“Ýou need a larger tank to keep that fish in” or “your pearl gourami needs to be housed in a tank larger than your current tank of 29 gallons” are said by many different folks in fish keeping. It’s a matra that one keeps hidden deep in thoughts that is secret not to be spoken of! Every fish keeper knows this matra that fish will grow to the size of the tank, it’s one of the first observations one makes when starting their first tank. Just remember seeing that small betta in a cup at the local fish store and how almost overnight when you brought him home to a five gallon aquarium with a heater and cycled filter and correct water feasting on betta pellets has doubled in size to fit the size of the new tank.
As you gaze upon the beauty of the fish before you, you know this is a memory that will always last …. last to become and under laying truth. Hidden in this newly discovered truth is the secure knowledge that if the betta was left in the fish store cup it would still be small that is stunted. It’s a fact, an observable truth that every new fish keeper experiences and knows to be true by experience.
In every ongoing notion there is a nugget or two of truth and central to this truth is the fish did grow bigger. The question why the fish grew is never asked we fish keeper know the answer. While singing the matra of first learned truth our aquariums give us untold pleasure of their beauty reinforcing our first knowledge. A big fish in a small tank will equal a stunted fish this is the only possible conclusion first found knowledge allows. Yet out of the long list of causes of arrested development amazingly too small of a tank is not one of the causes of stunted growth in fish.
There are many explanations why the betta appeared to grow before one eyes when moved to a larger tank but the most simple answer that explains the most is meeting life’s requisites, meaning experiencing the environment in which the critter is capable of surviving and reproduction. One way to understand ‘life requisites’ is to think in terms of energy allocation and for growth occur there must exist an unused supply of energy above what is needed for the functional requisites for sustaining of life.
Only After Acquiring surplus energy can growth occur. To put it in a simple way the fish’s potential for growth is controlled by its physiology and when introduced into a healthy and thriving environment that meets its needs growth happens.
Most cold blooded critters have the ability to grow throughout their lives and fish are included as long as vital organs have not been damaged by disease or interaction with tank mates. While ‘life requisites’ represents issues in both the fish’s environment as well as the fishes physiology, the physiological experiences of the fish determines the allocation of energy and other resources of the critter.
For fish the physical operation of organs requires energy and this energy is allocated in a hierarchal manner where the subsystems that is most vital at that moment in sustaining life will receive the necessary energy. Always the systems that provide basic metabolic functions that are necessary for life have a higher priority for energy and must be sustained, while processes like growth and reproduction will receive a lower priority for energy. When this situation occurs and energy is deflected away from growth, your fish will not experience any growth.
Your fish’s growth is a result of being provided the requisites of life. When water critters stop growing and start to experiences arrested development resulting in its surplus energy being allocated towards more vital life sustaining necessities. This shift of resource allocation creates a state of stress in the fish’s physiology. Misleading fish keepers into believing stress is the root cause of the lack of growth.
Stress is the effect of life sustaining requisites not being met not the cause. When conditions are becoming untenable and begin to fail in supporting life’s requisites this failure will force the fish into adapting to the changing circumstances. The mechanism for this adaption for tropical fish is stress, the physiological response of the water critter to adapt to some stimulus.
When stressful situations are developing the fish experience a series of physiological responses that maybe considered adaptive factors that are divided into phases. The alarm reaction releases hormones resulting in the shutting down the unneeded subsystems and diverting energy to most vital process needed to sustain life. Resistance stage is where adaption occurs and if the fish fails to adapt to the new circumstances then a state of exhaustion happen resulting in the loss of the fish.
There are two forms of stress experienced by water critters. Acute stress is the general form of stress experienced in a state of nature, where stress is short term and easily resolved by fish. In our aquariums acute stress can be observed in such instances as catching a fish with a net this instance of stress can be thought of as the fight / flight response.
