ID Shark Housing

[BigTrain]

I have two 8", 5-year-old iridescent shark housed in an 125g aquarium. They share space with a 15" pleco and three 2" angel fish. The pleco and angel fish do not at all crowd the swimming area for the ID sharks.

I understand this is not adequate space for the life of these catfish, but is this area adequate for their current size?
Their growth has begun to slow, and I am somewhat concerned about stunting. The last thing I want to do is restrict the growth rate of these fish, but my finances have limits. I am in the process of saving for a 300g/500g aquarium, but it will be well over a year before I can afford a tank of such size.

 

[houie925]

125 is a little tight for an active fish like an ID shark, even at 8", but it's not terrible. Bigger concern is why your five year old IDs are 8" long. That's about 0.1" per month in the prime growth years of a fish that is farmed for food because it reaches market size quickly.


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[Karl K]

Yeh. 5 years and 8" may I ask if there eyes are large compared to their body and other id sharks?

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[divemaster99]

Yeh. 5 years and 8" may I ask if there eyes are large compared to their body and other id sharks?

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On a side note, does big eyes mean stunting I assume? There are three at one of my LFSs with HUGE eyes, looks like Popeye x10!

 

[Aweshade9]

yes large eyes in comparison to the body do most of the time means stunting. And it should about 2.5 feet by now at least

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

8" in 125 gal is good, IMO.

... And it should about 2.5 feet by now at least

That's what I used to think too for years based on my experience and that of others. I have changed my view because of the threads like this http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...05668-ID-sharks-theories&highlight=IDS+growth

There appears to be some IDSs that grow slow and small. ATM, it remains an unexplained mystery AFAIK.

 

[Aweshade9]

8" in 125 gal is good, IMO.



That's what I used to think too for years based on my experience and that of others. I have changed my view because of the threads like this http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...05668-ID-sharks-theories&highlight=IDS+growth

There appears to be some IDSs that grow slow and small. ATM, it remains an unexplained mystery AFAIK.

hmm quite peculiar. But he did say that the eyes were large in comparison to the body, so that may be an indication that it is stunted.

 

[BigTrain]

I'm glad that you brought up large eyes. Both sharks have large eyes that do not react to fungal or bacterial treatment.
Their slow growth might be explained by the tank sizes they've lived in. They've moved from 20g, to 55g, to 125g. I've tried graduating them as they seemed to outgrow their tank.

I still own the 55g, but it is currently stocked with a 7" African Featherfin and a 5" pictus catfish. Would it help to move the angel fish to the smaller tank?

 

[Aweshade9]

not really

 

[BigTrain]

Also, how much urgency should I have towards getting a larger tank, considering they could already be stunted? I've seen other ID sharks die from it.