Was told in an Austrian LFS a 32g Fluval Flex would be too small for a pair of clownfish

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

Good question!
Apparently they are made up by a group of animal lovers, who have made an organization that gives pet shops certificates for being "ethical". Apparently, they also are involved in creating laws related to pets in Finland.

Thats super interesting! Was not attempting to be political.

 

[bnord]

I have 2 clowns, royal gramma, yellow tailed damsel, diamond watchman gobie and a sixline wrass in my 32 gallon. Coming up on 1 year quick. Im religious on export, 12.5 g water changes weekly and a protein skimmer 24/7. I you handle nutrient export 6 small fish in a 32 g is very doable.

nice tank - mucho cred

 

[Kiophy]

Thats super interesting! Was not attempting to be political.

It wasn't political in my mind
I'm happy to share information. I think it's important to know about these different pet cultures. Countries of Europe, UK, and the USA definitely all have different ideas on this. Personally, I'm just jealous how many different species of all kinds of fish, reptiles and corals are available on places that don't ship to Finland...

 

[dagerob]

Yes, at least in Finland the guidelines for fish are very different from many many countries. There used to be a law that you couldn't keep any kind of fish in a tank that is smaller than 40 liters. Many freshwater species have minimums such as 60 cm wide, 100 cm wide, 120 cm wide, and for comet goldfish they recommend aquaria that are at least 2 meters wide.... It's almost impossible to get any kind of goldfish in tanks that are smaller than 350 liters.

Marine aquaria have their own guidelines. For example, one of the few aquarium shops in Finland that sell marine fish says that Amphiprion Clarkii and Amphiprion Ocellaris need a tank that is 200 liters at minimum.

Also I don't know how it's elsewhere, but here pet shops usually ask what kind of aquarium you have before selling fish or inverts. I wasn't sold freshwater angelfish when I said I have a 200 liter aquarium that is over 50 cm tall.

I mostly agree with the guidelines... But sometimes they make no sense! There are people out there who don't care whether their tank is the right size for their fish, and because of that I like having some kind of guidelines.

Yeah I suspect it is something like these, or outdated knowledge, or they thought I was meaning litres. I find it useful to have guidelines, but being so strict when it obviously is not necessary is a bit extreme if you ask me... If no one wants to sell me fish I will order them online for sure... The worst thing is they sell small saltwater aquariums that according to these guidelines would be completely useless. Thanks for the reply!

 

[dagerob]

And thanks for the online suggestions! I will definitely give it a try there if everyone refuses here in person!

 

[Kiophy]

And thanks for the online suggestions! I will definitely give it a try there if everyone refuses here in person!

Happy to help! Hope you'll get those fish that you're looking for!

 

[dagerob]

Ok, I read a bit more, and for some reason they generally say that a 200L aquarium is needed for saltwater, which is objectively wrong... But, well, let's see.