shake that is one of the most BS ideologies I have ever heard.

Yes we cannot give it what it is used to but we can give it at least enuf room to swim freely and such. There are ways to help in this, like having a very high current in a part of the tank so the fish actually has to work to swim into it and such but to simply try convince your self that because a 1000gal tank isn't as much room as it had in the wild so what difference would keeping it in a 20 gal tank make is totally irresponsible.

I personally don't buy fish according to their baby size; I look at fish that when they are full grown I will be able to give a reasonable home to. I am not a tang police and I think a lot of what the tang police say is bunk but yes there are limits to what I consider proper and sorry to say a 20 gal isn't proper for any tang.

Its amazing how these polls pop up once and a while from people trying to justify not buying a proper set up for the fish they want to keep.


Steve

[OCDP]

Steve, no one said anything about keeping a tang in a 20g...

[Beermaster]

WHat, i have a Tang in a 10gal, seem to like it just fine
















lol okay just jokin lol

[Jason McK]

Originally Posted by Sushilicious

OH the humanity. How do we sleep at night.

LOL

[Petcrazy]

Oh man I know by just posting on this I'm just asking for hate mail LOL
Anyways, it's a yes and no answer.

Because it's all situational,
A) Do you have the funds and the actual intention on giving it a bigger home later on (then why not do it now?)
B) Do you actually have the CONTACTS, FRIENDS, and MEANS to find it a proper home later on...do you know interested parties (or at least a reputable fish store)?
C) How small are we talking here (both the tank and fish?)
EG
(A tang in a ten is unacceptable, meanwhile a baby in a 50-60 is fine for awhile).
Are the water conditions optimal and is the tank being properly maintained?
Does the fish seem stressed?
Is he behaving "naturally" (as possible in our setups)?

There are a lot of situational factors...but for those people who continuously buy these fish, throw them in small tanks and have them dying on them. only for them to just go out and replace it with something else that gets the same size or larger...Heck no. They should be smacked with a wiffle bat while the attacker says "No fish for you!" over and over again....at least until they get the point and are scared out of buying fish for the rest of their lives....-ahem- aaaanyways.

For the majority of us on canreef we are *hopefully* 'responsible' fish keepers. We take pride and care in what we keep; we don't wish to see harm, stress or illness ever come upon our fish. We also HAVE the means, the contacts, and plenty of interested parties who will take our fish off of our hands. We know plenty of people with BIG tanks for our prize fish to go into, or whom we could buy large tanks off of.

I could go on about this, but to me it all depends on the circumstances.

I don't see a problem with a friend of mines regal, he's small, in a good size tank and I know he's being pampers...but it's not RIDICULOUSLY small. But on the other hand, I know people with MULTIPLE tangs in tanks you could almost consider nanos and the tangs die all the time...(as well as other species of fish...)...they just buy and replace them then brag about their new fish. Those people...I want to smack with my wiffle bat...(oh hold on, I only have a wooden one...I guess it'll juuust have to work.)

You can call me eccentric or whatever you like, it doesn't matter. But having worked with fish for many years and lived with them nearly all of my life...I don't see any excuse for anyone to have a fish that wants tons of swimming room, gets excessively large in a ridiculously small tank. (I'm thinking extreme cases here) Particularly when they are fully aware of the needs of the fish.

With the numerous amounts of beautiful species out there, it isn't as if you can find something equally as appealing and beautiful that would be more appropriate for your setup.

And I speak from experience here. I HAVE a small tank and I've very easily worked within the limitations of my tank. How hard is it to look through fish profiles and find ones that can do well in our size tanks? At least be comfortable for a few years…seriously now folks.

If you are going to rip something out of the wild and keep it, at least take good care of it….that’s all I’ve got to say.

(Oh yeah, and it can depend on species..those who like to "just keep swimming"...grrr...the ones who are a stationary type and really couldn't give a rats behind other than water conditions...I don't mind as much)