Reply With QuoteThe volume of water more than dilute nitrates...Hormones are also involved... Among other things...
Ever noticed how fish seem to grow better in large spacees?
I've been wondering about this, we know that high nitrates mean small fish(stunted growth) and that nitrates build up faster in smaller tanks. But if a fish were placed in a small, low nitrate tank, would it remain small? or grow to large size?
The juggling apprentice fish
The volume of water more than dilute nitrates...Hormones are also involved... Among other things...
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Artificial Intelligence
Have you ever wondered why the fish you keep can't get to the size stated in most books. I can't give you any scientic explanation but I can assure you their size is relative to the environment they are in.
Something about the water & the fishes that calms me down.
The juggling apprentice fish
Oh, I think sunlight also has something to do with it... And bigger tanks tend to have more light...
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I'm crypt collecting... Starting cheap, now have Cryptocoryne beckettii, C.beckettii var petchii, C.crispatula var.balansae, C.griffithii(Melted!
Oh, juggling is hard work, man!...
Not scientific, but I think larger tank, coupled with strong current tends to produce larger fishes, just my feel. I thought probably this is due to the extra exercise they can get by swimming against the current? Not sure.
Sunlight? That's a interesting one...
- eric
Sunlight = Vitamin D = ? healthy skin? or was that Vitamin E?
Hormones = That's new, how would those affect fish growth? does a single overdose have permanent effects? Or can you "save" a small fish that's stopped growing by putting it into a larger tank?
Now, are you talking about the fish's own hormones or those of the dominant male in the tank? cos i notice my bettas stop growing once they reach a certain size. Except for one male that's absolutely huge.
Nitrates = Wouldn't these be kept really low in a planted tank(properly balanced and maintained)
Artificial Intelligence
I think I'm out of my league here, you need to ask Ranma..
Something about the water & the fishes that calms me down.
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
Its all crap. Fish grows as large as they wanna be.
creatures big and small are genetically "programmed" to grow to their respective sizes. However, the environment they grow in do affect their size a little. But for drastic changes in size, this will take many thousands of years for them to evolve and adapt. Scientist have excavated little human beings called hobbits (not the movie) with stunted growth, believed to be due to the scarcity of food 13,000 years ago.....another Charles Darwin theory.....
XnSdVd, I agree with you. I've seen it for myself in guppies. This can be easily proven - All things being equal, fish out half the newly-born fries from your main large tank into a small fry tank. Wait for a week or 2 and compare their size. The fries don't grow very much in confined spaces
big tanks for big fishes...
smal tanks for small fishes...
i think the bigger space..the bigger the fish grow...
just like catfish...you see those wild caught catfish...alll HUGEEEE..unlike those we keep at home...
edit: please do not use sms short forms... thanks!
Last edited by Justikanz; 17th Jun 2006 at 11:56.
The juggling apprentice fish
Well, I still think the alpha (male, female, couple) hormones play a part... Discus are an example... If kept as a schoal, usually only the alpha male will be large while its tankmates smaller and the other males even smaller... But with constant and large water changes, the size difference can be prevented... Hormone dilution in action?
But I have to agree with Ranma in that no matter what size the tank, a fish that can attain 12" in size WILL grow to 12" in size... No matter if it is being kept in a 8" cube, a 12" cube, a 18" tank, a 24" tank or a 48" tank...
As such, I certainly hope that no one will think that a fish will grow to suit its tank space... It will NEVER happen... At most it will DIE before it grows to that size...
But why is it that fish tends to grow larger with bigger tanks, I still think is related to the higher volume of water available...
Read me! :bigsmile: http://justikanz.blogspot.com/
I'm crypt collecting... Starting cheap, now have Cryptocoryne beckettii, C.beckettii var petchii, C.crispatula var.balansae, C.griffithii(Melted!
Oh, juggling is hard work, man!...
Still wondering why my barb fry "exploded" when i transfered them from the fry tank to the 6ft... I guess it's a growth RATE kinda thing.
And with water changes, is it better to do as few as possible because less changes mean less stress? or more changes to remove hormones? do we even have proof that hormones remain in the water long enough to affect the fish? I always assumed they'ed break down after a few hours.
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
speaking from a fish tank's point of view.. i dont think hormones are being "let out" by the fish into the water.. and changing of water affects that.. that theory in my opinion is flawed. If you're talking about hormone dilution then what about wild fish swiming in large groups and in bodies of water so large no fish tank can encompass?? you mean in the wild the Alpha males dont look different?? ITs got nothing to do with hormone dilution...it has to do more with a constant change in environment that somehow affects the fish INTERNALLY...nothing to do with a DIRECT external effect.
that said.. Fish still grow to whatever size they will...
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