View Full Version : african tiger fish info please..
i'm thinking of buying an african tigerfish and would like some info on them like temprement, max size, what foods to feed (can they be trained to eat frozen foods?), tankmates, growth rates, etc..
please include your experiences on rearing them, would love to hear other peoples good and bad points on keeping them..
also, i've heard of 2 species vittatus and goliath, what's the difference with both? which one is better?
please post some pics of you tigerfish if you can, would really appreciate it.. thanks :)
YOULOOKLIKEAFISH
06-27-2005, 7:24 PM
too big for any tank under 1000 gallons. No tank mates, even if they're bigger then him he'll just take him apart peice by peice. my advice choose a different less expensive fish
YOULOOKLIKEAFISH
06-27-2005, 9:43 PM
H. goliath = 6 ft
H. vittatus = 3 ft
not smart to stick your hands or other appendage into the tank containing this potentially dangerous or even deadly fish
"a perfect machine devised by nature for one purpose. "
rayman45
06-27-2005, 10:02 PM
can we get info from not a nub
YOULOOKLIKEAFISH
06-27-2005, 10:06 PM
might be a newb to this site but not fish keeping
rayman45
06-27-2005, 10:09 PM
:newbie:
YOULOOKLIKEAFISH
06-27-2005, 10:14 PM
:y220e:
ashdavid
06-27-2005, 11:39 PM
I have one in my 1850g with 25 or more aggresive cichlids, tank size does play a part in whether it will be bothered by tank mates. He does chase one of my smaller balas if it is only for a second, but it is not a "I want to eat you chase" b/c if he did want to eat the bala it would be gone now, more so it is a territory thing. I have to agree that 1000g tank b/c of the fact that they are chase predator, and they are fast, faster than any fish that I have had.
The TRUST
06-28-2005, 12:34 AM
i'm thinking of buying an african tigerfish and would like some info on them like temprement, max size, what foods to feed (can they be trained to eat frozen foods?), tankmates, growth rates, etc..
please include your experiences on rearing them, would love to hear other peoples good and bad points on keeping them..
also, i've heard of 2 species vittatus and goliath, what's the difference with both? which one is better?
please post some pics of you tigerfish if you can, would really appreciate it.. thanks :)
African Tiger fish are very skittish fish that need a long tank when they do the "dash" of death. I have heard when of some people keeping them that they literally rammed themselves to death.
they eat usually feeders, can be weaned onto frozen foods but RARELY weened to pellets.
Growth rate IMO is not fast but that is just my opinion. The most commoly available species is H. Vittatus every once in a while H. Goliath and H..Forkshali (not sure on spelling). IMO Vittatus is the most beautiful. They have a very nice proportioned body shape and have nice sharp edged fins.
Most of the pics of Goliaths I have seen are more stockier and their finage doesn't seem to be very pointed. More rounded in fact.
Forkshali (spelling??) Seem to have the same finage as vittatus but have a very slender body.
I am not a ATF expert so please feel free to correct me.
hemptation88
06-28-2005, 12:50 AM
i got a small one in a 55g and im planin on gettin a bigger tank. My atf gets scared very easily and bumps into the glass alot, the other day he bent a tooth but not its startin to recover and a week ago it jumped out across the room and landed next to my comp tower. i got it off live pretty easily, basically i feed it live till it got comfy in the new tank(dont kno if thats neccesary but w/e) then i starved it for a week untill it started goin for frozen krill. thats all i feed it now except for wen i wana have a lil fun w/ feeders lol. I keep my atf w/ sum bala sharks and red tail barracudas and they did fine, but he killed my rainbow shark, small puffer, and bit a chunk off my saber tusk barracuda. I really like the fish except that its such a bittchh when its scared. Maybe a fix for this wuld be to school em??
ashdavid
06-28-2005, 8:14 AM
I have never had a problem with my ATF being skittish, but thats just my experience.
tigerfangs
06-28-2005, 1:14 PM
ashdavid, the bigger the tank the less skittish. In a 180g, mine were very skittish. In a 900g the same fish are not at all. In your monstrosity of a tank, I would believe that they'd act just as if they were in the wild. The larger the tank the more secure they feel.
youlooklikeafish, those sizes are reported maximum sizes in the wild. A lot of what you posted is staight off of Aquaria Central. I wonder how old that info is anyway. There are several people here inculding myself that have extensive experience with them, and they can be successfully kept in very large home aquariums. They can have tankmates as long as they are well fed and the tankmates are big enough to not be seen as prey. They aren't the meanest fish around. For the most part, the kill to eat as most true predators do. They can be territorial, but in juvenile stages many get killed off by more aggressive fish such as large cichlids, african pike, etc...
Trust, I agree with you that the Vittatus is the most attractive of the tigers. They are slimmer than Goliath, but the fins on the Goliath are not rounded. They are very much pointed, but colorless except for the caudal which has lots of red in it.
The TRUST
06-28-2005, 1:41 PM
I have never had a problem with my ATF being skittish, but thats just my experience.
U have an ATF In your bigh tank???????????? Pics pics!!!!
