Howw???

[ameyaraje99]

Ive read a lot on this site and everyone recommends that it's a disaster to keep tangs and other large fish in anything less than 65 gallons. My question is how do pet stores manage to keep 10 tangs in 20 gallon tanks . How are they able to overstock species of fish that aren't supposed to be in anything less than 70 gallons. I know it's cruel on the fish and I hate that. But I'd like to know how theyre able to mantain these fish ( even If they're not sold for months)

 

[Just.A.Bit.Salty]

After working at petco for about two years back in the day I can tell you we never had any saltwater fish for months not even weeks, usually the stores order the amount of what people buy. So if they have 10 tangs in one tank usually they know that those ten will sell pretty fast due to the numbers of sales last month week etc. If somebody does have a bunch of tangs in a tank that's been in there for a long time and they are alive it by no means show they are healthy.

 

[Innovator]

^^ touched on THE point of how lfs' can keep certain fish packed into small tanks: the fish are meant to sell within 2 weeks max time or their cost is considered a loss. There usually isn't enough room for an actual territory, but just enough room to share diseases lol Most lfs will never have a fish longer than 3 weeks unless it is constantly moved behind the scenes for whatever reason.

Surgeonfish do not belong in small tanks under 120g because they are constantly on the move and usually stake a larger territory than your average reef fish. Small tanks tend to make them more territorial, more jittery, and more likely to run into decor when they attain larger sizes.

 

[doogle]

yes the only reason they can is because they have filters running 3000 gallons of water/hour running thru 40 20 gallon tropical tanks,another for goldfish and another for feeder fish.... you get the idea....hows my reputation? lol