Irridescent shark, NOT for the home aquarium either....

[Orion]

Originally Posted by JAWS69

They will only grow to the size of the tank.

This is only because the outside of the fish stops growing because there is no more room to grow. The internal organs continue to grow, and will eventualy kill the fish if something else doesn't kill it off sooner.

[Oralacerta]

Originally Posted by JAWS69

They will only grow to the size of the tank. I saw one at my local fish store in a big tank and it was about the size of my arm. Then I had one in a 20g and it got about 8inch.

Which is also known as stunting....

Aquariums are meant to simulate the natural environment of a certain fish, and if it accomplishes that, the fish will live longer and sometimes grow larger than in the wild, because there aren't dangers to the fish (besides its owners ignorance and/or neglect). An aquarium is a controlled environment and therefore, if we know what we are doing, are dedicated, and knowledgeable about the animal we are keeping, it will do much better than it would in the wild.

I'm not worried about offending believers of the "a fish won't outgrow its tank" mantra- a fish can't and won't and therefore will die instead of living a natural life. An aquarium is a simulation of real life, not a torture chamber. If you can't give a difficult or large fish the right environment, go for something easy. Otherwise, don't perpetuate this awful myth that fish are magically convenient creatures that won't grow too big if you don't want them to.

For different Pangasius Catfish pictures: Go to planetcatfish.com and you will see that there are several sub-species of the Pangasius Catfish. That's why some pictures labled "Pangasius" may look like different fish.

Iridescent Sharks, Pangasius hypophthalmus, are bred commercially in ponds, and some of these pictures and similar ones are most likely of people fishing from stocked ponds:
PlanetCatfish :: Cat-eLog :: Pangasiidae :: Pangasius hypophthalmus


Maybe some of our fish would live longer than us if we kept them properly. Just like parrots. Some macaws live much longer than their owners, but that's only when they are given the right environment: a large enough cage, a varied diet, social interaction, etc. If you kept a macaw in a 2'x2' cage, it would die prematurely. The only difference there is the macaw reaches its full size in 3-4 months, therefore you won't physically stunt its growth, but with fish luckily stunting is an outward symptom that we are doing something wrong and we can try not to repeat our mistake.

I hope no one thinks I am being unnecessarily forceful with my opinions, but the health and happiness of living creatures, whether it be people, dogs, fish, etc. is incredibly important to me, and should be for anyone who decides to take on the responsibly of owning a pet. Fish are so misunderstood and disregarded as some sub-standard form of life that they are mistreated and tortured every day, often by well-meaning people.

We shouldn't look at stunting as a convenient tool.

[drake53]

thats not a id shark. they have barbels.

[VicVegas84]

little late this thread is old

[Pure]

Drake that is an Irridescent shark.

[mistercoffee]

Boy I'm glad we didn't pick up 2 of these fish for our 10 gallon tank.

It said at the store they can grow up to a foot, just common sense told me they

Wouldn't fit.

[blueconvict2]

thats a big fella