Fish age and acclimation

HewFoE · Jul 30, 2020

Howdy reefers!

So, I've never taken this into consideration and I am not curious: do younger or older fish have an easier time with acclimation?

For example, on live aquaria, would a "tiny" version of the same fish be less likely to accept a new tank than a "large"?

I was browsing and the thought crossed my mind... Other than having a larger fish sooner, what's the benefit of spending sometimes $50+ for a larger?

Indytraveler83 · Jul 30, 2020

Just my 2 cents:

As long as it's not an insanely young animal, I would imagine juvenile fish would adjust just as well as an adult. I think a wild caught juvenile fish would be more likely to adapt to processed foods and tank life than a wild caught adult as well.

The main benefits to a larger, adult fish would be 1) matching the size of animals already in the system to prevent bullying or excess aggression or 2) certain gender identity on some species.

I've bought mostly juvenile fish recently, but aggression has reared its head with very small anthias and wrasse, and I'll need to buy larger animals in the future to prevent them from being killed.

HewFoE · Jul 30, 2020

That makes sense. I want a Mandarin and was going to do captive/ora just to held with feedings (I have a 2 year old reef with a good pod community but still wanted the peace of mind). The issue is their captive/ora are only "tiny" which had me worried for the reasons you mentioned.

Indytraveler83 · Jul 30, 2020

HewFoE said:
That makes sense. I want a Mandarin and was going to do captive/ora just to held with feedings (I have a 2 year old reef with a good pod community but still wanted the peace of mind). The issue is their captive/ora are only "tiny" which had me worried for the reasons you mentioned.

I have no experience with Manderins, but I've heard people debate this frequently, as.the ORA ones can come rather tiny. The other issue with wild caught Manderins aside from food is that they can rarely be caught with non-traumatic methods, which makes them even more sensitive once you get them.

Hopefully someone with direct Manderin experience can chime in on the best way to get this particular animal.