Danny's 130 Gallon Hydrocynus Sp. Tank

DayumDanny said:

The tatf and indo tarpon came today. Sadly the Tanzaniae African tiger fish could not make it through the shippin

Does anyone keep indo tarpon with barbs? My barbs has non stop followed the tarpon trying to nip at it's find.

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HOLY CRAP that's terrible! :'( I'm so sorry your tatf died. He looked pretty.

When I had my tarpon in with some barbs many moons ago, I saw similar behavior. After a couple of days it stopped for me.

Massivores are not very appetizing because they're so hard. I have had better luck with Hikari sticks. They soften up quicker and I think have better texture.

sashimimaster said:

Massivores are not very appetizing because they're so hard. I have had better luck with Hikari sticks. They soften up quicker and I think have better texture.

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+1. Try this. Save the massivors for when he's eating.

DayumDanny said:

Yeah I think I'm gonna try and get another Taft from Wes.

In the meantime the indo tarpon is getting beat up so much by my barbs Aswell as the vatf

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums...8-BA85-8A6B0B4DC1C2-2306-000002817166B204.jpg

If he's swimming up

Also this is very frustrating. My vatf will not touch the massivores pellets! I even presoak the pellets and feel them to make sure they are soft before putting them in the tank. It's been 7 days since I got him. He doesn't seem to interested in the scraps from the barbs either. So far the only thing that he has eaten since is half a barbs tail. He doesn't seem slow pretty active to me. He also swam up and tried to snatch a pellet yesterday. Today when I put the food in he swims higher up in the tank but he's just not interested in the pellets...

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Didn't you mention that he was biting them before you started soaking them but he was spitting them out? That combined with the fact that he's swimming up to look at it means that he acknowledges that it is a food source. However, from his bites in the past that likely hurt his teeth, he is hesitant to bite on the same food again.

Go get some Jumbo Carnisticks and try those. Break them into thirds. They are a different formula so they will smell different, they have a different texture that will be more appetizing to bite and they have a different, more fish-like shape that will be more appetizing. All of these factors combined may get him to bite at what he perceives to be a new and different food source.

Good luck!

DayumDanny said:

Ill go out and get some, guess I'm just to stuck on the massivores

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It's not like they're going to go to waste. By the time he eats through a bag of carnisticks he'll be eating pellets so aggressively you could feed these to him.

As for the tarpon deal, unfortunately thats the way it goes with these guys. Mine was a swimming punching bag for my goliath, but after the goliath got a bit bigger he left him alone. These things are mean as hell ime when they're little. If the barbs continue to be a problem, just take them back to the store. Tell them the truth, they're biting the heck out of a very expensive fish they're being kept with. Get your money back. Then, when you get your next ATF buy three more and keep them until the tiger is eating pellets and repeat. My LFS already knows and understands what I'm doing and I don't even get wierd looks anymore lol. If your barbs eventually settle down, they do make great dithers though.

FWIW, if it makes you feel better, my barbs are fighting with my tigers constantly as well. It doesn't bother me though, I personally think of it as a price we pay to get these guys eating pellets. To me, the cost is worth the results.

DayumDanny said:

I havent had any problems with the barbs and my tigers yet (knock on wood). I only got the indo tarpon as another teacher since i heard these guys were calm and a great addition plus i only got him for 35$. I currently have only 750 gph powerhead in my tank. 4 1050 koralias will be here on wednesday. Also I heard that cranking the tempurature will help these guys eat. What tempurature do you keep your tigers at? I will go out tomorrow and get a hikari carnivore sticks.

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Good point on the temperature. When I'm breaking and powerfeeding, I keep the tank at about 85 with TONS of surface agitation and a bubbler to ensure adequate oxygenation for these guys. Speaking of agitation and current, I suspect that sufficient current helps to prevent these fish from developing such severe territorial aggression, because they're tricked into thinking they're hanging out in rapids which makes them constantly swim.

Here's a vid of my current:

[video=youtube_share;YP1IVqicv4A]http://youtu.be/YP1IVqicv4A[/video]

And once again, here's the schematic. I suspect you'll be able to copy it pretty well once your other pumps arrive. I'm not running the AC110 on this tank right now because I have it on the 55g growout.

Yup, temp and current are big factors. They speed up metabolism and makes them hungrier hence more desperate for food.