kingmatherz Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 Hi Guys, does anyone keep these and can you tell me about them? I have always wanted one, seen one at the pet shop for $92 - is this reasonable to pay, its only about 6cm long. Can you keep more than 1 in a tank? How do you sex them? What else can be kept with them? Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 Hey have had lots of experience with this. I have 2 currently, An American Tiger and a Indo Tiger. http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=h ... CCMQ9QEwBQ the above link tells you what you are looking at. In NZ, American tiger and Indo Tiger are most common. The rest are little to none around. anyways, they are easy to care for, just neesd good filtration. Questions 1) Size of Tank 2) Fitlration 3) Tank mates This fish is awesome. make suer you put on a diet of Prawns, preferably trained to eat pellets. Best way, is to go to your pet shop and ask them if you could see it eat pellets, thats best. Otherwise you will be feeding prawns all its life and will grow slower. with opellets they grow rapidly. It took me only 2.5 years for my American tiger to reach full size. but prawns, it could take longer! there is a myth out there that his fish is slow to grow. but that comes from feeding bloodworms and prawns only. Pellets, especially massivore delite by HIKARI will grow this fish fast - sometimes too fast:D Dont put anything small, it will eat it. you can put 2 together, or 10, tey dont tend to eat each other, its like a heirarchy, they know who si bos and dont eat small ones. but good to intro them when same size. you really need a good sized tank, good filter as they eat lots and poo lots. google has plenty info. keep in mind, eventually they get huge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 sexing is near impossible. breeding in captivity is unheard of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 oh yes, $90 to $100 is reasonable when yiou pick your fish, dont get the one with a abnormally large eyes compared to body. probably stunted. get one that is active, that eats when you are there. not just bloodworm. dont pick one that just hides right at the bottom corner and is skittish, pick one that at least reacts to your hand when feeding. the patters may be blurred when stressed, though this is a contraversial topic, some say that its natural some say when linse are clear fish are happy... but i anyway, plenty of arguaments out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingmatherz Posted December 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 thanks thats awesome, my tank is 270L and I have a Fluval 304 - do they sound ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingmatherz Posted December 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 thanks for that, theres only 1 at the pet shop at the mo but i only set my tank up on thursday so prolly gotta wait before i buy it a few more days so see if its still there. i have nothing else in the tank yet but thinking of getting a syno catfish in as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trav Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 i got 2 indoneasian dats for sale $80 each or $150 for both aswell as an american dat $60 if u interisted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted December 3, 2010 Report Share Posted December 3, 2010 270L will last you a little while, they need a bigger setup - 400L for 1 I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingmatherz Posted December 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 hey trav can u send me pics of the ones u have for sale? are u in aucks? what size are they? is a 270L too small u reckon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trav Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 270 is fine I think as they don't grow to fast and will only out grow it in a couple of years I think do u want me to pm u pics ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingmatherz Posted December 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 yes please pm pics trav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 I agree and disagree:) 270 is ok... that is the key word OK. growth of a dat will be dramatically stunted or slowed which usually leads tos tunting in a small tank. the waste a dat produces is the same and is constant. but if your tank is small....your volume of water and its ability to dilute nitrates and wastes are not as good as if the tank was big. I would say its OK.... but i wouldnt recommend it in all honesty. A syno... catfish, produces lots of waste, catfish can eat untill their belly is so fat they cant even touch their fins on the ground. Dats too. A healthy dat will eat untill its anus is almost popping out!! though thats nto good, but it can... a healthy dat has a healthy appetite If you were to put in a 270, you would have to manage its feeding and regulate it, meaning you wuold not grow it to ist full potential. The filter is ok for that size...thats great.... but i dont think its enough. If the date is tiny, thats ok, but as soon as the dat is 10cm plus... gotta double that. I used to do that too.,. small tank and upgrade but now im a fan... just get a big tank and plan ahead. .... thatway the full potential of the fish is achieved. just my 2.5 cents:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 also, when people comment on slow growth, as i said.... i believe most of the time its cos of the tank size. feeding and water change regime. that is key. my american dat is not 30cm or ust under whcih is pertty much max, huge monster - really thick bodied, active, hungry.... i only had it for 2.5 years at most. diet consists of massivore, prawns, beef, assorted pellets what ever went into the tank. My filtration is mega, my water change is too... and full size in 2.5 years. i got my indo dat to 30 cms or just under in same time frame - same diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trav Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 sorry for the late photos been busy here they are:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 http://fishkeepers.co.nz/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 I think henward the guru has pretty much summed it up: Small fish ok in 270L for a while, produces big waste, need good filtration, will need a larger tank within about a year depending on growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 hahaha henward the guru :oops: no, just what i have experienced with my dats and MONSTIFYING fish. my new word 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingmatherz Posted December 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2010 hmmmm im rethinking getting 1 then cause i dont wanna get a bigger tank... any other thoughts on what to get instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted December 9, 2010 Report Share Posted December 9, 2010 Well, what sort of stock are you after? Predatory, characterful, colourful, small community? I assume if you were keen on the tiger then you might be after predators? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingmatherz Posted December 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2010 yeah i dont want things like guppies mollies and ive had angels and discus so not them, something that gets big (but not huge so it can handle the tank size cause i dont wanna have to get a bigger tank) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted December 11, 2010 Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 270L and you want large fish. Limiting. Do you want only a couple of fish then with character or something? My choices: Bichirs- you can put quite a few in there, they are predators and my favourite fish - stick to delhezis/senegals, don't go for ornate as it gets too big. Nice cichlid: Really depends what you like i guess, I have a small jag cichlid cos they are bada$$ 8) A nice oscar is good, severum, uaru, festae, Green terror etc. Biggest baddest predatory cichlids here are the jaguar and the festae, oscar always wins on personality. Fancy plecos: expensive, not really predators but certainly have an appeal, ask henward about the larger ones, he has a few now - btw they are poop machines = good filter needed. Catfish: synodontis variants will harass bichirs, so tough mix, I am growing a pair of mystus cats right now and hope to add them to my community. Not too much choice but I highly reccomend the pictus cat, they are a tad expensive but are cool predatory catfishes. Pink tailed chalceus: you could do a small group of these fellas, they are like jumbo predatory tetras. Smaller varieties of eel: half-banded etc, need tank eel proofed, + larger cichlids will try to eat them, not very predatory but cool fish. Thats pretty much it I guess... might have missed something. My thoughts are go with a group of bichir (because they are easy to look after and super awesome) and grow out a few cichlids, sell the rest off and keep 1 that you really like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingmatherz Posted December 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 bichirs - i seen one of these at the shop its like a kinda eel thing, wondered what they were will an oscar be ok dont they get real big? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted December 11, 2010 Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 Well, I think that 1 oscar would be ok, but that other thread suggests people think differently lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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