Thoughts on stocking with the intent to upgrade tanks later?

[TheStrangler]

I've heard across multiple discussions and threads where people will stock juvenile fish in small tanks such as the small Biota yellow tangs with the intent to move them to a larger tank before they reach maturity and outgrow the smaller tank. But is it actually a good/ethical idea? I've currently got a 40 gallon tank that only has two small clownfish and coral in it, but will have a 75-90 gallon tank with near certainty within a year to allow me to continue to expand. I've considered but shied away from the idea of stocking both a ~1.5 inch yellow tang and ~1.5 inch iridis wrasse in the near empty 40 gallon with the intent to move them into the appropriate sized tank before they reach maturity. I just wanted to see if the frequent posts I see OKing it is actually the consensus of the majority that its healthy and fine for the animals, or should they be placed in an appropriate sized tank from the beginning?

 

[blaxsun]

Is it ethical to buy wild-caught fish where they've used cyanide to harvest them, they sit in tiny little "fish cubicles" waiting to be shipped and probably half die before they even land in your LFS.

I have no problem with anyone who purchases "pint size" fish to houses them (temporarily) in a smaller aquarium while they work on upgrading to a larger one. In most instances the smaller tank will still be far and away better accommodation than what the fish supplier, distributor and LFS has available.

Obviously I wouldn't recommend placing a half dozen 1.5" yellow tangs in a 40-gallon tank - so the caveat of "within reason" applies (even though common sense often does not).

 

[TheStrangler]

Yeah I just can't shake the iffy feeling about it, so I figure I ought not. No judgement on others that decide to do it, but I guess I can't predict the future. I may plan to have something perfect setup but who knows what could prevent me from doing so. The iridis is only a few gallons short of acceptable, so I may consider it still, but the YT I'll skip until the upgrade.