The Hypocrite thread mbu

[jlnguyen74]

The issue is that a good percentage of peope rattling the "your tank is not big enough" saber actually have no firsthand experience with Mbu puffers and are just quoting what some self-proclaimed "expert" on the internet said.

I would venture a guess that those among us who have kept Mbu succesfully for some time spend more time enjoying our fish than running around the internet, trying to tell people they are wrong. At least that's how I feel.

Just my 2-cents.

You nailed it! Not only with Mbu, but also with any other fish, or fish relate issue. The ones who scream loudest are most likely also clueless!

 

[Dovii_Dan]

You would not like to see the one at lfs it is 20" in maybe a 100g tank

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[Jenerik]

You would not like to see the one at lfs it is 20" in maybe a 100g tank

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I raised ours to about 23" in a 125G but that was less than optimal and it was more a matter of waiting for the larger tank to arrive. Do-able but definitely neither a long-term nor permament solution.

 

[blondmyth]

Me either.



Exactly. Mbu are not exactly what I would consider a high energy, glass banging fish.

The tank in the link below is owned by a local person, a close friend of mine. (550 gallons, with a 130 gallon sump for filtration)

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=307959

The largest arowana in that comm tank was 30" (fish on the far right in the second pic) when that photo was taken, and it had no issues moving around comfortably in that tank. That tank (along with all of his other tanks, including another 550 gallon tank) is on an auto water change system, with that tank receiving 100+ gallons of fresh water on a daily basis. Nitrates never exceeded 10 ppm, and were typically in the 5 ppm range. I find it absurd to think that my friend couldn't house a single mbu in that system, based on that tanks size, filtration, or its water quality.

I suspect that if RTR had started out with such a system we would have never read about his 1,000 gallon min tank opinion.

Bringing this thread back up because I recently purchased an mbu. And still think the 1000g min tank "rule" for an mbu is utter nonsense.

It's just one man's personal OPINION, which has since been regurgitated blindly by a few others over the years. It's a fact that this is just his opinion, and it should be noted too that age and experience doesn't always necessarily translate to wisdom.

In the words of an American Harvard professor, the 1000g min tank for an mbu is "bs".

There are plenty of fishes that require a big tank, much more so than an mbu, if someone said a black tip reef shark required a huge tank I wouldn't disagree.

 

[RD.]

Wow, old thread bump. lol

I dropped out long before I read Heather's comment at post #244, which I believe summed things up very well.

The only absolutely 100% factual information we know about pretty much any fish, puffers or not, is that water quality should be kept as pristine as possible.

The size of the tank to keep a fish happy is fairly subjective. We anthropomorphize and for the most part none of us really know if a fish is happy. IMO, a fish is happy when it has plenty of food and feels secure. In the wild I'd say many fish don't meet that criteria because their whole life is spent avoiding predators and trying to get enough nutrition. I don't suggest putting a fish in a tank where it can't even turn around, but no doubt many fish don't need a pond or lake to feel secure and get enough exercise, and some are happy simply laying in one spot no matter what size the tank.

Nor should bioload strictly determine the size of the tank - but filtration, your ability to do adequate water changes, and how much you will realistically clean and maintain your filters. It doesn't matter if your fish is in 1000g tank if you're never going to do a water change and let detritus build up in your filtration system. Long term you'll be exactly where you would have been with a 180g tank doing more water changes more often because you found maintenance easier.

The whole more bioload = needs certain size tank is something parroted to beginners because they often have inadequate filtration, maintenance, and water change schedules.
An experiecned successful fishkeeper KNOWS that a bigger tank isn't a magical fix for bioload, and a smaller tank isn't automatically a polluted sewer, nor do we determine what size tank we buy depending on how "messy" our fish are. There is no one tank perfect for an estimated bioload based on the size and species of the fish because there are too many factors that change from fishkeeper to fishkeeper; feeding frequency and amount, type of food, etc.
You must determine based on your subjective view on what your fish needs according to size and energy level, your filtration setup, and your realistic ability to do sufficient water changes and maintenance for the amount of water vs the size, diet, and feeding amount/schedule for your fish.

This argument could go on and on forever, but there are too many factors depending on individual fish and individual owner.

IMO there was a lot of good info shared in this discussion, hopefully that information will help others down the road.

 

[Fat Homer]

Definitely a very old thread...

And while i am not here to argue tank sizes with anyone, since that is one dead horse i don't want to beat again (and no my argument isn't purely based upon bioload but thats another story and i digress so)... i am however still curious to know has anyone here kept an MBU in a tank 250G - 300G tank or smaller for a period of time of say 10 years or more...

Since it seems most people tend to sell of their MBU's or experience some type of problem which requires them to get rid of said fish long before its time???

If there is someone that has, then it would be great to hear how they did it, and how big the fish it now???

 

[jlnguyen74]

Definitely a very old thread...

And while i am not here to argue tank sizes with anyone, since that is one dead horse i don't want to beat again (and no my argument isn't purely based upon bioload but thats another story and i digress so)... i am however still curious to know has anyone here kept an MBU in a tank 250G - 300G tank or smaller for a period of time of say 10 years or more...

Since it seems most people tend to sell of their MBU's or experience some type of problem which requires them to get rid of said fish long before its time???

If there is someone that has, then it would be great to hear how they did it, and how big the fish it now???

You may want to broaden your view, and curious on how many people keep certain fish 10 years or more? There's thing called life, and it's full of surprise and demand. Getting married, getting divorced, getting new born, getting dead or illness in family or self, getting job that needs relocation, getting lay-off that needs relocation, getting too old that needs relocation out of parents house, getting bore with a solitaire fish and want a community tank, getting bore with freshwater and want a salt or reef tank, etc... Those are just a few curve balls that make your curiousity become obsolete!

 

[jlnguyen74]

It's hilarious that while you're aware that is one dead horse and don't want to beat it, yet you can't help yourself and poke it, which is kinda lame!