Myth or Fact??

[slipgate]

A fish will grow larger in a bigger tank that it will in a smaller tank. Assume the exact same amount of food and water conditions.

 

[KevG]

If it has more room to grow it will grow larger.
But only to it's max size.
In a smaller tank if the fish is cramped it may stunt it's growth.
IMO

 

[rocker92]

either way, never keep a fish in a tank too small for it, the fishes growth may not always stunt, and if the fish does quit growing, its organs still keep getting bigger, pressing against the fishes skin, and causing large amounts of pain and in most cases, causing death.

 

[knifegill]

False. A fish will out grow its tank if the water is kept pristine. It's been done by plenty of people. The usual show is a 5g tank with a 55g or bigger sump and frequent water changes. Eventually the goldfish, oscar, other monster etc. though morphologically healthy, gets too big for the tank to the point of rubbing the walls head-to-tail.

Just imagine a fish in a lake. If you put a wire frame around the fish but leave it in the lake and the water still flows freely through the cage, the fish will still grow as if it were in the lake. The stress of the cage is another story, but a fish will easily outgrow its container if it is a large species and water quality is actually maintained.

 

[DoctaQ]

true and false
some fish will release hormones into water to slow its own growth as a defense to outgrowing itself like discus.
i dont think its true of all fish though, dont buy a fish hoping that it will only grow as big as its tank allows

 

[FishVixen]

I've seen to many stunted fish in my days. Myth or not I'm not taking a chance.

 

[Bioshock]

Mostly false its more too do with water parameters than size of tank.

 

[kelly82]

False. A fish will out grow its tank if the water is kept pristine. It's been done by plenty of people. The usual show is a 5g tank with a 55g or bigger sump and frequent water changes. Eventually the goldfish, oscar, other monster etc. though morphologically healthy, gets too big for the tank to the point of rubbing the walls head-to-tail.

Just imagine a fish in a lake. If you put a wire frame around the fish but leave it in the lake and the water still flows freely through the cage, the fish will still grow as if it were in the lake. The stress of the cage is another story, but a fish will easily outgrow its container if it is a large species and water quality is actually maintained.

i think this is well said, and i agree.

 

[Jayhawk]

False. A fish will out grow its tank if the water is kept pristine. It's been done by plenty of people. The usual show is a 5g tank with a 55g or bigger sump and frequent water changes. Eventually the goldfish, oscar, other monster etc. though morphologically healthy, gets too big for the tank to the point of rubbing the walls head-to-tail.

Just imagine a fish in a lake. If you put a wire frame around the fish but leave it in the lake and the water still flows freely through the cage, the fish will still grow as if it were in the lake. The stress of the cage is another story, but a fish will easily outgrow its container if it is a large species and water quality is actually maintained.

This is dead on.

Fish don't release hormones limiting growth...their waste in smaller tanks can stunt them, but it's not a hormone and it's not healthy. I'd love to see a study indicating there is an actual hormone released to limit size, but until there is research supporting it I'd classify that as a myth.

Eric

 

[jbowzer7]

True at least for goldfish. I have kept them in a 125 gal. and in 75gal. They both had clean water with weekly water changes. Neither were over crowded and the ones in the 125 ended up growing faster over the winter when they were not in the pond. Might have been just by accident, but that is what happened. There was three in the 75 and six in the 125. They were all young, around 2 1/2" and it was just for the winter months(temp. first year I had them).