Stabilizing tigers

tomuhs

tomuhs

New Member
Just noticed a LFS had brought in a couple of Dats (looked to be NTT thin bar) and they were really black and unstable. Was hoping to get my feet wet with these beautiful fishes; I just wanted to get some opinions from Dat keepers regarding stabilizing Dats. I think having pristine water and good params is pretty much a given but I would like to hear any suggestions or tips.

Things that I have read:
1. Seen very mixed feelings regarding hiding spots...some say yes some say no.
2. Adding Dither fish.
3. Adding a predator (one person mentioned that their dat stabilized when he put it in with his Tigrinus...)
4. Having low lighting and black tank.
5. Haven't read anything regarding flow...would anyone know if they prefer high vs lo?
6. Found in brackish water therefore would you want to add salt (if you haven't been already after each wc.)

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
ID

So picked up the little fellow and lo and behold he becomes stable overnight. Seems to be quite comfy in his new setting.

What do you guys think? Any help ID the fish would be appreciated too!

Was leaning towards NTT but perhaps could be 3 Bar Indo? Any input from the masters would be great!
 

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nice ntt!

its good that he is stable. only thing about ntts, they have sudden death syndrom. that why there arent a lot of bigger ones around. my friend raised 2 ntts to about 9-10 inch and both died within a week of each other. all tank parameters were the same.

i find having hiding spots make dats unstable. they are a creature that likes to hide behind objects and will do so when there are ornaments in the tank. they are also more shy and will only come out during feeding.

predator can work both ways. they can be super scared of the predator and cower in the corner or they can be bold, showing full colour.

i have lots of flow in my tank and my dat loves swimming against it.
 
Thanks for the input Mike! Gonna get my feet wet with this NTT and will hopefully grab a Pulcher off you once I get my 500+ gal tank planned and setup.

Haha you sure called it regarding the hiding spots. My NTT found a impossibly small slit underneath my driftwood and has since made it its second home. Still stable but a bit worried about the sudden death syndrome. I'm curious as to know why they died too; perhaps one died of natural causes and the other died due to loneliness? I do know that terrestrial pets that are partnered usually don't last too long after their partner passes, but I wonder if this applies to fish...just speculating lol.

What LFS do you find these? Are there any left?
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Trevs picked up this guy off Wayne at Riverfront. By far the nicest one he had (there should be a couple left) as the others were especially dark and their lines were not very clean at all. Very cool personalities; love how they peak around corners in ambush mode.
 
tomuhs said:
Trevs picked up this guy off Wayne at Riverfront. By far the nicest one he had (there should be a couple left) as the others were especially dark and their lines were not very clean at all. Very cool personalities; love how they peak around corners in ambush mode.
Click to expand...


wow really? he was supposed to bring some larger dats in for me.
what size are they?
 
I think that's a good observation, Mike. I have a big NGT who ive noticed is much more stable in a tank with no driftwood, etc. With places to hide, the only time I really see him stable is when he's eating.

I've also noticed that dats do better with tank mates than on their on. Perhaps the competition for food fuels their predatory instincts and forces them to assert some dominance? When I had mine in with my aro, the aro was king and he knew it. Still the dat never looked better!


exoticaquaria said:
i find having hiding spots make dats unstable. they are a creature that likes to hide behind objects and will do so when there are ornaments in the tank. they are also more shy and will only come out during feeding.

predator can work both ways. they can be super scared of the predator and cower in the corner or they can be bold, showing full colour.

i have lots of flow in my tank and my dat loves swimming against it.
Click to expand...
 
bcarlos said:
I think that's a good observation, Mike. I have a big NGT who ive noticed is much more stable in a tank with no driftwood, etc. With places to hide, the only time I really see him stable is when he's eating.

I've also noticed that dats do better with tank mates than on their on. Perhaps the competition for food fuels their predatory instincts and forces them to assert some dominance? When I had mine in with my aro, the aro was king and he knew it. Still the dat never looked better!
Click to expand...

Mine is currently hiding under some driftwood and hadn't come out to eat yet. Hopefully it won't starve itself to death. I'm tempted to take your recommendations and remove my driftwood.

Stankonia said:
wow really? he was supposed to bring some larger dats in for me.
what size are they?
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They are all around 5 inches. One stable one left among the 4 left. What size where you going for?
 
I agree with Brandon, more hiding space means less time or you to see him and for him to see you...and asking them more skiddish.
 
They are mostly likely eating live and it takes a little while to get them to eat frozen or pellets. I seen them today at Riverfront and they had some minnows in the tank.
 
tomuhs said:
Mine is currently hiding under some driftwood and hadn't come out to eat yet. Hopefully it won't starve itself to death. I'm tempted to take your recommendations and remove my driftwood.



They are all around 5 inches. One stable one left among the 4 left. What size where you going for?
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im looking for 8+

i had a tank full of the same ones around that size, took a couple of days for them to start eating, after a while they would eat anything dropped in the tank.
removing the driftwood didnt help for me, they just starting hiding behind my filters
 
Stankonia said:
im looking for 8+

i had a tank full of the same ones around that size, took a couple of days for them to start eating, after a while they would eat anything dropped in the tank.
removing the driftwood didnt help for me, they just starting hiding behind my filters
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Wow 8+ would be really nice! Heard they grow really really slow. Anyone have any experience as to how fast they grow? 1'' a month?

Thanks for the input Stankonia; i'm still a bit worried with mine as he rarely comes out now. I'm considering moving him to a 90 Gal until he starts taking dead foods. Does anyone know if Dats have a tendency to jump as my 90 gal does not have a cover but water level is lower.
 
no one can say for sure how to make them stable

i have some in my tank that are stable others that are not some water with no hiding places

if you want to see your tigers and not have aros attacking them then dont have hiding places or the aro will attack everytime the tiger pops his head out

a lot of big ST are sold due to conflict with aros

and how are you going to provide a hiding place for a 24inch + tiger
 
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