Do fish travel far?

[ND1990]

I can’t find anything, so if you have have links or info let me know! I was curious to know if fish travel far in the wild or if they stick to a location? 

Always curious and felt kinda bad keeping fish in a smaller tank, do they get bored kinda thing? Unless their not developed to think like that. I got a 125 gallon, but I miss my 75 and thinking of downgrading back. 

Curious what you fine folks thoughts are? 
I promise I’m not weird, I’ve been home for 2 weeks so maybe I’m going crazy lol

[CalmedByFish]

It probably depends on the species. Interesting question.

I've always thought that if fish can do well in a pond, they probably don't need a ton of variety in their environment. 

If they traveled, say, a mile in a stream or river, it would probably look and feel similar through the whole mile. 

I'll be interested in others' answers.

[Patrick_G]

My favorite wild fish, Steelhead, travel hundreds or even thousands of miles from the ocean to the streams were they were born. They spawn and then return to the ocean. Some complete the journey many times over their life spans.
 

Bluefin tuna sometimes travel even further. In the pacific they swim from Japan to North America and back. In the Atlantic they might travel from the eastern Mediterranean to the North Sea. 

[Colu]

There's lots of species of fish that migrate Hugh distance to breed lots of species of catfish from the Amazon  migrate 100s or thousands of miles to breed as well as lots of salmon and trout species

[Dancing Matt]

Some fish do for sure. Most of the ones I can think of that do are larger fish who live and spawn in different environments, often spending part of their life in marine environments.

Some small fish maybe not so much. I remember an "aquarist podcast" episode... maybe 67? They were talking about fish found in one section of a stream where hot springs fed warm water that allowed fish to survive in that section but not farther down, past some falls, where water was significantly cooler. This means these populations are not moving beyond but staying in an aria that is habitable and allows breeding.

Something to remember is that many animals are trying to minimize activity because it carries risk (predation, burning precious energy). If you are a grazer, you are likely to go where food is (carp, deer). Ambush predators (angler fish, snapping turtle) don't want to move because then they give them selves away. Some reasons to move are food, mating (finding a mate or acquiring a mate), territory (often established for finding food and mating).

Watching my white clouds, they are most active when I feed them, they are looking for food, or mating. After chow time they sit and hide in the plants. My corydoras are the same. Fish that are constantly moving, with behaviors that are akin to pelagic fish, are ones that likely need large spaces. Cory talking about his paroon shark make me think of this where they were constantly moving and he had concerns about them in his large tanks.

All that to say, some likely need bigger tanks, some are likely fine. I would love to hear from a specialists that studies minnows or small species of fish to know if there are ranges based off different species or such.

[Tanked]

It depends on how narrowly you define travel.

In the wild we know that some fish migrate great distances, for breeding purposes, and others travel chasing food.  Some species of sharks must swim to live, and reef fish never stray far from the reef.  They all remain where conditions are the best for them.

Watching the fishcam as I type, all of the fish are everywhere in the aquarium.  Its a party!  Nature is just now lighting their world.  Later today when the lights come on, the shoaling fish will regroup on the side closest to the HOB. swimming in the Elodea.  I guess the the answer is Yes, No, and Maybe.