Does aquarium size stunt growth?

[Raul-7]

I was watching Tidal Garden's video on Polo's Reef and he mentioned something that got me thinking. He was comparing the Lyretails size in his aquarium compared to Polo Reef's aquarium [2" vs 6"-10"] amongst other size comparisons he made.

My question is, does aquarium size stunt the growth of most reef fish? Because to me at least, most reef fish are massive [8" and above] and it seems that your average aquarium is really small relative to their size - or am I mistaken?

 

[Zionas]

This is a complex issue that I’m also trying to understand myself. However, using Yellow Tangs as an example, I think in most aquariums they don’t get much bigger than 4-5”, while they’re capable of (and have been caught in the wild) getting to 7-8”.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Interesting

 

[i cant think]

I was watching Tidal Garden's video on Polo's Reef and he mentioned something that got me thinking. He was comparing the Lyretails size in his aquarium compared to Polo Reef's aquarium [2" vs 6"-10"] amongst other size comparisons he made.

My question is, does aquarium size stunt the growth of most reef fish? Because to me at least, most reef fish are massive [8" and above] and it seems that your average aquarium is really small relative to their size - or am I mistaken?

I think we have to remember the issue that Polo Reef has likely gotten most of his fish rather large already (4-5” at least) to fill out that tank. Whilst we get our fish at 2-3” at max generally (as our tanks are miles smaller) so our fish won’t have lived as long as those fish have meaning the size comparison in the future (once our fish live for similar lengths of time) could be similar.

 

[i cant think]

This is a complex issue that I’m also trying to understand myself. However, using Yellow Tangs as an example, I think in most aquariums they don’t get much bigger than 4-5”, while they’re capable of (and have been caught in the wild) getting to 7-8”.

Again, I’d put this down to age. Many of our yellows are generally only living maybe 10 years whilst yellows in the wild can live for 20-30+ years when they aren’t preyed on.

If we look at wrasses then a lot of the time they will get to the maximum size stated, and I can think of mine as an example;
My male Iridis is said to only get 3.5-4” when mine is probably 4.5-5” now.
My two Lubbocks were also a good example.
My Cebu Lubbocki was a good 3.5” when he passed and they’re said to get 3”. Then my Indo Lubbocki was 3” If not 3.5” when he also passed and these guys are said to get to 2-2.5” at a maximum size.

So if we kept many of our fish for the lengths of time they should last, maybe we would see these ‘titan’ fish that we see in the wild and in huge tanks.

 

[Raul-7]

But we have evidence from Discus. When grown in large aquariums with ample room, regular WCs and clean water. They grow massive. Whereas if confined to smaller aquarium with poor water quality they become stunted.

Stunted-



Healthy-

 

[i cant think]

But we have evidence from Discus. When grown in large aquariums with ample room, regular WCs and clean water. They grow massive. Whereas if confined to smaller aquarium with poor water quality they become stunted.

Discus are somewhat different to these guys as in freshwater you can generally let your water go mucky and not have too much of an issue whilst in saltwater you have to make sure your parameters are in check otherwise coral and inverts begin to die.

 

[Raul-7]

Discus are somewhat different to these guys as in freshwater you can generally let your water go mucky and not have too much of an issue whilst in saltwater you have to make sure your parameters are in check otherwise coral and inverts begin to die.

Ignoring the external factors [coral and plants] - mucky water will impact all fish species [some more than others]. But all will feel an impact. It's more noticeable in Discus due to their larger size and sensitivity to water quality.

Most FW are no more than 2-3" so its much more difficult to notice any stunting compared to a Discus which can reach 8-9".

 

[i cant think]

Ignoring the external factors [coral and plants] - mucky water will impact all fish species [some more than others]. But all will feel an impact. It's more noticeable in Discus due to their larger size and sensitivity to water quality.

Most FW are no more than 2-3" so its much more difficult to notice any stunting compared to a Discus which can reach 8-9".

Another thing with FW is many of those species don’t live for long periods of time and instead last for 7-8 years in general.

Saltwater species again, last for 30-50 years (some last for 100s of years) when not being predated on in the wild.

