Tigrinus owners, please check my set-up

[Blackwater]

This is my 180 (72x24x24) that I plan to add a 5" Tigrinus to. It has a 29 gallon wet/dry with 10 gallons of bio-balls and twin Mag Drive 7's for returns. It also has 2 Eheim 2217 cans so filtration and flow/turnover is good. I am wondering about aquascaping, you can see I have driftwood and fake plants, any changes I need to make to it?? I also use 100% RO/DI water and I need to know what GH and KH these fish prefer. I am still wondering about tankmates, I am sure a Black Arowana would get too big for my 180 when grown so that leaves me wondering about a couple good and gentle tankmates. Dats have been suggested and I am trying to source a couple now but I'd be open to other ideas for sure??? I thought about Gold Severums but someone said they may be aggressive towards the cat? Tinfoil Barbs may work, but they aren't exactly my fave. I'm looking for the Siamese Tiger Dats, masybe that's the way to go? I just want to make sure I have everything ok before I drop $250 + shipping on the Tigrinus!!!! I am currently doing a fishless cycle with Bio-Spira and it is proceeding well but slow. Any advive from the people who have Tigs would really help alot.

[Tigrinus]

That set up looks really nice. It seems like you are highly prepared for the Tigrinus. As for tankmates, freshwater stingrays are fun. I currently have a big school of silver dollars, a juruense, and a peacockbass with my tigrinus.

Be careful with RO water, because it can cause pH crashes. Ask katfishguy(Nishant) about it.

I suppose dats are good tankmates as long as they are big enough to not get eaten. I prefer my aquariums to be based off of specific regions though. South American Themes mostly. Your aquascaping looks pretty nice,,,im guessing the tigrinus is going to sit behind one of those peices of driftwood. You may not be able to see him too well.

[Blackwater]

I have thought about Silver Dollars but was afraid the Tig would eat them, maybe I will try a school of them and see though. I agree with what you are saying about the R/O water, I always meassure GH, KH, PH and TDS before adding it into my tanks to make sure the alkalinity is high enough to avoid a crash. Wouldn't an adult Tigrinus eat an adult Silver Dollar? I thought Silver Dollars got like 6-8"?? but if they are working in your tank, I'll give it a shot! I love Stingrays but am holding off getting any untill I get an indoor pond up and running of at least 300 gallons, and I don't want any tankmates in with rays so I can keep Nitrates low. Thanks for the input, I am pretty nervous about getting this fish.

[Tigrinus]

As for silver dollars. The black bars get pretty big. I have seen them 9" plus in diameter at the Shedd Aquarium. Im not sure about regulars or red hooks. They are getting along fine as of right now. Even though Tigrinus have big mouths, I doubt a 24" tigrinus could eat a 8-10" in diamter fish. Big silver dollars are fast and powerful as well. A 24" tigs mouth is not as wide as a rtc, tsn, planiceps, or l. marmoratus at that size.

I heard silver dollars have bitten the filaments on cats before so i guess that is a downside.

a quick pic of a few mine

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Tig4life/newpeacockbass0301.jpg

[Blackwater]

Those are really nice fish!!! What about Tinfoil Barbs? or maybe a few Discus??

[Blackwater]

Bala Sharks?? or maybe just no tankmates at all. These Tigs are just gorgeous, and I would be so pissed if some $2.99 Petco dropout fish chewed the cats streamers!!! Maybe I should just spoil the Tig and let him have the 180 to himself???

[CentralMayhem]

discus with tigrinus. hahahahaha feel sorry for those discus. not a good combo in my opinion. but then again i have seen some crazy schit work with fish youd never think of mixing.

[Tigrinus]

I think having one tig in a 180g will bore you. I love tigrinus and they are one of my favs, but they don't move during the day and they like to hide.

Maybe you can start off with the tig, let it get settled in and then decide. You can always add tankmates. Ill keep trying to think of more tankmates...

Just curious,,,how old are you and where are you getting the tig from?

[Blackwater]

I am 35, looking at a 5" Tig from George at Shark Aquarium, $250+$60 shipping. I know it will be a pretty lethargic creature most of the time. My biggest concern is that I don't want any potential tankmates to harm him or stress him out. I also don't want any tankmates that may be prone to a particular disease to get stressed and then get diseased and pass it to the Tig. I have been searching and searching the net looking at candidates. I am leaning towards Red Hook Silver Dollars. I guess I could try it and if I see any aggression or stress on the part of the Tig, the Silver Dollars would be pulled from the tank?? I really am looking for a "pet" more than a tank specimen. It would be nice to have some fish actually swimming around as well though.

[redtailfool]

Dats are nice , they wouldnt bother your tig at all. Aim for top swimmers like arowanas... that would make for a good balance in the tank too.

