Young or Full grown fish?

[Nigma]

just wondering, when buying fish/live stock is it best to buy young or fully grown/mature fish?

do young fish do better in aquariums? or adults? does it depends more on the species?

i am guessing its more of a healthy fish in a healthy tank is all that matters? or age does count? i am not sure....

[BLAKEJOHN]

When purchasing fish always buy them as if they are full grown. What I mean by this is do not get a fish that is 2" and put it in a 30g tank when its full size will be 15" or get something that requires more room than you have available for territory.

As for age I dont think it matters much except for personal preference. Some times some fish are more aggresive with age and some are not. Some fish feed on different things at different ages (excluding fry). The best thing is to research the fish or fishes you intend to get.

When planing to purchase try to watch the fishh for a couple of weeks before you buy. See if it eats well, watch its temperment (which still might change), see if it digresses. Most places will require a deposit to hold a fish like this but also most will give your deposit back or let you use it as credit if you decide against the purchase.

[DaveK]

While adult size should be considered when you purchase a fish, generally younger, smaller fish adapt better to aquarium life. Smaller fish will also cost a lot less.

This only holds true to a point. If you get something too small, you are in effect dealing with a baby. For example, if I was getting a yellow tang, I'd look for something about 2 or 3 inches, and avoid anything much smaller.

Also, size will come in time. They will grow, so there is no need to get a full size adult fish.

[Nigma]

thanks for the advise guys!

been thinking about getting a blue hippo tang, and the LFS always has them, but they r so tiny! like 1.5" they are always very hungry, he sells them cheap, 20 bucks or so for the lil ones,

he some times have larger ones, 4" or so, but sells them for 30-40$

the only thing is.. he keeps the small ones in groups of 6-8... i can never remember which one I want, or if which one is the healthiest....

[r2d2]

$20 for a hippo tang? Thats very nice! Here you get that same hippo size for about $70

Greetings

[Nigma]

heh yeah, i am lucky enough to live in the OC i guess... there is so many SW fish stores around me.... competition is crazy!

most of them r really bad, but there is 1 or 3 that r good and clean.

[Clownfish518]

Fish that are too young or fully mature for the big species don't ship as well. Juvenile/young adults are the best shippers. I work at an LFS, and see a lot of fish, and that is my experience.