"Trevor Stenson" wrote in message
news:kitschy-2B5BA3.07344608052006@shawnews...
Holy Shark-Bites Batman....=0 This sounds like the theory I heard
years
ago that alot of tropical fish will 'grow in scale' to their
environment.

I'm not sure he is saying that for a fact. I used to believe in that
but maybe there is a slight tank-size effect in that if a fish isn't
eating and thriving because it is not happy in its environment, then it
will tend not to grow as fast.

But anyway both my Pleco and Rainbow Shark have grown to about 6 inches
and 4 inches, respectively (and both with large girth) in less that 5
months. They started out an inch or less in length. That is in a 20
gallon tank, and the shark getting big did at least correlate with his
taste for Neon Tetras.

I'll probably trade my Pleco in for a Bristlenose when he gets too big
for the tank.

Cheers,

Trev


There's definitely a strong correlation between tank size and fish size,
but the general consensus is that water quality is a bigger vector (and
not coincidentally, large tanks typically have better water quality).
That and diet. It's not unusual to see sudden growth rate being
associated with foods being given. This is most obvious with fry as they
move through different food groups, but you can see it in older fish as
well, particularly when fed live foods (fish, shrimp, bugs, worms etc).

The RTBS eventually attacking tank-mates sounds about right (though I've
never had an RTBS that large and I'm jealous). Tank-mates are isolated
from being food for a long time. Usually until one gets ill and swims
funny and then the larger fish's instinct gets stronger and it takes a
bite. Then it's a buffet smorgasbord. Adding new small fish can also
trigger this. Angelfish keepers are often familiar with DNT
'disappearing Neon threshold' ;~).
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