[cuban jey]

i also say datnoids (siamese tigers) and black arowanas stay smaller than silvers or you could go with a jardini or a bichir would mingle good as well but datnoids would def be a good contrast in colors

[kman]

make sure ur tank mate does not have tendency to bite off streamers.....i plan to put my 12" super red aro with my 14" tig soon

[redtailfool]

Jardinis are a risk . They become hellspawns when they get bigger.
Large Clown Loaches would be nice too.. havent seen that combo a lot.

[Tigrinus]

I wouldnt go with aros,,,they get too big. Aros need space to swim around constantly, unlike Tigrinus. It is unfair to have a 2.5-3ft fish swimming in 6ftx2ft ovals. You mentioned a 300g so an aro might be ok if you upgrade??

Black aros get just long as silvers,,,they are just not as husky.

[Blackwater]

Yes, Aros are too big for my tank. I thought Dats needed brackish water??

[Miles]

How about a school of Freshwater Barracuda or Pike Characins? Would the tig eat those? Peacock bass would work..

[Steve_89]

Very nice setup, dats would be awesome.

[shoefreak03]

that is a sweet setup.

[Tainted Glory]

If you're getting the same Tigs I saw at SA, don't. I don't mean to dissuade your decision, but their streamers looked pretty torn up. Much better deals out there anyway.

As for tankmates-I'm curious why someone shot down the discus idea?

[Blackwater]

If you're getting the same Tigs I saw at SA, don't. I don't mean to dissuade your decision, but their streamers looked pretty torn up. Much better deals out there anyway.

As for tankmates-I'm curious why someone shot down the discus idea?


Yes, that's exactly where I was going to get one. Where else can I get one at??

[redtailfool]

I wouldnt go with aros,,,they get too big. Aros need space to swim around constantly, unlike Tigrinus. It is unfair to have a 2.5-3ft fish swimming in 6ftx2ft ovals. You mentioned a 300g so an aro might be ok if you upgrade??

Black aros get just long as silvers,,,they are just not as husky.



It takes a while to get aros to hit 3 ft. At 1.5 - 2 ft , it would be ok to have a width of 24 inches as they have slender bodies. Of course wider is better. Same with the stingrays that you suggested earlier. They would be ok in there for a while. Personally , i would worry about keeping the stingray alive first before thinking about the 20 inch diameter disc that is common with most freshwater rays. :)

[Blackwater]

Untill I get much larger tanks or indoor ponds, I am holding off on rays or aros. I'm really just interested in finding a nice, healthy, small Tigrinus. I thought Shark Aquarium was supposed to be a good seller but somebody on here saw the Tigs there and said they were a little rough looking? River Wonders has some listed, anybody ever deal with them?

[Blackwater]

I forgot to mention that I am leaning towards 6 Red hook silver dollars as tankmates, any feedback would be appreciated!!!!!

[redtailfool]

Untill I get much larger tanks or indoor ponds, I am holding off on rays or aros. I'm really just interested in finding a nice, healthy, small Tigrinus. I thought Shark Aquarium was supposed to be a good seller but somebody on here saw the Tigs there and said they were a little rough looking? River Wonders has some listed, anybody ever deal with them?


Blackwater, i have personally seen those tigs since they were 2-3 inches. I can tell you those tigs are nice !! But maybe i have a lower standard than ( who posted it ?) . But if you have any doubts, request for a pic.

[M|L]

my first tigrinus was housed with all sorts of fishes, dats, sthingrays, bichirs, cichlids, gars, jau cats, juruense cats, tiger shovelnose cats, bacu cats, you name it.

my last tigrinus was housed with clown loaches, dats, plecos, giant perch, and a couple other fishes.

basically, what I'm saying is, you can house just about anything with a tigrinus as long as those fish don't bother it.

[Blackwater]

Blackwater, i have personally seen those tigs since they were 2-3 inches. I can tell you those tigs are nice !! But maybe i have a lower standard than ( who posted it ?) . But if you have any doubts, request for a pic.


Good enough endorsement for me. I will request a pic before sending the $310 (incl $58 shipping) just to be safe though.

[Tainted Glory]

The tig's are in awesome shape, but their streamers are ragged. I wish you could pick out one in particular. There was one in a tank of about 7-8 that stood out like a sore thumb. It was drop dead gorgeous. From what I hear though, streamers grow back pretty fast, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[magic]

I forgot to mention that I am leaning towards 6 Red hook silver dollars as tankmates, any feedback would be appreciated!!!!!

Ive never kept tig, but i have kept silver dollars. My experiance with them is that they are VERY peaceful, timid, and tough. They are also very fast and tend to stay in the mid upper lvls of the tank so i doubt the tig could catch them easily. I dont think i had red hooks but ive never heard of silver dollars being aggressive or anythin. But ive never kept a tig so i have no idea how they would work with it.