The Puffer Forum

If I have a fish that is already stunted, would it be unethical to keep it in a tank smaller than the maximum adult size demands....?

A stunted fish being put into a larger tank is a good thing. Sometimes fish/puffs are not fully stunted so a larger tank allows them to grow out as much as possible, aswell as add swimming space and less on the bioload.

Unlike most land vertebrates, fish never stop growing, so moving to a larger - just as Tihsho said - is always beneficial

Depends on what fish.

If it was a pleco kept in a 20G for 5 years, then you probably arnt going to need a 75G+ tank.

There are certain levels of stunting.

perek wrote: If it was a pleco kept in a 20G for 5 years, then you probably arnt going to need a 75G tank.

It may never grow into a tank that large, but with no accurate way of measuring the degree of stunting, moving any fish to adequate housing is the only proper thing to do.

There are certain levels of stunting.

Have you been in the hobby for that long that you know this for a fact? Have you seen it often? Have you done studies on this?

I've had fish I kept in too small of tanks (red rainbows and SAE's in a 29), that I thought were full grown. Once I moved them to a 75, they grew like weeds.

My SAP has never grown since I got him, no matter how large the tank. I don't think he'll ever grow much over an inch, honestly. Who knows what he went through before I got him though.

I would say your best bet is to move them, as they can start growing again. I think it takes a heck of a lot to really stunt them for good, but it doesn't take much to stress their systems and cause illness and early death from being stunted. So if there is a chance of him growing and releasing the strain on those organs, I'd get him in a bigger tank ASAP.