minimum tank sizes

ok heres another newbie question. looking at fish, you will usually see a minimum tank size for each fish listed. so if it says 75 gal min. for a certain fish, for example, does that mean this fish would not survive in a 55 gal tank? does it just physically get too big, or does it just like to have that much room to swim around? it may be a dumb question but I've been wondering about it. I've seen some species I'd like to eventually get, but according to their min. tank size my tank would be a little bit small. thanks!

 

yes, fish might be fine for a while if you get them small, but eventually they will outgrow the tank. They might be uncomfortable and get stressed, be more aggressive or create too much waste for the tank.

 

I usually never go by min tank size. They are usually wrong, if it says 55 id day at least 75 ext...

 

its kind of like sticking you in a 5X5 foot room for the rest of your life if you put a larger fish in a smaller tank.

 

also oxygen considerations play into it.


any fish you buy, even if it's a juvenile, it's good practice to pretend it's full grown when you buy it...

 

Just to add to this, I think it depends on the species of fish. There are some that are perfectly fine with the minimum tank size IMO. Mostly the less active swimmers like watchman gobies, jawfish, blennies to some extent etc. I think where you don't need much more tank room for them if they don't need more swimming room as they grow older.

There are some heinous recommendations for min. tank size though for some types of fish, like listing a fish that grows to 2' as having a min. tank size being a 6' tank.

 

ok...at risk of making myself sound dumber....I'm looking at some fish and the yellow tang says the mature size is 8 inches with a min. tank size of 75 gal. while the copperband butterfly also has a mature size of 8 inches but its min. tank size is 50 gal. now the blue stripe butterfly says mature size 5 inches, and yet the min tank size is 75 gallons. what gives is copperband that much less active that it can live in a tank thats 30 gallons smaller? or is the blue stripe so active, at only 5 inches, it has to have 75 gallon? sorry for all the questions. just trying to understand it better.

 

You're one of the few newbies around here who actually is doing research before jumping headfirst into something that might get you into trouble down the road. Like overstocking. For that I applaud you and must say you DO NOT SOUND any dumber.

In fact this makes you smarter. To tell you the truth, I never thought about looking up mature fish sizes and comparing them to other mature fish sizes and then comparing that to their minimum tank requirements.

What I can say about that is that yes tangs are VERY active swimmers and for that reason they need larger tanks. Especially when kept together. I can't speak for the butterfly fish because I've never kept any. They are notoriously difficult to keep alive and I've always just saved my money and stayed away from them.

Karma to you.

 

First, there are no "dumb" questions. Questions lead to learning and learning is always "smart". Now to your query. Both of your contentions above are the answer. If it is recommended that a fish have a certain size tank it is either or both of the things you mentioned. Your thinking was correct.

 

alright! karma! after I build up some karma can I cash them in for fish dollars or something? hehe j/k. thanks!
thank you all for the helpful info. unfortunately I think my tank may be a little small for a couple species I was really wanting. but I found a couple more that would be happy in a 55 gal tank. it just gives me something to look forward to when I upgrade to a bigger tank someday! ;D