The TRUST
06-28-2005, 1:42 PM
Trust, I agree with you that the Vittatus is the most attractive of the tigers. They are slimmer than Goliath, but the fins on the Goliath are not rounded. They are very much pointed, but colorless except for the caudal which has lots of red in it.
Ah cool! Learning new stuff everyday. :) Reason I said rounded was because I saw them in Japanese Magainzes as juvies. Most of the ones the call "goliath" are shown having rounder tails. I'll try to dig up a pic.
tigerfangs
06-28-2005, 1:48 PM
Cool, eagerly waiting.
ashdavid
06-28-2005, 6:58 PM
Cool, eagerly waiting.
That looks like a Vittatus in your Avatar. :cheers:
thanks for the reply guys :)
ashdavid, as with trust i would really like to see some pics of your vittatus :)
tigerfangs, thanks for the info.. could you post pics of a vittatus and a goliath just to see some differences between them? and i saw a pic of your vittatus in your gallery boy that is are really nice fish :) .. one question though, what type of frozen foods have you gotten this guy to eat regularly? and i was expecting them to be top level fish like that of an arowana, do they spend more time at the top or bottom? and are they active fish? or do they just stay in one place?
ashdavid
06-28-2005, 10:12 PM
They stay at the top. I only feed mine frozen foods, it took 2 weeks of staving him until he was just skin and bones, I really could see his bone structure, I though he wasn't going to make it then whack he made mince meat out of a dead shrimp . As for the pics I have tried before to get pics but he dose not stop moving, and when you get near the tank or come into the room he gets all excited and swims all over the tank looking for food(always looking up I must say, b/c thats where the food comes from). I will give it another shot , but no promises.LOL :hitting:
hemptation88
06-28-2005, 10:35 PM
i was told mine is a goliath because of the pointed tail instead of it being rounded... It also doesnt have alot of red in the tail, just very light small strip of red on the whole tail with black at the end. Vittatus or goliath??
guppy
06-28-2005, 11:38 PM
Do you think a full grown goliath in an outdoor pool would take care of the heron and racoon problem? Hmmmm.
tigerfangs
06-29-2005, 2:38 AM
That looks like a Vittatus in your Avatar. :cheers:
Correct. He's my nicest looking Vittatus proportionately at this time.
hemptation, pics would really help. The info you gave is not enough to differentiate. ALL my ATFs have pointed fins.
guppy, I don't think so. These animals are usually pretty clever. Besides, a full-grown ATF isn't going to be at the edge (shallows) of a pond or lake to able to successfully strike and catch those guys.
ashdavid
06-29-2005, 2:46 AM
Correct. He's my nicest looking Vittatus proportionately at this time.
hemptation, pics would really help. The info you gave is not enough to differentiate. ALL my ATFs have pointed fins.
guppy, I don't think so. These animals are usually pretty clever. Besides, a full-grown ATF isn't going to be at the edge (shallows) of a pond or lake to able to successfully strike and catch those guys.
Do you keep your ATF's all in one tank? How many you got now? What eles do you keep them with?
tigerfangs
06-29-2005, 2:53 AM
Yes, I keep all 5 in the same tank. Tankmates include 5 african cichlids, 3 bichirs, an Afer knife, some tinfoil barbs (dithers), and 2 tarpon. Its great! There is hardly any fighting, just a chase here and there.
ashdavid
06-29-2005, 3:30 AM
Awesome! If thats the case I am going to get a few more ATF's, especially a goliath.
tigerfangs
06-29-2005, 12:11 PM
Go for it! I can't promise you it'll work. Mine have been together for 1 1/2yrs, but when I introduced them they were only about 2 1/2 - 3". I believe I read that your's is 12" now. That might be a little tougher to do as it is difficult to find them larger than 5-6" in any numbers for sale. I'd advise to get the largest you can get and add at least 3 more, or your original may go ballistic and kill the new ones. Also, if you're thinking about getting a Goliath, they aren't as aggressive as the Vittatus as juveniles. What I'm trying to say is, don't get a Goliath now with the only other ATF being a single Vittatus. It will most likely kill that Goliath. If you have several Vittatus they will scrap amongst each other and should leave the Goliath alone. As long as the Goliath gets its share of food it will outgrow the Vittatus and then you won't have to worry anymore.
piranha45
06-29-2005, 5:46 PM
how big are your tiger fish now, fangs?
tigerfangs
06-30-2005, 2:55 AM
The smallest is 12" and the largest is 14". They'd grow faster if fed live foods, but I don't want to chance a parasite outbreak.
The smallest is 12" and the largest is 14". They'd grow faster if fed live foods, but I don't want to chance a parasite outbreak.
how fast are their grow rate's in your experience? from 4-12"? also if fed with live foods how much faster would the grow rates be?
piranha45
06-30-2005, 7:18 AM
KIDO:
Go for it! I can't promise you it'll work. Mine have been together for 1 1/2yrs, but when I introduced them they were only about 2 1/2 - 3".