As we all know fish are hard to net and the reason is as we pursue the fish with a net the fish experience a stress reaction that immediately releases hormones that shut down unneeded process like osmoregulation so all available energy is committed to escape. Once the fish has eluded the net energy is re allocated to all systems and subsystem again returning the water critter back to a state of homeostasis.
This is a short term measure that produces large amounts of surplus energy for the fish to deal with any emergency. One of two results occurs in this situation either the water critter escapes the net and stress is relieved or the fish is caught. In a state of nature there is plenty of room for fish to escape the netting or unfavorable water conditions.
In our home aquariums resolving environmental issues fall to the fish keeper and when the care giver fails to provide for all of life’s requisites the water critter will experience chronic form of stress. Chronic stress is long term stress that is unresolvable for the fish. Keep in mind that chronic stress is detrimental for the fish it is not allowed to attain physiology balance. Fish cannot achieve homeostasis because stress has the critter allocating energy attempting to resolve the issue, systems like osmoregulation stop functioning. The fish is now experiencing declining health and possibly a short life, the story is too sad to repeat.
This is fish keeper orientated stress, and all chronic stress is related to how we fish keepers interact with our tanks. Even though tropical fish can survive in a broad range of temperature and pH each species has its own preferred range and the further the fish is from this preferred state the more energy is required to maintain physiological homeostasis which means there is less energy available for growth. Likewise chronic stress can be the results of poor diet, unacceptable water quality and inappropriate décor. These and other environmental issues are the responsibility the fish keeper.
Many times a day you may find the suggestion that one should buy the largestaquarium they can afford but this is poor advice when considering the new found knowledge about how we create chronic stress this notion should be changed to acquire the size of tank that you can reasonably maintain and properly support.
I am not questioning the value of first found knowledge in recommending my pearl gourami should be homed in a larger aquarium. In fact I think fellow member Flint provided a “best practices” solution helping me avoid creating excessive chronic stress.
Pop
I stole knowledge from the following websites:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/beginner-freshwater-aquarium/articles-myths-acclimatization-water-conditioner-850/#ixzz3AHmnxrrl
http://www.mchportal.com/fishkeeping-mainmenu-60/aquarist-the-regulator-mainmenu-85/365-myths-in-fishkeeping-ii.html
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/stories/chat/chat_3-12-04.html
As you gaze upon the beauty of the fish before you, you know this is a memory that will always last …. last to become and under laying truth. Hidden in this newly discovered truth is the secure knowledge that if the betta was left in the fish store cup it would still be small that is stunted. It’s a fact, an observable truth that every new fish keeper experiences and knows to be true by experience.
In every ongoing notion there is a nugget or two of truth and central to this truth is the fish did grow bigger. The question why the fish grew is never asked we fish keeper know the answer. While singing the matra of first learned truth our aquariums give us untold pleasure of their beauty reinforcing our first knowledge. A big fish in a small tank will equal a stunted fish this is the only possible conclusion first found knowledge allows. Yet out of the long list of causes of arrested development amazingly too small of a tank is not one of the causes of stunted growth in fish.
There are many explanations why the betta appeared to grow before one eyes when moved to a larger tank but the most simple answer that explains the most is meeting life’s requisites, meaning experiencing the environment in which the critter is capable of surviving and reproduction. One way to understand ‘life requisites’ is to think in terms of energy allocation and for growth occur there must exist an unused supply of energy above what is needed for the functional requisites for sustaining of life.
Only After Acquiring surplus energy can growth occur. To put it in a simple way the fish’s potential for growth is controlled by its physiology and when introduced into a healthy and thriving environment that meets its needs growth happens.
Most cold blooded critters have the ability to grow throughout their lives and fish are included as long as vital organs have not been damaged by disease or interaction with tank mates. While ‘life requisites’ represents issues in both the fish’s environment as well as the fishes physiology, the physiological experiences of the fish determines the allocation of energy and other resources of the critter.
