Why do some fish require such large tanks when they are fine in a small tank at the store?

13 responses so far ↓

• 1 Bubbles // Nov 10, 2008

  because they are in those small store tanks for only a small period of time vs. keeping one until it dies and most of the fish their are still babies and won’t likely stress out as adults if they don’t have the right tank size

• 2 Rachel // Nov 10, 2008

  Well because the ones at the pet store are small like for instance the goldfish are really really small then as it gets older it starts to grow and needs more and more space. They just have young ones at pet stores.

• 3 jbird // Nov 10, 2008

  because the 2” long common pleco that looks so cute stuck to the glass with 10 others in the tank grows to be 14” longs

• 4 fishable12 // Nov 10, 2008

  fish stores are only suppose to be temporarily housing for them

• 5 Dark Ryok // Nov 10, 2008

  They dont live in the small tanks. Obviously, fish grow. Most fish stores get fish in every week. The fish dont stay in those small tanks their entire lives. Its really simple…

• 6 RLP // Nov 10, 2008

  Because usually they are babies at the store, and they are still tiny, and the tanks are only temporary. When you take them home you are committing to buying them a bigger tank so they will age and grow.

• 7 marcusgonzales210 // Nov 10, 2008

  the reason we order our fish small if because people buy them small. They aren’t meant to live in there. They are meant to temporarily stay in there.

• 8 Hawkfish // Nov 10, 2008

  The fish are only in the tank a small amount of time. Think of it as a puppy, they are in those little window boxes only for a little bit, they can’t be kept in them all their lives as they will out grow them and need to be in a house not a box.

• 9 Ianab // Nov 10, 2008

  The fish in the shops are babies, generally only a few months old.

  You can buy an Oscar, Pleco, or Pacu when it’s 2″ long, but you have to expect it to grow to 12-18-24″ long!!!

  It’s not about how big a tank it needs now, it’s what it’s going to need in a couple of years time. If you try and keep any of those fish in a 20gal it will be dead in a couple of years. In a suitable size tank they should live 10 years or more.

  Ian

• 10 Elephant0628 // Nov 10, 2008

  Pet Stores keep the fish in little tanks, but first of all those tanks are not really little. Last time I asked Petsmart how big their tanks were they told me they were 20 gallon because they are the shapes of a cube. They are specially crafted to maximize volume. Anyways, the fish that are kept in the petstores can live in the little tanks, but they are going to be sold to people. Some may say that the fish are sold every week and new batches come, but that is completely not true. Some fish have to live in the little tanks for an extensive periods. However, most that have to live in the little conditions either die due to overcrowding or through major stress. The fish do not grow because they do not have enough room to grow. That is why you have to keep them in large tanks or else they will not grow. a fish will have stunted growth and will not thrive…….

• 11 Jon // Nov 10, 2008

  well, because the tanks at the stores have super good filtration that common people cant afford and those are temporary tanks until someone buys them. and they are usually babies at the stores

• 12 Rashada A // Nov 10, 2008

  more permanent place to be in. the store is temparily. they most often die anyways. they can be displayed better that way. to fit in a store. but at home, the fish needs to be comfortable in its environment and have enough to do for a fish. like you need to fit in the rock caves and plants. depends on how many fish and how big the fish is. you can buy a variety size of tank.

• 13 Annie // Nov 10, 2008

  It’s true, the tanks at a fish store run with super sized filtration, my local store also uses U.V filtration to keep the water really clean. I’ve seen all the pipework behind the tanks - freshwater one side, saltwater on the other, quite impressive!
  I set my tank up a year and a half ago, i wanted orandas, so that’s what i got. there was a ranchu in the stores’ oranda tank, quite a good sized one, and he was there throughout the first year of me going to the store. i took pity on him in the end, (about 6 months ago) and bought him home to live with the orandas. He’s super healthy and very happy, so living at the aquarium in a small-ish tank for at least a year didn’t affect him at all. His name’s Dribbly Terry.
  I’m not saying all fish stores keep their fish so well, but so long as the filtration’s up to a high standard, their ’stock’ are kept healthy until they get sold.