Do fish really stop growing if kept in a small tank?

[minka-1974]

"QUOTE=coach_z;2131715]think about it this way:
how big would you want to grow if you had to spend your entire life in a 5x5x5 cube?"

True. I'm not saying I think its OK if it stunts the fish. After all you wouldn't buy a big dog and then keep it in a flat!!

I am just curious what others think so thought I would ask the question. I guess I do have a bit of an ulterior motive as I currently have a clown loach which when I bought I was told (1) would only get 6" long and (2) would be happy by himself but have since found out that isn't the case. My tank is maybe big enough for him but not if I get him friends so not sure what to do for the best.

Would he be better off going back to the shop! Probably not as they would say the same to someone else:screwy: As has been said in other threads, best to find out what you are buying first!! I usually do but this was an impulse buy ... not something I will do again in a hurry you will be pleased to hear

 

[Carla G]

Someone I know bought a 5 gallon tank and 3 cute little comet goldfish a few years ago, not knowing any better. The one fish that is still alive is about 3 inches long and almost as wide, with bulging insides. It looks about ready to burst, and it can barely swim.

Fish stores have their favorite lines to overcome customer objections. "Fish will only grow to the size of your tank" and "He'll be fine on his own" and "Bettas like small spaces, you can't keep them with other fish" are three of the most common and lead to much misery for the poor little fish they are selling.

As for your Clown loach, they commonly get to a foot long and can get up to 18 inches. They should be kept in groups of at least 6 in a 180 gallon tank minimum.

 

[Jakezori]

As far as I know, some fish do dwarf because of the tank size, but more often they just have shorter and less happy lives.

 

[LeahK]

I guess I do have a bit of an ulterior motive as I currently have a clown loach which when I bought I was told (1) would only get 6" long and (2) would be happy by himself but have since found out that isn't the case. My tank is maybe big enough for him but not if I get him friends so not sure what to do for the best.
Would he be better off going back to the shop! Probably not as they would say the same to someone else:screwy:

I was in a similar situation once. I had three clown loaches in a 20 gallon tank, based on advice from a lfs employee. After realizing that I wouldn't be able to care for them long term, I thought about taking them back to the store, but, like you, I figured that they'd just get sold to someone else with an unsuitable tank.
Just speaking for myself, I felt like it was my responsibility to rehome them. After all, it was my fault for buying them without researching them, so I considered myself responsible for caring for them--even when "caring for them" meant finding them a new owner.
I took me a while--I posted announcements here and on other fish forums, and I joined a local aquarium society, looking for someone with an adequately sized tank. Finally I found the right person, and I gave the clowns to him for free. Because, in my mind, I wasn't looking to make a profit, only to make good on the commitment I'd taken on when buying the fish in the first place.

Anyway, I hope you're able to work this out. Just keep in mind, since you said that your tank might be big enough for just the one, it's not only the clown's size that makes a big tank necessary--they do grow large, but they are also very powerful swimmers. So it's not just the 180 gallons that matter, as a minimum, but the 6 feet in length that the tank provides.

 

[dundadundun]

interesting read lupin.

sounds like fish go through something similar to what humans can.

messed up in the head, dwarfed, bulging inerts, stressed, basically products of their environment.

it's like being the smallest, youngest kid in a poor, malnourished, overgrown family and tiny house only to go to school and get picked on, beaten and shoved in a locker. only with the fish it doesn't stop and has more serious physical ramifications.

 

[ianab]

Well fish do stop growing if the tank is too small.

But you have to stop and think, WHY does the fish stop growing?

It doesn't break out the ruler and decide that it's grown big enough and magicaly not get any bigger.

Something about the conditions in the small tank are stopping it from growing. Now is that lack of oxygen, poor water quality, hormones in the water, lack of food? It's something thats not good for the fish anyway.

Now if an Oscar is kept in a 55gal tank, and only grows to 11" instead of the 15" that it possibly could, thats not so bad. It's not seriously stunted and should still live a normal healthy life. Try keeping that Oscar in a 20gal, it gets to 6" and you start having problems with water quality, it stops growing, gets sick, and eventually dies prematurely.

Now if you hooked up the 20gal to a 50gal sump filter and automatic water changer, the Oscar wouldn't get stunted, just mentally stressed by the lack of space.

So you do need to pick fish that are suitable for the tank you have.

Only got a 20gal? Then it's better to have a healthy 5" Convict than a sick stunted 6" Oscar. Get Kuhli Loaces instead of Clowns. Bristlenose Pleco instead of a Sailfin etc. That way you can keep healthy fish for their normal life span (with good care and a bit of luck of course)

Ian

 

[theredchaser]

I think the poll options are misleading since I'm a firm believer in that the exterior size will become stunted but the internal organs will continue to grow. I also believe that it is hormone related, though it probably has to do with other water parameters as well.

I've read that dominant discus secrete an inhibitory growth hormone so that the competition will not grow as large. This is to gain an advantage in the pecking order of the group. I'm sure some fish are more tolerant than others, but its very obvious in discus fish due to the irregular shape of stunted fish.

I think its best to do whats fair to the fish you own. I've seen numerous promises of upgrading the tank size when they get larger, or doing more water changes to compensate, but they rarely actually follow through. The easiest thing to do is to simply get fish that your tank can handle, not the other way around.

 

[ianab]

I think its best to do whats fair to the fish you own. I've seen numerous promises of upgrading the tank size when they get larger, or doing more water changes to compensate, but they rarely actually follow through. The easiest thing to do is to simply get fish that your tank can handle, not the other way around.

Thats certainly true.

Now keeping a baby fish in a small tank, to grow it bigger so you can move it to a bigger tank or pond is OK. IF you have the bigger tank (or pond) ready to go.

Dreaming that you will have a 90gal tank next year is sometimes just wishfull thinking. Maybe you will get a new tank, maybe you wont....

Heck I have 2 x 80gals in the shed, but haven't finished the stand after 12 months.. maybe by this Xmas. Good thing I didn't buy that Oscar 12 months ago. I got a Severum instead, if can live in the 50gal if I dont finish the stands till 201?. I need to though, because a 6ft, 2 level tank stand takes up most of my workshop.

Ian

 

[KarlTh]

I'm not convinced by the "internal organs continue to grow" stuff; the various body parts all respond to the same growth hormones AFAIK. Are there any papers supporting this, or is it just something that keeps getting repeated? Fish do indeed stunt, and it's not good for them, but I don't know that this internal organ stuff is the reason.

 

[ianab]

I'm not convinced by the "internal organs continue to grow" stuff; the various body parts all respond to the same growth hormones AFAIK. Are there any papers supporting this, or is it just something that keeps getting repeated? Fish do indeed stunt, and it's not good for them, but I don't know that this internal organ stuff is the reason.

I'm not sure about that either.

I would stick with poor water conditons affecting their health. Maybe it makes them more prone to swim bladder type problems and that has given rise to the 'internal organs' thing?

Ian