Bored? Lonely? Sick?

rodger

Polypterus
MFK Member
Apr 29, 2008
3,343
283
92
Kansas City
I got my first IT about 2 months ago, currently about 5" He is housed in a 220 with a 10" bichir, 12" common pleco, 2 adult angelfish and a 10" red pacu. No aggression in the tank at all. The Dat is only stable a few hours a week. He is almost always in hiding, except sometimes he will park in front of a filter outlet. I have 3 canisters as well as a powerhead. One of the cannisters is an FX5 Fluval, the other 2 are Fluval 505's. Temp remains at 80. Lit, but not brightly. Good amount of wood, a PVC pipe, a strawberry pot on its side and a clump of rotalla growing. He eats-constantly if I let him. Mostly fd krill, but also market shrimp and night crawlers. He never swims, except to dart to another end of the tank. 50% weekly water changes. 0 ammonia. Why won't it come out of hiding? If I walk up to the tank he is right there begging. I am bidding on 8 3" IT's on AB, that it looks like I will get. I am going to keep 4, sell the others to a buddy. Will 5 dats total make him come out? I am hoping the size difference isn't enough to cause a problem. Is this behaviour normal, or do I have a sick fish. Thanks for your opinions. :naughty:
 

bigcatlover

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 8, 2011
198
2
0
Colorado
I am no dat expert, but we have some and we've been through this too. First of all, in my experience, they really seem to have individual personalities! Some are just really, really shy. So even in a tank where there aren't aggressive fish, your dat may be intimidated just by the sheer size of your other fish. Like a lot of fish, we've found that the bigger ours get, the more we see them and the more likely they are to be stable.

One of the ways that we were able to offer our little guys a place to hide and yet still see them is by putting a small flower pot in the tank facing front. Our very shy dat would stay in the pot, but face outward. Not ideal, but not totally hiding either. They especially liked the kind of pot that had some holes in the sides that they could swim through on occasion.

I've heard mixed things about dats feeling more comfortable with other dats...and there's lots of evidence for both on mfk. Right now we have 2 in a tank together and they are fine. Before that we had 2 in a tank together and they rarely got along and eventually had to be separated. So I think it can go either way, but it can't hurt to try it out.

Anyway, best of luck! I know how frustrating it can be, but they're such cool fish when they're bigger I know it'll be worth it!
 

rodger

Polypterus
MFK Member
Apr 29, 2008
3,343
283
92
Kansas City
Thanks for giving me some confidence that he is OK. The pot you described is called a strawberry pot. That is what I have in it, faced at an angle. He goes in, but dosn't stay in it. Right now he is stable, looking at me hanging in front of a filter outlet. The only fish bigger then him is the pacu, and that is who he hangs with when it is time to put the feedbag on, so I don't think he is intimidated.
 

djaalix

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 25, 2011
1,198
19
53
Mahopac Falls, NY
some of my experiences with dats.... i had 6 NTT dats all together ranging from 3-5 inches, and they would come to the glass when it was feeding time, but thats the only time i'd see him. Then, as all my fish grew over the course of a year i began taking out decorations. This essentially forced the dats out of hiding. This made them stable much more often and much more outgoing. They will never lose that hidey nifty way they weave around things, however taking some decor out may force him out, then in a month or 2 put it back in, and hopefully he keeps his more outgoing habits. I dont think theres anything wrong with him at all.

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