Mad, I tend to agree about a 58 gal. hex.....a 5 foot, 100 gal. tank would have been highly preferable, but alas, this is Monday (Tuesday, now?
) quarterbacking and it obviously wasn't done out of malice or lack of caring.
This, at least to my mind, does bring up another question though......in cases where the fish are stunted solely by a smaller tank and NOT crowded into maddening circumstances, just how severely are they damaged?
I've seen cases where fish are pampered and spoiled, not harassed by other tankmates, and other than being housed in confined quarters, have had far less stress than any wild fish subject to normal predation that appear not only healthy, but actually happy and affectionate.
I once had a startling thought...to 2nd and 3rd generation fish that I'd bred and reared, I was God and these fish had no inkling of any other existence, thus appeared far happier than some of their wild cousins being stalked by pickerel, pike cichlids, etc.
I'm not passing judgement here, just tossing out food for thought, both pro and con...obviously, many fish will respond well to a lot of room.
John Roehrig, I'm certain that Mad wasn't targeting, harassing or implying anything about you individually......those of us who haunt these halls with some regularity do indeed see many "trollers" and differentiating between someone asking serious, thoughtful questions and someone out to start yet another hubub can be difficult.
It's sometimes frustrating to try and offer helpful advice only to have it turn out that you have been directing information to someone who could care less, or even worse, to someone who is simply looking for someone to agree with them to justify an obviously bad or stupid situation.