When you guys give "max sizes" of fish...

[dbcb314]

What are you basing it off of?

Personal experience?

What you have seen?

What was read in a book and/or internet?

The size they get in the wild?

[Mgamer20o0]

for me its a little of all. many fish wont reach their true size as their wild counter parts. i try to use personal experience as much as i can. next what i have seen or others i know have had. last is off the internet. on the internet i am really selective of which sites i quote because there is many sites with wrong info.

[rbishop]

Same here, a combination of all. And you will always have the variables on some folks taking better care of their fish than others, that will affect it. ANd toss in the genetic code for each fish that will also come into play.

[Weezer]

Fry - Small - Medium - Large - Sandwich Size.........:grinyes:

[Coler]

pictures I've seen, fish I've see, fish I have, what I've read...but I would always try to clarify whether it's a fish I've seen, or what I've read, and where I read it

[DiXoN]

experience and lots of it, personal and other peoples (people i trust) from the web and in person.

[dbcb314]

I was just curious, because I see a lot of max sizes being thrown out and some of them seem odd... like people don't really realize how big an inch and a foot actually are....

[rbishop]

And the myths of they only grow as large as the tank they are in doesn't help.

[Coler]

seems to me that (some) people underestimate how big an inch and a foot are when they're looking at an Oscar/Bala Shark/Common Pleco and overestimate how big an inch and a foot are when they look at a 20G tank :)

[Mgamer20o0]

a lot of underestimating how much swimming space is needed.

[dbcb314]

I think a lot of people overestimate the size of some fish honestly.

[fishorama]

There are 2 ways to measure fish as well. Total length (TL) is tip of nose to end of tail fin. Standard length (SL) is nose to base of tail, the fleshy caudal peduncle. It can make a big difference.

I use SL most often but it can depend on if I'm bragging or trying to justify adding more fish. LOL

[RoseFishWatcher]

Yah... estimating is really hard to do accurately. This is why I bought a plastic ruler that I stick against (or in) my tank to measure my fish. That way, when I am trying to communicate info about my fish I can just go measure it to see how big it really is. For example, I have two bichirs and they seem pretty big to me as I've had them since they were really small, but they are only 5 inches (tail included, even)! They will probably double in size or more.

Obviously, this doesn't shed much light on maximum fish sizes. In fact, in official descriptions of fish, the size listed is not a "max size" but simply the size of the specimens examined. My preference is to find a site that is generally trustworthy (I almost always refer to planetcatfish.com for catfish) and base my information off that. Even with reasonably trustworthy references, they can have errors or just be mistaken, so it's really important to take every bit of info with a grain of salt.

In cases where the "max" size of a fish is listed as a wide range of measurements, I ask myself "Since the biggest size listed for this fish is 15 inches, assuming it really can get that big, can I keep it happy in the tank I want it for?" If the answer is no, I think really carefully on if it is a good idea to get the fish or what I would do if it outgrew my ability to care for it. Doing something like this will help prevent the heartache of buying a beautify red-tailed-catfish, only to discover that yes, they really will grow to several feet long in the blink of an eye.

[star_rider]

actually I believe that many under estimate the potential for each fish.

hence, we see a lot of over stocked tanks..

I base the size on potential..kind of a mix of max and actual size.

have you ever actually seen a full sized Discus or angel??
they are much larger than many estimate..dinner plate size might be an extreme...until you actually see a Discus that is in the 9-10" range. then you see the potential.

[wataugachicken]

it's hard to say. some fish might get larger in the wild that they usually do in tanks - clown loaches, common plecs, arowana, pacus, etc. . . simply because so many people are able to either get rid of the fish or kill them somehow before the full size is reached. on the other hand, some fish might get bigger in the tanks than they would in the wild on average due to lack of predators, better diet, or other factors. some fish don't have a "wild size" counterpart, such as fancy goldfish.

[richos]

Fry - Small - Medium - Large - Sandwich Size.........:grinyes:

I believe the term is 'Plate Size' as in the fillet will fit nicely across a plate with some vegies/garnish along side.

:eek:

also with some of the 'enhanced' feeds and hormone/steroid based products some people use, the fish may grow much larger than they would in the wild.

[zachmorrow]

The max sizes at petsmart/petco/ect. are a joke, they say an opaline gourami gets max 5 in, well I currently have a 7 1/2 opaline. The max size is a decent standard, but if they reach that or go over it depends on how much you feed them while they're still growing, i've found this true with my fry of mollies

[feemia]

The max sizes at petsmart/petco/ect. are a joke, they say an opaline gourami gets max 5 in, well I currently have a 7 1/2 opaline.

They also say that the max size of a Bolivian Ram is 1 1/2 inches.

[fgump]

The max sizes at petsmart/petco/ect. are a joke, they say an opaline gourami gets max 5 in, well I currently have a 7 1/2 opaline. The max size is a decent standard, but if they reach that or go over it depends on how much you feed them while they're still growing, i've found this true with my fry of mollies


I bought my bumblebee's at PetsMart. I was new to all this aquarium business, and didn't know to research on the net before I bought any fish. PetsMart said the max size of the bumblebee's were 4 ½ inches and needed a 20+ gallon setup. I was thinking the 30 gallon tank I had recently purchased was plenty big for a couple 4 ½ inch fish. And it was definitely bigger than the needed 20+ gallons PetsMart listed. So that's what I bought.

So yeah, don't pay attention to the sizes posted at the big pet store chains. I learned the hard way. And will either have to get different fish, or a bigger aquarium soon.

[jm1212]

petsmart also says that kissing gouramis get to 6 inches. i know of one that is at least 14.