How to calculate fish/tank size?

[steviebetta]

I was watching a programme about fish today and it got me thinking. How do we know our fish tanks are big enough. I mean freshwater fish have 1000s of gallons to swim about and saltwater have even more. So how do we know that our small 20s 60s 100+ gallon tanks are big enough?

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[JRT83]

I was watching a programme about fish today and it got me thinking. How do we know our fish tanks are big enough. I mean freshwater fish have 1000s of gallons to swim about and saltwater have even more. So how do we know that our small 20s 60s 100+ gallon tanks are big enough?

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The things I take into account are...

size when fully grown
aggression
how territorial the fish is
how active the fish is
better in a school or solo
how much waste the fish produces

Those are the top 6 things that I personally take into account when at the LFS

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Everyone has there own opinion. I believe if you keep your water good and clean and keep them fed and they are colorful, and healthy then it's fine. Also, strictly for size, I think the tank should be big enough that the full grown fish of your choice should be able to comfortably move around naturally in the tank. And comfortably is a relative word. Fast moving swimmers like tetras, rainbows, and barbs should have a little more room then gourami, angels, and rams.

 

[steviebetta]

Yeah thats what I go by. Just seeing all the fish in the wild made me think. I would almost go as far as saying that 99% of fish tanks are too small for the types of fish we keep.

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[Scottyhorse]

Stevie betta, that is probably true. Another thing is that in the wild, schooling fish are in schools of 100's, probably more. But usually in a tank we keep about 10.

 

[JRT83]

Yeah thats what I go by. Just seeing all the fish in the wild made me think. I would almost go as far as saying that 99% of fish tanks are too small for the types of fish we keep.

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Would be interesting to know with specific breeds that we all keep, distance they swim in an average day, do they have a "home" that they don't like to stray too far from? And if so, how far... stuff like that. I like the larger central american cichlids and could definitely picture them having their own area of a lake that they stick to being that their so intelligent/territorial. A lot of the smaller schooling fish on the other hand, I just imagine swimming aimlessly around a lake 24/7... maybe not true but just how it would seem from watching them in home aquariums.

 

[steviebetta]

Yeah so if we have wild caught fish they wouldn't be fewling very natural so their behaviour that we see could actually not be the norm. Some fish will stay in the same part of a river for their needs. Lighting/shading, flow of water, hiding from predators.

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