Fully grown fish?

[Broham]

This is a funny topic, but rather needed. Every time i go to the fish shop or petstore I see fish for sale and they are 90 percent of the time not their adult size. an example would be the bala shark. they are always 3 inches or so. but they can reach 13 inches.

Silver dollar shown at 2 inches if that and can reach over 8 inches. These fish of course are convenient to be sold as youngsters but where are the grown fish?? Who has that 13 inch bala shark? Where is the 10 inch silver dollar.

Last week i was very lucky to find 1 adult bumblebee cichlid and it was 9.3 inches. I couldnt believe my eyes since mine is 3 inches. It was being sold for 38 dollars. I would love to see anybody post a generic small pic of a fish cichlid or other and show us the current size. This may be of good use to tons of cichlid keepers as well since they think their little oscar or small convict wont pass 3.4 inches. Attached is a small red devil tiny then large.

So ladies and gents, show us that big fish!

[wataugachicken]

very few people would be willing to spend the $$$ on large, fully grown fish. not only is the cost higher because the breeders would have to allocate much more time, space, energy, and food towards growing the fish out, the shipping and packaging costs for larger fish are exponential. i could fit probably a hundred or more little convicts into a small sixed box, but maybe only 10-12 full sized adults. the LFS's not only would have to pay higher shipping costs for a smaller amount of larger fish, but they would also need to have the retail space available to house the fish, and the extra costs associated with properly feeding large fish before they are sold. as a customer, i would rather purchase a young fish with an almost clean slate as far as treatment, and know not only how old it is, but that i can provide good conditions for it. when buying an older fish, you can't know exactly how old it is unless you buy from the person who had been owning the fish. i would really hate to buy a beautiful, fully grown fish at top dollar only to find out (or not) that maybe it's too old to breed, or has been kept in bad water or high nitrate conditions, etc. . .

[the fox]

I think is most fish die before they are full size

[mcox3]

I think is most fish die before they are full size

How is that?????

[altimaser]

Improper care

[Broham]

watauga i appreciate the post but i was merely saying "its hard to see these fish larger" not why cant i purchase them at lfs. As for this thread i would like to see whose fish really did make it to the larger size etc.

fox, you're right improper care is a factor. a good example is a goldfish. i hear tales of goldfish getting to be 12 inches etc. wow i have yet to see one reach that size in a large aquarium. mostly because they dont live to see that day and or the goldfish is purchased by immature owners who put it in a 1 gallon bowl and no filters/cycle etc.

bottom line: where are the pics? what is your take on these "elusive fully grown aquarium fish"

can anyone show us a 12 inch bala shark they own? a fully grown of most species would be cool to see thanks.

[Broham]

In the photo gallery thread, got2envy showed his tank. What a great example of maintenance and growth. from tiny to larger. enjoy

thanks to got2envy

[Lupin]

Nice tank and fishies.:clap: