Size does matter....

[kris]

A few times lately size has come up..like how big will this fish get---I think when you're reading your guides you forget they are talking about in the WILD they may attain those sizes. In captivity they most certainly will not no matter how much space or food we give them. Only if they are caught that big--and usually when they are they are sold to large zoo type aquariums. Honestly--who has seen 12-15inch trigger??? or a 19-24 inch angel?? or a 28inch panther grouper sitting their lfs' tanks??
Even if purchased as juvenilles yes they will certainly grow and they need plenty of space--but they will not reach WILD sizes listed in most of our books.
If someone has actually raised one from juvi to full adult wild sizes I'd like to hear about it, please share

 

[dirtybilge]

Fish will only get to about %70 of there size in tanks as they would in the wild, and if you keep them in a small tank you can stunt there growth.

 

[k.lee]

It depends. Some fish release hormones which prevent oyther fish from growing (maybe only of their own species, I don't know).
I do know my clown tang grew hardly at all, and neither did my king angel. Now, since the clown tang has gone missing (disappeared), the king angel has grown as much in the last month, as it did the whole time the tang was present. Ie. in two years my angel grew maybe 1 inch. In the lst two months it has grown another inch. Goldfish and koi hormones are notorious for preventing growth in FW.

 

[k.lee]

Originally posted by sammystingray:
<strong>BTW K Lee, where did you come from? I've seen some great posts by you lately, and I'm glad you are an active member lately. Maybe you might point me in the direction of info on this subject?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Sorry Sammy. No knowledge through linkage I could offer. What, I think/know comes from reading and expertise. I have and have kept evreything from a freshwater koi pond to SW reef tanks. The koi pond is what set me off on the hormone tangent. I could be completely wrong, but the way my clown tang use to act got me thinking. And my king angel has grown considerably since the tang is gone. FWIW, the tang was in there first (another reason for my deductions). Thanks for the kind words, Sammy.b

 

[fshhub]

i have seen yellow tangs that if they weren't 7 inches they were very close, i know of a place i frequent who has a blue hippo that she raised form 2 inches, who is an easy 10 inches, if not 12 and with him is a flame agel who is at least 5 inches(the biggest one i have ever seen, too), percula clowns that were tank breed and are 3 inches, i have also seen clown triggers that are defintiely well over 15 inches, i have also seen 3 inch and bigger bengaii cardinals(jsut a little bigger, but),now i don't know how big these guys get in the wild, but hey do get that big in captivity, i ahve seen them more than one time, maybe tehy get bigger in the wild, and this would validate your position, but as far as i know they do actually get this big in a tank, ialso do not know how big your wildlife books say they will get
the fish i mentioned are fish taht were raised from small fish, and i do know this for a fact, maybe they don't get as big as they do in the wild, but they do not only grow to fit the tanks either(like previously thought), some of which i can even provide pics or links to(even though it is hard to tell size of a fish in a pic, without a reference), but unfortunately they are tied to another bb <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />

 

[amphiprion]

This is an answer I got from Robert Fenner (author of Conscientious Marine Aquarist) in response to a question I askied about this.
Susan, the idea that fish will only grow to the size of their aquarium is
an old one, but is only slightly true. Freshwater fish are fairly easy to
stunt and usually do not outgrow their tanks. They just usually die
prematurely from health complications from poor water quality in cramped
quarters or they just jump out and die on your rug. Saltwater fish do not
stunt well and again succumb to the health issues relating to water quality
or jump. In general, if you want a healthy, happy pet, provide it with
plenty of room, good overall water quality, and a varied diet, and you will
be rewarded with a long-lived friend. <hr></blockquote>

 

[fshhub]

sammy and k lee, this is info i have gained form fishing, those hoormones or what ever they are referred to are quite common in fw(don't know about sw), and are generally found in smaller schooling fish, and it is released or whatever, through the feces(again like i said, this is a fw thing i am recalling), this is why if you fish and ever fished small heavily populated ponds you often find many smaller fish instead of alot of big ones, but on the other hand, if it is a well fished pond, so the population is controlled, you will find more larger and a few smaller fish, now that refernced teh smaller schooling fish, which is food for the larger ones, now some muskie in the midst of a water like this would not be affected and would grow to a very large size, especially havein plenty of food(look at panfish nand buegills), now i have seen some small ponds with large and alot of small fish, but they are generally deeper or something which may accomodate this
i am not sure if this is reflected by the smaller fish or by them being fw though or even both, it has been years since i researched this, but am positive that the study i read was only in reference to fw(not meaning that sw is not the same but that one study was only done on a few fw species)

 

[kris]

Wow--Thanks for all the info guys--- I had never heard anything like the hormone factor. i just figured they'd grow as much as their enviroment would let them. Someday before I die I want to see that footlong trigger!! The biggest I've ever seen was approx 7 inch clown. If any of us find more info on the hormone thing--please come back and share it.
Thank You

 

[fshhub]

hate to say it kris but your insitstance sent me on a search for clown triggers(curiousity got to me), and i found it interesting that to learn that there are actually 4 classes of clown triggers, one gets about 13 inhes and one gets up to 75 cm(30 inches), now these are in the wild, not the aquarium, but i just thought you would find that as interesting as i did(and all 4 as i can tell do have different markings)
<a href="http://www.catcha.com.my/content.phtml?13&040&diving&triggerfish.txt" target="_blank">75 cm</a> Balistoides viridiscens
<a href="http://mbgnet.mobot.org/salt/animals/clown.htm" target="_blank">13 inch</a> Balistoides conspicillum
those are just the 2 extremes
also, i do realize that many different fish show different markings in life stages,and may even look different, but these 2 actually one has teh forward dorsal and the other does not, so they probably are 2 different fish, and having different scientific names as well
just an fyi for us all, if interested
EDITED: that was just because i was wondering how large they generaly get in the aquarium, and maybe the one i saw was one of hte oddities(which we often see in this hobby, oddities that is)

 

[holacanthus]

GIven enough room, and fed the right diet, regardless of hormones present most fish will grow to the same sizes as their wild counterparts or maybe even larger due to lack of predation, never ending food supply, and stable water conditions. Thats like saying that because your Fishers Angel is in a tank period, that it will only grow to the 2-3 in. they reach in the wild. Is that justifiable, most fish that that live for yrs in our aquariums and die, die from some other reason other than old age! I know of people who have queen triggers that are nearing 20" in. and titan triggers at 25+, and my Lfs has a panthe grouper that nearly six yrs old thats around 30".