Dat questions

wingate2581

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 24, 2007
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horseheads, ny
I have been looking at a thinbar at my lfs for about a month and ahalf. It's killin' me!!! I figured I better start asking questions before i end up with a fish I dont know much about. the fish is only a couple inches. Could he be housed with a 4-5" green terror in a 75 gal.? What do they eat? slow growers? how long could he stay in the 75? Are they territorial? I do have a growout tank if the size difference is a problem
He's very stable and a good price. any other info I should know that I didnt ask about would also be appreciated.
 

Tigerfish908

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 6, 2008
780
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NJ/PA
wingate2581;2406734; said:
I have been looking at a thinbar at my lfs for about a month and ahalf. It's killin' me!!! I figured I better start asking questions before i end up with a fish I dont know much about. the fish is only a couple inches. Could he be housed with a 4-5" green terror in a 75 gal.? What do they eat? slow growers? how long could he stay in the 75? Are they territorial? I do have a growout tank if the size difference is a problem
He's very stable and a good price. any other info I should know that I didnt ask about would also be appreciated.

I dnt think its a good idea to mix with a GT of that size...IMO.
If u are not an experienced NTT keeper I would not suggest u get the NTT species at a small size. Thru my experiences they are very fragile at small sizes. Others on here can attest to this as well. I lost about 4 Ntt's to a mysterious gill disease. And others lost theirs to this same sickness.

If I were you I would start out with an IT dat which is more hardy.
Ntt's are the slowest growing dats..All grow slowly, but the thinbars are slowest. So a growout tank is really not needed. It will never catch up to that green terror. If you do decide to get it, I would start it in it's own tank.
How many does the store have? And where is it??
 

wingate2581

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 24, 2007
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horseheads, ny
Thanks for your input tigerfish. I was thinking the size of the gt would be an issue, and that is what has held me back this long but I just got a 29 freed up with nothing in it now and I was thinking of putting it in there for now. If I was to do that and kept it alone how long could i house him in the 29? I am aware it will eventually have to be moved, just wondering what kind of time frame i'd be looking at.
Are there specific illnesses/diseases I should be looking for ? Any specific meds you would recommend to have on hand if I was to buy it? I looks stable from what i know, but I have never owned one. I know its been there atleast 6 wks.
 

Tigerfish908

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 6, 2008
780
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NJ/PA
It could be housed by itself in a 29 for like up to 8 months I would say?? Maybe longer?
I would def look out for rapid breathing. This is how it starts and b4 u know it it will b dead...I used Mardel "coppersafe" to treat this illness and was able to save 1 of mine.

Good luck.
 

wingate2581

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 24, 2007
1,000
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horseheads, ny
Thanks again tigerfish. still not sure what I'm gonna do. what kind of behavior do they have? territorial? ok with anything that doesnt fit in there mouth? what are the best foods to promote feeding after you get it home ? sorry bout all the questions, just dont want to go into it uninformed!
 

Tigerfish908

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 6, 2008
780
0
0
NJ/PA
wingate2581;2407552; said:
Thanks again tigerfish. still not sure what I'm gonna do. what kind of behavior do they have? territorial? ok with anything that doesnt fit in there mouth? what are the best foods to promote feeding after you get it home ? sorry bout all the questions, just dont want to go into it uninformed!
They are only aggresive and territorial with their own species. Ok with all other fish that are too big for them to eat.

I feed all mine froz bw, froz krill, market prawn, and froz smelt.
It is not that easy to get them to take prepared foods, especially if they are only used to feeders...It took mine about 2 weeks b4 they would eat anything. Just keep feeding a little bit everyday, and eventually they will take it. Some may take more than 2 weeks, and some less.
How many does the lfs have? Im always lookin for new tigers:naughty:
 

TCZeli

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jun 27, 2007
1,388
3
68
NJ
A NTT only gets about 1' so it could be housed in a 75 for life, depending on tankmates and filtration.

If you get it for the 29 gallon, you should still be able to house it in there for close to 2 years. Again this will depend on what you feed it and filtration.

NTT's are the most timid of the Dat species and won't mess with any fish it doesn't see as food.

As far as the illnesses. NTT do seem to have the greatest chance of disease and SDS, but it still isn't a very high %. If this fish has been in the store for 6 weeks and still looks good, then it is probably healthy. Just make sure you acclimate it slowly.
 

neurospeed

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 3, 2008
81
0
6
Hawaii
When you guys say acclimate slowly, how slow is slow? I usually float the fish in bag for 20 minutes. Then I add about a half cup of my tank H2O, in 5 minute increments, until the fish bag is full. Finally I net the fish and put him in my tank. Total time is at least 35 to 40 minutes. Is this what you guys do too, or is there another way?
thanks
 
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