Australian garfish (half beaks) in 20 gallon long aquarium?

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Can I catch two river garfish(they swim in pairs) and keep them in a 20 gallon long aquarium? They grow up to 15cm. I believe that they have a relatively small bio load being very slender. Am I wrong in believing this aquarium is suitable? The tank is fully cycled, filtered and heated. Weather parameters: ammonia:0 Nitrite:0 nitrate:20ppm
Thank you in advance,

Prawn.
 
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I would not recommend it.
I don't know where you are located, but where I am it is illegal to transport live caught fish.
 
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I have read the fishing regulations and this particular species can be caught as live bait meaning it can be moved from place to place which is why I wanted to keep this species. So with that in mind would the fish itself be suitable for my aquarium?
 

DutchMuch

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Can I catch two river garfish(they swim in pairs) and keep them in a 20 gallon long aquarium? They grow up to 15cm. I believe that they have a relatively small bio load being very slender. Am I wrong in believing this aquarium is suitable? The tank is fully cycled, filtered and heated. Weather parameters: ammonia:0 Nitrite:0 nitrate:20ppm
Thank you in advance,

Prawn.
This is a horrible idea... Catching any wild fish is really and truly unsuitable and just flat out isn't right, that's like me taking you from your home and putting you in a box.
River garfish would even at their size need a 100 gallon tank imo at the least to exhibit there natural habitat, and if the parameters weren't the same they'd practically die as soon as you add them. Plus they wouldn't eat most likely, and they have certain "wild" specifications you could not give to them.
 
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This is a horrible idea... Catching any wild fish is really and truly unsuitable and just flat out isn't right, that's like me taking you from your home and putting you in a box.
River garfish would even at their size need a 100 gallon tank imo at the least to exhibit there natural habitat, and if the parameters weren't the same they'd practically die as soon as you add them. Plus they wouldn't eat most likely, and they have certain "wild" specifications you could not give to them.
I asked this question a long time ago and never did it because i know the tank was probably to small. Although i must disagree about your statement on wild fish. I do not support the torture of fish or anything but to compare fish to humans is absolutely ridiculous and incorrect. First of all i know that most freshwater fish are captive bred but some are still wild caught and pretty much all saltwater fish apart from clowns are wild caught. Then again i do not support the mass capture of reef and rare species but that is what happens. Fish simply do not have the mental capacity to suffer from "imprisonment". If fish are kept in aquariums to small then yes they can suffer from diseases and deformations such as stunting but if kept in adequately sized tanks they will be content. I have in fact caught and kept pacific blue eyes (a small species of rainbow fish) from the wild and yes they happily eat (and bread) and none have died for the past three years so i suppose wild caught fish do not become depressed and kill themselves. And by the way all those diseased captive bred fish from the shops were mass bred is ponds in Asia and shipped to Australia, the Usa, the Uk or another country and if you think that that is more right then catching a few fish from my local stream and breading them i think you have to take a minute and think it through.
 

DutchMuch

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Firstly; calm down take a deep breath (im serious) and re read your comment. Then read mine, its a hobby and we both only want to teach each other and other people, no need to be rude or anything. :)

Fish simply do not have the mental capacity to suffer from "imprisonment".
Fish, is a very large spectrum you covered which I could give a lot of answers but in this case its a tropical fish topic so ill stick to a tropical fish for this:
Yes. They can suffer from "imprisonment" its the same way that if you only get one kind of a schooling or shoaling fish, they will die due to stress and "loneliness". For example the common corydoras catfish species, if you get one of these fish, and put them in a small say five gallon tank, they will surely die. in less than a month, easily. If your in the hobby and do not know these things, then I must say you haven't stepped ankle deep into the freshwater fish keeping hobby, saltwater fish are completely different physically and mentally. Another good fish that can show how your quote here is incorrect is the FlowerHorn, if kept in a smaller size tank than should be, is that not considered imprisonment?
do not support the torture of fish or anything but to compare fish to humans is absolutely ridiculous and incorrect.
My quote:
Catching any wild fish is really and truly unsuitable and just flat out isn't right, that's like me taking you from your home and putting you in a box.
You act like I physically compared the fish to a human, with physical traits. and if you took it that way, well... like I said read stuff over again. You in this case can compare anything to a human if it is done right, within size of an area. For a rough example of what im saying;
Placing a blue powdered gourami in a five gallon tank, is the (Keyword here @prawn) equivalent to placing me in 10x10 ft room.
I am against the capture of wild fish yes, but I never got into detail about how "much" I am against it or anything. In my opinion, its just not right to some circumstances but if done properly I have no issue with it, and most hobbyist catch wild fish all the time (especially in india) and I have no problem with it, because they do it right.
Hope maybe you learned something from this
Nate
 