For fish the physical operation of organs requires energy and this energy is allocated in a hierarchal manner where the subsystems that is most vital at that moment in sustaining life will receive the necessary energy. Always the systems that provide basic metabolic functions that are necessary for life have a higher priority for energy and must be sustained, while processes like growth and reproduction will receive a lower priority for energy. When this situation occurs and energy is deflected away from growth, your fish will not experience any growth.
Your fish’s growth is a result of being provided the requisites of life. When water critters stop growing and start to experiences arrested development resulting in its surplus energy being allocated towards more vital life sustaining necessities. This shift of resource allocation creates a state of stress in the fish’s physiology. Misleading fish keepers into believing stress is the root cause of the lack of growth.
Stress is the effect of life sustaining requisites not being met not the cause. When conditions are becoming untenable and begin to fail in supporting life’s requisites this failure will force the fish into adapting to the changing circumstances. The mechanism for this adaption for tropical fish is stress, the physiological response of the water critter to adapt to some stimulus.
When stressful situations are developing the fish experience a series of physiological responses that maybe considered adaptive factors that are divided into phases. The alarm reaction releases hormones resulting in the shutting down the unneeded subsystems and diverting energy to most vital process needed to sustain life. Resistance stage is where adaption occurs and if the fish fails to adapt to the new circumstances then a state of exhaustion happen resulting in the loss of the fish.
There are two forms of stress experienced by water critters. Acute stress is the general form of stress experienced in a state of nature, where stress is short term and easily resolved by fish. In our aquariums acute stress can be observed in such instances as catching a fish with a net this instance of stress can be thought of as the fight / flight response.
As we all know fish are hard to net and the reason is as we pursue the fish with a net the fish experience a stress reaction that immediately releases hormones that shut down unneeded process like osmoregulation so all available energy is committed to escape. Once the fish has eluded the net energy is re allocated to all systems and subsystem again returning the water critter back to a state of homeostasis.
This is a short term measure that produces large amounts of surplus energy for the fish to deal with any emergency. One of two results occurs in this situation either the water critter escapes the net and stress is relieved or the fish is caught. In a state of nature there is plenty of room for fish to escape the netting or unfavorable water conditions.
In our home aquariums resolving environmental issues fall to the fish keeper and when the care giver fails to provide for all of life’s requisites the water critter will experience chronic form of stress. Chronic stress is long term stress that is unresolvable for the fish. Keep in mind that chronic stress is detrimental for the fish it is not allowed to attain physiology balance. Fish cannot achieve homeostasis because stress has the critter allocating energy attempting to resolve the issue, systems like osmoregulation stop functioning. The fish is now experiencing declining health and possibly a short life, the story is too sad to repeat.
This is fish keeper orientated stress, and all chronic stress is related to how we fish keepers interact with our tanks. Even though tropical fish can survive in a broad range of temperature and pH each species has its own preferred range and the further the fish is from this preferred state the more energy is required to maintain physiological homeostasis which means there is less energy available for growth. Likewise chronic stress can be the results of poor diet, unacceptable water quality and inappropriate décor. These and other environmental issues are the responsibility the fish keeper.
Many times a day you may find the suggestion that one should buy the largestaquarium they can afford but this is poor advice when considering the new found knowledge about how we create chronic stress this notion should be changed to acquire the size of tank that you can reasonably maintain and properly support.
I am not questioning the value of first found knowledge in recommending my pearl gourami should be homed in a larger aquarium. In fact I think fellow member Flint provided a “best practices” solution helping me avoid creating excessive chronic stress.
Pop
I stole knowledge from the following websites:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/beginner-freshwater-aquarium/articles-myths-acclimatization-water-conditioner-850/#ixzz3AHmnxrrl
http://www.mchportal.com/fishkeeping-mainmenu-60/aquarist-the-regulator-mainmenu-85/365-myths-in-fishkeeping-ii.html
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/stories/chat/chat_3-12-04.html
