Hi all,
I have a pretty odd question/“problem” regarding my fish only tank. I purchase most of my fish near the 3 inch size range. But then some of them hit huge growth spurts while others don’t. I prefer them to stay a manageable size and not outgrow the others too much. I spend time waiting/looking for certain fish then purchase them, quarantine, teaching to eat, they grow big, then fish stores basically say they’ll only accept them for free or not at all because they don’t want to deal with feeding and cleaning up after large fish and there’s not a demand for large fish.
I give the fish away because I believe they deserve a larger space and rarely because they start fights with tankmates due to their dominant size. Also not too many people I know around me besides public aquariums that want 7 inch tangs, triggers, and groupers because most people don’t have large enough aquariums to correctly support these fish and give them enough space to swim. So I’m down a fish that I like and that has developed a personality in the tank and down money.
6 months ago I purchased a beautiful Mata tang, leaflip soapfish/grouper, miniatus grouper, picasso trigger, and a niger trigger. All about 3-3.5 inches. They were and are all friends. The Mata tang is now huge. Probably over 7 inches, thick, and healthy. The soapfish eats a lot but has only become fatter and maybe is now 3.5inches. The miniatus grouper looks like a serpent at 6.5inches but doesn’t eat as much as the soapfish. The picasso has just become chubby. And the niger is easily 7 inches (scary teeth ^~^).
So now what? Give away these beautiful large fish and start the process over of looking, buying, quarantining, teaching how to eat, enjoy the fish for 6-8 months then say bye? (Most of my fish don’t hit these insane growth spurts! I’ve had many of them for several years. My undulated trigger has been 3 inches for close to 4 years. He’s a healthy dense tank. Wouldn’t mind if he gained an inch haha. Same story for Nasos, powder blue, convict tangs etc.)
Am I picking the wrong fish? This has happened with so many different fish. I’ve had a french angelfish that stayed the same 4 inches for years and another french angel that doubled in size in 6 months and ran the tank. But my current and only imperator angel I’ve ever had hasn’t grown at all since I got him 3 years ago. I thought he would grow a bit and develop straight lines.
What do you guys do with your large fish? I live on the west coast of the united states so the hobby isn’t as popular here as the east coast and the tanks people have are typically smaller.
I have a pretty odd question/“problem” regarding my fish only tank. I purchase most of my fish near the 3 inch size range. But then some of them hit huge growth spurts while others don’t. I prefer them to stay a manageable size and not outgrow the others too much. I spend time waiting/looking for certain fish then purchase them, quarantine, teaching to eat, they grow big, then fish stores basically say they’ll only accept them for free or not at all because they don’t want to deal with feeding and cleaning up after large fish and there’s not a demand for large fish.
I give the fish away because I believe they deserve a larger space and rarely because they start fights with tankmates due to their dominant size. Also not too many people I know around me besides public aquariums that want 7 inch tangs, triggers, and groupers because most people don’t have large enough aquariums to correctly support these fish and give them enough space to swim. So I’m down a fish that I like and that has developed a personality in the tank and down money.
6 months ago I purchased a beautiful Mata tang, leaflip soapfish/grouper, miniatus grouper, picasso trigger, and a niger trigger. All about 3-3.5 inches. They were and are all friends. The Mata tang is now huge. Probably over 7 inches, thick, and healthy. The soapfish eats a lot but has only become fatter and maybe is now 3.5inches. The miniatus grouper looks like a serpent at 6.5inches but doesn’t eat as much as the soapfish. The picasso has just become chubby. And the niger is easily 7 inches (scary teeth ^~^).
So now what? Give away these beautiful large fish and start the process over of looking, buying, quarantining, teaching how to eat, enjoy the fish for 6-8 months then say bye? (Most of my fish don’t hit these insane growth spurts! I’ve had many of them for several years. My undulated trigger has been 3 inches for close to 4 years. He’s a healthy dense tank. Wouldn’t mind if he gained an inch haha. Same story for Nasos, powder blue, convict tangs etc.)
Am I picking the wrong fish? This has happened with so many different fish. I’ve had a french angelfish that stayed the same 4 inches for years and another french angel that doubled in size in 6 months and ran the tank. But my current and only imperator angel I’ve ever had hasn’t grown at all since I got him 3 years ago. I thought he would grow a bit and develop straight lines.
What do you guys do with your large fish? I live on the west coast of the united states so the hobby isn’t as popular here as the east coast and the tanks people have are typically smaller.