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Sorry i did not intend to sound rude and i appreciate your help. But i disagree with your first statement about it being "flat out not right" to keep wild fish. Firstly "imprisonment" and loneliness are two completely different things and not comparable. I do not keep single species of schooling fish so you have no need to worry! I agree with you on the tank being too small for the fish in question as i said in my previous post. But keeping pacific blue eyes (the wild caught fish that i keep) in a 65litre tank is not "like chucking a human in a box" and more like chucking and human with limited mental understanding into the space of a factory warehouse with plants and other natural comforts. See i was just saying that your statements were exaggerated, personified and a bit hypercritical when you said that it was wrong to keep wild fish but captive bred yes. I by no means am trying to attack you or sound rude just trying to share my thoughts and i know that tone is lost over the internet so messages can be interpreted harsher than intended.
Firstly; calm down take a deep breath (im serious) and re read your comment. Then read mine, its a hobby and we both only want to teach each other and other people, no need to be rude or anything. :)


Fish, is a very large spectrum you covered which I could give a lot of answers but in this case its a tropical fish topic so ill stick to a tropical fish for this:
Yes. They can suffer from "imprisonment" its the same way that if you only get one kind of a schooling or shoaling fish, they will die due to stress and "loneliness". For example the common corydoras catfish species, if you get one of these fish, and put them in a small say five gallon tank, they will surely die. in less than a month, easily. If your in the hobby and do not know these things, then I must say you haven't stepped ankle deep into the freshwater fish keeping hobby, saltwater fish are completely different physically and mentally. Another good fish that can show how your quote here is incorrect is the FlowerHorn, if kept in a smaller size tank than should be, is that not considered imprisonment?

My quote:

You act like I physically compared the fish to a human, with physical traits. and if you took it that way, well... like I said read stuff over again. You in this case can compare anything to a human if it is done right, within size of an area. For a rough example of what im saying;
Placing a blue powdered gourami in a five gallon tank, is the (Keyword here @prawn) equivalent to placing me in 10x10 ft room.
I am against the capture of wild fish yes, but I never got into detail about how "much" I am against it or anything. In my opinion, its just not right to some circumstances but if done properly I have no issue with it, and most hobbyist catch wild fish all the time (especially in india) and I have no problem with it, because they do it right.
Hope maybe you learned something from this
Nate
 

DutchMuch

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i know that tone is lost over the internet so messages can be interpreted harsher than intended.
your telling me! :ROFLMAO: I just read it wrong I guess its good !
"flat out not right" to keep wild fish
I am against the capture of wild fish yes, but I never got into detail about how "much" I am against it or anything. In my opinion, its just not right to some circumstances but if done properly I have no issue with it, and most hobbyist catch wild fish all the time (especially in india) and I have no problem with it, because they do it right.
im finding it hard to explain what im thinking (I think some of us have been there with doing that :coffee::coffee::coffee::bored: lol) and if I said that I was very unspecific.. I am talking about larger fish, like over 1 or 2 feet long. Pacific blue eyes and, corys, small fish are fine in a big world (tank) that like you provide has plants, and a natural environment to them. Support that!
Im talking about when people take a bass (have seen this first hand) and put it in a 100 gallon tank... Now that is wrong, and ill defend that on going and forever. Really I just used the wrong words and I was very unspecific, kind of clarifying myself here if you get me lol :banghead:
 
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Seems like the confusion here is caused by equating 'feelings' (which are absent in fish) with cultural requirements (which applies to all living things.)
your telling me! :ROFLMAO: I just read it wrong I guess its good !


im finding it hard to explain what im thinking (I think some of us have been there with doing that :coffee::coffee::coffee::bored: lol) and if I said that I was very unspecific.. I am talking about larger fish, like over 1 or 2 feet long. Pacific blue eyes and, corys, small fish are fine in a big world (tank) that like you provide has plants, and a natural environment to them. Support that!
Im talking about when people take a bass (have seen this first hand) and put it in a 100 gallon tank... Now that is wrong, and ill defend that on going and forever. Really I just used the wrong words and I was very unspecific, kind of clarifying myself here if you get me lol :banghead:
I completely agree and I understand what you are saying. Small fish wether captive bred or wild are completely fine in a tank as long as they have their specific needs such as space. It is worng however to go fishing and hook a bass for example and chuck it in your tank unless it is exceptionally huge (I mean like big garden pond size!) I'm glad that we both cleared things up and everything is good!

Cheers,
Tony
 
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They have done much more study on the mental and physical characteristics of fish in the last couple of decades. The notion that fish are somehow mentally miniscule, don't have feelings, don't feel pain, have short memories, and all those sorts of notions, have all been proven to be 100% wrong.

Fish have just as much mental aptitude as most other animals, including mammals and birds. They can be trained like mice to complete mazes and to react and learn to stimuli ('push the button and food comes out' tests, mazes, colour differentiation tests, and long term memory tests).

This does not necessarily relate to whether or not it is cruel to capture wild fish and put them in tanks, however if the argument for doing that is "fish don't know, don't remember, and don't have feelings" then that argument is 100% wrong.
 
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I can only imagine how numerous the amount of fish that die off out of ignorance when purchased from pet stores on a hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. The ongoing depletion of forests, streams, rivers, coral reef and cannonball effect it has and is causing.

I personally find it commendable that someone takes the time to join groups and asks questions. That Act alone, speaks volumes.

Principle is.. We cannot create life, therefore it was never ours to begin with. Treat life with respect and do your best. What more can one give.
 

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