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

[venarius]

Do fish stop growing if kept in a small tank?

Yes, they do.

Also, if you keep your son/daughter in children's cloths, they never grow up.

Little known fact.

 

[gt1009]

I don't think so, but I may be doing a full-fledged research project on it in a few years to figure it out once and for all

 

[Rbishop]

The hormones are a myth.

Nitrogenous wastes, however, do impact fish health immensely. A fish given very small quarters will be stunted in TL (Total Length) due to physical injury and outgrowing the capacity of the filtration system.

You can also note that fish do not follow determinate growth like mammals, but will gain less total length over the years and focus on body depth. (Like determinate growth animals like humans.). This pattern follows a repeating sigmoid curve in decreasing rate.

Factors that affect fish length are:

Nutrition (More ideal nutrition early on supports longer TL)
Pollution (Water qualities)
Competition
and Predation

Rbishop, you would find a fisheries course at your state's university quite helpful.

"Bond's Biology of Fishes" By Michael Barton 2007 is an excellent read and useful in this knowledge.

True....but it is always nice when folks can post some links to their statements....:

 

[KarlTh]

Good growth is dependent on good health and good nutrition; look how much taller young people are today than a generation ago, at least in the UK. I was tall at 5'11" twenty years ago; now all the 18 year olds are towering over me.

Naturally, as a fish gets bigger in cramped quarters either the filtration won't be able to cope with the food throughput, or the food throughput will be inadequate for the fish. Either way, its health and/or nutrition will be compromised. So we have an unhealthy and/or malnourished fish. Naturally it won't grow, and naturally (as well) its quality of life is impaired.

I'm still intrigued to see if anyone has a scrap of evidence for the "internal organs keep growing" thing.

 

[jpappy789]

The hormones are a myth.

Nitrogenous wastes, however, do impact fish health immensely. A fish given very small quarters will be stunted in TL (Total Length) due to physical injury and outgrowing the capacity of the filtration system.

You can also note that fish do not follow determinate growth like mammals, but will gain less total length over the years and focus on body depth. (Like determinate growth animals like humans.). This pattern follows a repeating sigmoid curve in decreasing rate.

Factors that affect fish length are:

Nutrition (More ideal nutrition early on supports longer TL)
Pollution (Water qualities)
Competition
and Predation

Rbishop, you would find a fisheries course at your state's university quite helpful.

"Bond's Biology of Fishes" By Michael Barton 2007 is an excellent read and useful in this knowledge.

Lupins links may beg to differ :huh: