Another ATF riddle solved. Brevis & Forskahlii; same tank, same time. How to ID.
- Thread starter Chicxulub
- Start date
is that rare for the FATF?
Those are better than any of the other pics you've texted me. In these shots, he's got a grey adipose fin and a really wide spread to his tail. He's a FATF.
Nothing quite matches a goliath on head shape and size. All tigerfish have very impressive teeth. For the head and jaw, I'd say the next most impressive after goliath is probably tanzaniae. They have a really long, vicious looking jaw. Brevis is fairly impressive too, they have a bulldog quality to their head.
It doesn't seem to be among wild fish I've surveyed. The most common color seems to be a slightly yellowish orange, with red or pure yellow popping up somewhat less often.
Keep in mind though, as discussed in the Guide, that Hydrocynus forskahlii actually comprises a species complex just live VATF. A species complex are fish that are genetically distinct but are still so closely related that they haven't really developed traits that allow scientists to distinguish them without testing their DNA. This severely complicates the matter as it allows for a very wide range of traits to pop up with in FATF. This is directly akin to the troubles we have with picking out TATF from VATF; there are four different morphs in the VATF species complex with the very closely related TATF that's actually split off. In this circumstance, we have two FATF morphs with the very closely related brevis split off. Just like when we finally ironed out the VATF/TATF issue this spring, these two are giving me headaches. lol
Mine is too. The Sahelian species seem to be much less sociable than the Southern Hemisphere species.
This is a great article rob. Now you make me wish I would have kept my brevis together with this forsakali. The fatf is growing pretty thick now from when I first purchased him. Solid 8".
I surely hope the new owner of the brevis chime in and show what it looks like as it grows bigger. He was a nice catch
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I surely hope the new owner of the brevis chime in and show what it looks like as it grows bigger. He was a nice catch
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Great looking fish you've got there!
For me, I've been able to get every single tigerfish I've ever owned off of live by using the teacher fish method.
I hope so too!
I'm glad your FATF is doing well. Post up some new pics! As far as I know, you probably have the biggest one on MFK.
Ah man!! This is getting me pumped to finally get my fatf delivered! You guys got some nice ones, hopefully mine turns out to be of tough stock. Wouldn't mind it if it was a misidentified batf lol. Got a power head going, removed some of the floating plants and should be selling my red hi fin wolf Thursday, to a guy who will keep him w/ bichirs in a 120! Chic, how long do you think hell do well in a 70 ga for? He's 6 inch, I don't want to stunt him so if I need to start collecting materials for my build faster let me know haha
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I really don't think you'll stunt him as long as you cater the tank to his needs and keep the water pristine. As long as he's in there by himself or with two or three compatible fish that won't stress him, I expect he should be good to go in that tank till he's about 10", if you absolutely have to wait that long. You should absolutely try to get him out of there before he gets that big though; keeping him in there isn't ideal but it is doable. Ideally, I'd like to see him in at least a 6' tank by the time he's 7-8".
For reference, my Max is a bit over 12" now and is living in a 150. While this obviously isn't ideal for him, since he's living with compatible fish in a superbly filtered tank that is catered to his needs (read the sticky if you haven't already), he's doing just fine. I've found that if you cater the tank to the needs of an ATF, they tend to be very inactive, just swimming into the current all day unless they're eating.
