stable unstable

[pshtex]

for me i have a NTT that is unstable when hiding but once he is out swimming he is stable, one NGT that is almost always stable but really brightens up when hunting/eating, of the two IT's one is almost always stable very rare to see him unstable the other one usually unstable (has faded black lines) but when he hunts or eats his lines go pure black. the only other fish are two sd,(when i get more dthers will report on how it effects the stability issue). the other change that i really see is since i put slate for the bottom and took out the sand (silica sand) and they have seemed to color up a bit more for the most part, imo stable and unstable don't have to do with happy/sad not that cut and dry cause there are too many different circumstances but everyone seems to have experiences with both stable and unstable in the same tank at the same time and sometimes the stable one is the more active and sometimes the unstable is the more active for me the most active is the unstable IT

 

[Ade]

I believe some ITs also have "stable" gene because when I bought my stable IT last time the batch of IT from the fish shop have all the stable IT look. When I means stable it is really stable compare to other ITs currently available in the fish shop. It seem that the batch of "stable" gene IT sold out, I could not find another batch of IT look as nice as the one I bought last time. The color is really nice compare to nowadays the IT in the fish shop - some stable but mostly are not. Thanks.

What ever gene/biology the ST has to make it stable, the IT almost has the opposite. Inconsistent and random when It comes to stable.
Yh lo: when u found those Indo u mention, you were lucky ... Right place right time.
It is very very Rare to have a community of IT and NTT and have all of them
Stable 24/7.
I have 7 indo 2 ntt and 1 NGT.

I am quite lucky as 5 IT, 1 NTT amd 1 NGT are very stable. I get lots of pms asking how to get the tigers stable...
Truth is : less messing with tank set up, luck and lots of time help the most.
Background and substrate make very little difference.

If i had to pick one factor that consistantly makes
My tigers stable, i would say its Dim Lighting..
There are tons of other factors but none that consistently worked for me. Everything else is 50/50.

T1 mentioned natural light levels and tigers inhabiting different depths thus getting accustomed to the different light levels. I like the sound of this, rather than the stress idea.

 

[JLSEF9]

i have three dats that are unstable, i added another and its stable, all are like 6-7' the biggest one which is 7' is stable, these past couple of days now i notice that they are more active and swimming around more often too. hopefully they become stable like the new dat i added to the tank, its a bare bottom tank too with black back round.

 

[T1KARMANN]

I'm beginning to think this stable unstable thing is to do with lighting

I admit when I'm wrong and looks like I'm wrong I have left my lights of all day and for most of that time my IT have been stable

So could it be that IT come from much deeper water than other tigers so don't take well to bright lights

It's hard to get good pics of the tigers in the dark as the flash messes things up I will try again tomorow

 

[robroy]

I'm not convinced by the deep water notion-if you look at evolution then what purpose do the stripes have, especially in deep water? Surely you'd see a marked variation in the bars on Tigers caught in deeper water (i.e. no bars at all or faded/fewer bars).

Nonetheless this has been a great thread to read and given much food for thought-keep it going people

 

[T1KARMANN]

Well I have found a few things as I have been trying things out

Lights out stable and no hiding
Light on hiding and unstable

Hungry After not feeding for 2 days stable and up the front glass looking for food no hiding

Catch a tiger around the tank to catch net it and bag it stable

Have a tank full of tigers and the ones that have hiding places are unstable the ones in the same tank that don't have hiding places as they have been taken up by other tigers are stable and swimming up the front

I still think that stable means unhappy but som of the finding I have gout over the last few weeks put holes in what I thing

 

[silverlude15]

i have kept many different indos, some ntt

i have never gotten ntt to go stable but i have some indo go stable

i like t1's idea that stable generally means stressed or alert and alarmed

when i put a 3" indo with a 8-9" jag in a 55g the indo was stable 24/7, with the sharp top fin always out

but when i put him back in a 40g he is back to being non stable

when i feed him ghost shrimp as a treat, everytime he goes to hunt for one he always go stable

when he eat pellet, he goes stable and darts for the food then goes back unstable to his little cave

many other indos are like this


i have also noticed that people who have stable indos are with much larger fish like arowana; i think b/c they are always alert and trying not to get eaten

also, indos can go unstable and mostly black when you are trying to fish them out of tank, and then turn stable in your hand

its funny thoguh, still with all my experience owning indo i have not found a clear answer to keep indos stable

one thing i have noticed though is that in dim lighting most of them are stable

i think as they grow older they also stabilize more



how to get an indo stable is one of the greatest mysteries in fishkeeping i think, which also plays in part with the own fish's genetics, which makes it even more difficult.

but the mystery is what keeping datnoids is so interesting, a lot of other fish i get bored with

 

[spwd]

Well I had the 3 8/9/11" NTTS and my 21" monster IT in the 350g and they were all,50/50 stable unstable,but last night I put my three biggest bichirs in,16/18/20.5" and they havr all gone stable and are swimming around more lol,just a bit more food for thought.

 

[Ade]

Spwd: now keep that tiger comm for as long as you can. In time they will all look incredible . Stable alot if you don't split the group up.

 

[wind08]

seem like IT have a lower chance of being stable in my experience. I had over 10 IT and more than 20 STs with me 8yrs ago. (then i was 14-15yo, when ST was abundant and fellow hobbyist tend to FOC to students like me). the majority of STs stayed stable while IT had problems.. i was never sure why..

even till today, im only able to keep 1 IT stable while the rest are pretty much unstable