IoStrisciare
06-30-2005, 8:29 AM
Ah cool! Learning new stuff everyday. :) Reason I said rounded was because I saw them in Japanese Magainzes as juvies. Most of the ones the call "goliath" are shown having rounder tails. I'll try to dig up a pic.
would it be this one?
http://www.aqua-terra-net.de/Hydro/Sonder/salmler/bilder/020Hydrocynus%20goliatha.jpg
IoStrisciare
06-30-2005, 8:31 AM
Screwed up pic i know...
but the best i could take of this "goliath" labelled by the LFS...
has an enlarged lower caudal and lower jaw is protruding and golden finnage save for tt red patch...
ashdavid
06-30-2005, 10:17 AM
Screwed up pic i know...
but the best i could take of this "goliath" labelled by the LFS...
has an enlarged lower caudal and lower jaw is protruding and golden finnage save for tt red patch...
It is hard to tell but with the body markings on this fish it dosen't look like a goliath to me.
R1_Ridah
06-30-2005, 10:23 AM
Looks like a Vittatus....
R1_Ridah
06-30-2005, 10:26 AM
would it be this one?
http://www.aqua-terra-net.de/Hydro/Sonder/salmler/bilder/020Hydrocynus%20goliatha.jpg
Looks like a smaller version of Tfangs Goliath, specially the mouth/nose area...
IoStrisciare
06-30-2005, 10:49 AM
It is hard to tell but with the body markings on this fish it dosen't look like a goliath to me.
agreed... but doesnt exactly match with the vittatus profile... so i'm kinda labelling it as a mystery ATF...
havent been able to locate a true goliath as of yet... though i have a likely suspect...
IoStrisciare
06-30-2005, 10:59 AM
Taiwanese pic of my mystery ATF...
labelled as Goliath too...
http://www.aquapets.com.tw/aquapets/images/aq-pic/e-20/TN_2001-01.JPG
The TRUST
06-30-2005, 11:10 AM
agreed... but doesnt exactly match with the vittatus profile... so i'm kinda labelling it as a mystery ATF...
havent been able to locate a true goliath as of yet... though i have a likely suspect...
The ones I see pics of in the Kapanese magazines look like this fish.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1308&stc=1
IoStrisciare
06-30-2005, 11:18 AM
The ones I see pics of in the Kapanese magazines look like this fish.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1308&stc=1
this i suspect is the true goliath....
rayman45
06-30-2005, 11:19 AM
Taiwanese pic of my mystery ATF...
labelled as Goliath too...
http://www.aquapets.com.tw/aquapets/images/aq-pic/e-20/TN_2001-01.JPG
i like this one
tigerfangs
06-30-2005, 12:57 PM
Oops, qouted the wrong post.
tigerfangs
06-30-2005, 12:59 PM
Taiwanese pic of my mystery ATF...
labelled as Goliath too...
http://www.aquapets.com.tw/aquapets/images/aq-pic/e-20/TN_2001-01.JPG
not a Goliath, but a very nice looking ATF never the less.
tigerfangs
06-30-2005, 1:01 PM
would it be this one?
http://www.aqua-terra-net.de/Hydro/Sonder/salmler/bilder/020Hydrocynus%20goliatha.jpg
This is a juvenile Goliath. :hearts:
tigerfangs
06-30-2005, 1:05 PM
The ones I see pics of in the Kapanese magazines look like this fish.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1308&stc=1
An even smaller one, but definately a true Goliath ATF! The fins are rounded because of its small size. They will get pointed as the fish grows.
tigerfangs
06-30-2005, 1:13 PM
Screwed up pic i know...
but the best i could take of this "goliath" labelled by the LFS...
has an enlarged lower caudal and lower jaw is protruding and golden finnage save for tt red patch...
Sorry man, Definately not a Goliath. It has the prominant lateral stipes, yellow coloration on the pelvic, anal, upper lobe of the caudal fin. Goliaths don't have these.
IoStrisciare
06-30-2005, 1:27 PM
Sorry man, Definately not a Goliath. It has the prominant lateral stipes, yellow coloration on the pelvic, anal, upper lobe of the caudal fin. Goliaths don't have these.
yea... thought so...
You keep any goliaths? What size tank do you keep them in if so?
tigerfangs
06-30-2005, 2:16 PM
Yes, I got lucky about a year ago and scored a Goliath. I keep it with 4 Vittatus in a well stocked 900g tank.
hemptation88
06-30-2005, 3:37 PM
how do u put a picture here?? ATF.jpg This isnt workin
hemptation88
06-30-2005, 4:01 PM
its also in my personal gallery now.. im thinkin its not a goliath duno tho
ashdavid
06-30-2005, 7:10 PM
Taiwanese pic of my mystery ATF...
labelled as Goliath too...
http://www.aquapets.com.tw/aquapets/images/aq-pic/e-20/TN_2001-01.JPG
This is exactly my ATF, I was a bit confused myself. I don't know if it was a Goliath or not , my lfs said it was but Imo this was not a golaith. I really don't know what type it is , I can only assume it is a Vitt ATF