Fish Size

[killagoby]

Has anyone noticed that the size of fish now a days has them looking like they are on steroids? I've been shopping around for new fish and two of the stores by my house have fish that are much larger than I've ever seen. One example are two monster six line wrasse that must be the size of a fat mystery wrasse. The other stores fish for sale are all bigger than they should be too. Thoughts?

 

[Ethan2335]

Six line wrasse usually grow up to three inches i'm guessing they just take really good care of them.

 

[GimpyFin]

Probably just happened to get a slew of older specimens. Or maybe the lfs is feeding them mickey-d's and little debbies. I actually notice a lot of smaller fish near me. One store, several times has had regal blue tangs that are literally smaller than a quarter.

 

[killagoby]

Probably just happened to get a slew of older specimens. Or maybe the lfs is feeding them mickey-d's and little debbies. I actually notice a lot of smaller fish near me. One store, several times has had regal blue tangs that are literally smaller than a quarter.

These fish are all HUGE!

 

[ThRoewer]

What you normally see on fish in stores are usually just half sized individuals. Most tanks are rather on the small side, so they rarely grow to full size.

You would be surprised how large some fish can grow you just know as babies.

A 6 inch regal angel is a pretty impressive fish in a tank, but in the wild that's still a small one.

 

[killagoby]

What you normally see on fish in stores are usually just half sized individuals. Most tanks are rather on the small side, so they rarely grow to full size.

You would be surprised how large some fish can grow you just know as babies.

A 6 inch regal angel is a pretty impressive fish in a tank, but in the wild that's still a small one.

I'm seeing perculas almost the size of Clarkiis. That can't be normal

 

[Dmorty217]

FGH... Haven't heard of it!? Fish Growth Hormone? I heard its bad in LFS!

 

[killagoby]

FGH... Haven't heard of it!? Fish Growth Hormone? I heard its bad in LFS!

That sucks if it's true

 

[snorvich]

Time of year. Mature specimens collected.

 

[Reef Frog]

My understanding is that it's a much better & more sustainable practice to collect juveniles & sub adults. The idea being that breeding age adults that show a proven ability to survive the rigors of the ocean will pass on those superior genes to future generations. Makes sense to me.

I wonder if there is a significant difference in survival rates between collected adults, sub adults & really small juvies? When you have a full spectrum of choices of sizes on line or at a LFS, which size do you typically choose? Does it ever vary by species?

 

[ThRoewer]

I'm seeing perculas almost the size of Clarkiis. That can't be normal

100 mm TL (4 inch) is totally normal for a fully grown percula female. They may even get a bit bigger in the wild.
A fully grown clarkii can get to at least 150 mm TL (6 inch)

Keep in mind that most scientist give maximum fish length in SL (Standard Length = length of the body from snout to tailfin root, but without the tailfin itself).
Some book authors may have confused that with TL (Total Length = length from snout tip to tailfin end) which can in some cases make quite a difference.

Also, I found that especially LiveAquaria lists maximum sizes for many fish quite a bit below the actual maximum sizes.

Time of year. Mature specimens collected.

I would wish that they would stop that nonsense.
Not only are those the breeding fish, but mature specimen also often have more problems to adapt to aquarium life than juveniles.
Also, on the reef, small juveniles will be replaced much more quickly than large adults.

 

[ThRoewer]

My understanding is that it's a much better & more sustainable practice to collect juveniles & sub adults. The idea being that breeding age adults that show a proven ability to survive the rigors of the ocean will pass on those superior genes to future generations. Makes sense to me.

Precisely!

I wonder if there is a significant difference in survival rates between collected adults, sub adults & really small juvies? When you have a full spectrum of choices of sizes on line or at a LFS, which size do you typically choose? Does it ever vary by species?

With many fish there is a difference. I found for example that regal angels around 3 inch are easy to get to accept frozen food while larger specimen may cause more trouble.

I usually pick juveniles or subadults whenever possible. Not only will you have them longer (kind of an important factor with short lived species) and actually have somewhat an idea how old your fish are, but also is it easier to form pairs.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I went to the Petco in Sioux City, IA last Friday to get frozen Mysis and the fish they had were tiny, I mean should still be at the breeders kind of tiny. Clowns around 1/2" and many others just as small. So they were the opposite of what you're seeing.