 

[ErikVR]

I've seen it first hand myself. In freshwater fish. I had two angels in my old 200 liter tank and they stopped growing after three years. Rehomed them to my parents tank that is 4 times the size and they really took off from the moment they got there. So even after three years of stunted growth they doubled in size.

Wasn't due to other variables like food or water quality.

 

[Acros]

Yes and No. Some species of fish, animals and birds experience stunted growth in captivity.

This can be observed in the archeological record all the way back when humans first started dominating animals. Gazelle calves had stunted growth in captivity where as goat and cow ancestors did not.

Edit: It is not to say that goats and cows did not undergo evolution through selective breeding. As we domesticated them, they grew smaller horns and smaller brains.

 

[Alexraptor]

I don't think it's so much captivity that leads to stunted growth, but overall health and nutrition. In general any fish we keep is going to get a much more restrictive diet than their wild counterparts, despite our best efforts.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

As mentioned above, yes and no, dependent at least in part on species. The quote below gives some idea of why I say this, and the link below has a bunch of info (my answers on the first page go into a decent amount of depth, but the whole thread has more info):

It’s true for some fish (goldfish, which can actually get quite large, for example, produce growth inhibiting hormones - thought to be a way of trying to reduce competition between itself and other goldfish - so in a tiny tank, it will have stunted growth as a result of the hormone it produces), but for other fish the stunted growth (if it happens) is likely a result of a combination of things, namely stress, bad water quality, and poor diet.

Does fish growth get stunted in an aquarium?

I was at my lfs, which is run by very knowledgeable staff. We were discussing which tangs can go into what size aquariums. At one point they mentioned that fish typically do not get as large in an aquarium. For example, if you put a baby yellow tang (think of those captive bred 1” babies that...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Sleeping Giant]

 

[JaimeAdams]

Several years ago I got 3 Purple Tangs in at the store. One of them went into our end cap tank. One came home to my display tank. One got sold to my buddy Josh, that I ended up buying back a year ago. They were all the same size. Fast forward 5 years and those fish are all much different in size having spent the last half decade growing up in much different size tanks.

 

[Cpc83]

I don't believe aquarium size stunts growth but I will say size of habitat plays into health. Take any creature feed it right and give it the space it requires to move for mental and physical needs and it will flourish take that same creature feed it just enough and give it space to only move a little and watch it not grow. Some fish even when they are small need the area to swim in and need to be fed multiple times a day and don't eat the samething your clown goby eats.

 

[Dan_P]

I was watching Tidal Garden's video on Polo's Reef and he mentioned something that got me thinking. He was comparing the Lyretails size in his aquarium compared to Polo Reef's aquarium [2" vs 6"-10"] amongst other size comparisons he made.

My question is, does aquarium size stunt the growth of most reef fish? Because to me at least, most reef fish are massive [8" and above] and it seems that your average aquarium is really small relative to their size - or am I mistaken?

May have to do more with diet and health rather than tank size. With the average aquarist worried about algae and nitrate level, most aquarium fish are probably on a starvation diet.

 

[Cpc83]

May have to do more with diet and health rather than tank size. With the average aquarist worried about algae and nitrate level, most aquarium fish are probably on a starvation diet.

This right here hits the nail on the head.

 

[Raul-7]

To blame it simply on nutrition would be fallacy; aquarium size plays a huge role.

1] Size - no way you can say a Tang in 40G will grow as large as the same Tang in a 500G
2] Water quality - more water = more stable water parameters/less waste. Much easier to keep a 500G clean compared to a 40G.

Take Discus breeders for example, when they fry are small. They keep them in smaller aquaria with multiple waterchanges per day.

But as soon as they reach 2-3" they are moved to larger 300 gallon IBC tanks.

 

[Dan_P]

To blame it simply on nutrition would be fallacy; aquarium size plays a huge role.

1] Size - no way you can say a Tang in 40G will grow as large as the same Tang in a 500G
2] Water quality - more water = more stable water parameters/less waste. Much easier to keep a 500G clean compared to a 40G.

Take Discus breeders for example, when they fry are small. They keep them in smaller aquaria with multiple waterchanges per day.

But as soon as they reach 2-3" they are moved to larger 300 gallon IBC tanks.

If you read up on fish farming for food, you might reconsider your opinion about enclosure size effect.