2 Dats - 1 is super dominant

[Leo Messi]

Hey guys,

So a bit ago I got my first 2 Dats. A 9¨ 3 bar IT and a 7¨ 4/fork-bar IT.

The bigger one is obviously more dominant. And hell, he is super mega dominant. He often chases the smaller one and forces him to stay in the corners and recently he started to chase him until the 7¨ Dat goes into the big pleco cave and he then "guards" the cave and sometimes even puts his head in. He is really stressing the smaller one out.

What do you guys think should I do? Its super hard to get bigger Dats where I live. Only very small ones (2¨) are really available, so I think getting 3-4 more isnt really an option. Should I sell the smaller one? I really dont want to sell the bigger one. Love this nice 3 bar guy. Is it okay to keep him "alone" (with no other Dats but more other fishes such as Heros, Uaru, rays and Asian Aro)?

 

[krichardson]

You could keep the dat without other dats as they are solitary in the wild but there might be problems with those cichlids or maybe even the aro.I would either get a tank divider or get another tank so they could live seperately if the cichlid/aro cohab does not work out.
That is a fine looking three bar especially if it's other side looks just the same.It is one of the best that I have seen....can you get more shots of it and of the split bar?

 

[Leo Messi]

You could keep the dat without other dats as they are solitary in the wild but there might be problems with those cichlids or maybe even the aro.I would either get a tank divider or get another tank so they could live seperately if the cichlid/aro cohab does not work out.
That is a fine looking three bar especially if it's other side looks just the same.It is one of the best that I have seen....can you get more shots of it and of the split bar?

Thanks for your advice. I didnt know that they are solitary in the wild, that surely convinces me 100% to sell the 4bar/forkbar (smaller) Dat. He/she is 4 bar on both side and on just 1 side a forkbar.

The 3 bar is both sides 3 bar and both sides look the same. Thanks a lot for saying he/she is one of the best Dats you have seen so far, that makes me very happy. Sure, I'll take a few more pics the next few days. Just got the new tank, still setting up things so I'm gonna take the pics in a few days when everything is done (light and so on).

I already have a divider set up, mainly for the Rays but if the bigger Dat is gonna go after the cichlids he is gonna get divided for sure.

 

[krichardson]

The 3 bar is both sides 3 bar and both sides look the same. Thanks a lot for saying he/she is one of the best Dats you have seen so far, that makes me very happy..

Yes it is very impressive and it would fetch a pretty penny here.

 

[Leo Messi]

Yes it is very impressive and it would fetch a pretty penny here.

There you go. Some more pics.

Really? At the size of 9¨, how much would you say is he/she "worth"? I actually got them both together for 160 US dollars.

Its super weird. Right now the 3 bar has nothing against the smaller one. They swim together up and down and so on. Sometimes they seem to love each other and sometimes the bigger one (9¨) seems to hate the smaller one (~7¨).

 

[Leo Messi]

They arent well-fed right now because my old tank broke (not fully but it was damaged) and so I had to remove the old one while waiting for the new one. They were in a small 150 liter container with some plecos for about 3 days with just a small flow pump and an air pump. Didnt feed them 3 days before that too so they didnt eat for a week now and had a bit of stress behind them. New tank just arrived 2 days ago and they are now settling in, light is still not the light I want, waiting for the LED light to arrive and for my pair of Rays and Asian Aro to arrive too

 

[krichardson]

That three bar would easily go for at least the price that you have paid for both of the dats with the current prices being what they are around here.The various split bars fetch good money too but mostly those that are symmetrical and the demand for them is not as high as that of the three bars.I have three symmetrical 3 bar indos of various sizes and 1 symmetrical split bar indo.
That is promising news that the two of them seem to be getting along,perhaps the bigger one just needed to make it's dominance known lol.I have my two biggest in a tank together and three are together in another tank and there are very few squabbles though the two big ones go at it every now and then.
What have you been feeding your dats?

 

[Leo Messi]

That three bar would easily go for at least the price that you have paid for both of the dats with the current prices being what they are around here.The various split bars fetch good money too but mostly those that are symmetrical and the demand for them is not as high as that of the three bars.I have three symmetrical 3 bar indos of various sizes and 1 symmetrical split bar indo.
That is promising news that the two of them seem to be getting along,perhaps the bigger one just needed to make it's dominance known lol.I have my two biggest in a tank together and three are together in another tank and there are very few squabbles though the two big ones go at it every now and then.
What have you been feeding your dats?

I have been feeding them Tropical Carnivore pellets, mainly. They love them. Its their fav food so far. They have eaten a few pieces of smelt and a bit of shrimps too but other than that they really go hard after those Tropical Carnivore pellets. Had them for my old Rays who wouldnt eat them but now the Dats do. And they were also eating a package of some Hikari bottom feeder wafers. Bought them for my Panaque/Cochliodon to try (they had something like 50% vegetables and 50% Krill and stuff in) and the Dats loves those wafers too. They ate the whole package within a few days.

Hikari says:

1. This extremely flavorful diet offers premium-grade fish meal, silkworm and krill meal with superb nutrient balance. AND: Loaded with pure-cultured spirulina to help your underwater friends look their best, always.

 

[krichardson]

I have been feeding them Tropical Carnivore pellets, mainly. They love them. Its their fav food so far. They have eaten a few pieces of smelt and a bit of shrimps too but other than that they really go hard after those Tropical Carnivore pellets. Had them for my old Rays who wouldnt eat them but now the Dats do. And they were also eating a package of some Tropical bottom feeder chips/wavers. Bought them for my Panaque/Cochliodon to try (they had something like 50% vegetables and 50% Krill/Artemia and stuff inside) and the Dats loves those wavers too. They ate the whole package within a few days.

It is good that they are eating pellets as they could be very nutritious depending on the brand.I would continue giving them the pellets for the most part and leave the seafood as a treat.It looks like you will have yourself some twelve inchers in no time.

 

[Leo Messi]

It is good that they are eating pellets as they could be very nutritious depending on the brand.I would continue giving them the pellets for the most part and leave the seafood as a treat.It looks like you will have yourself some twelve inchers in no time.

Yeah I think those Tropical pellets are pretty good. They are made for big predatory fish such as RTC's, Stingrays and so on. They have: 48% protein, 9% fat, 2% crude fiber and 8% moisture. Hope thats good as a main food.

I wouldnt even say seafood is a treat for them as they dont even like it as much as the pellets, haha.

Really hope to have some nice 12 inchers but not yet sure if I'm gonna keep the 4 bar / split bar aswell because so far they seem to like each other half the day and the other half they seem to be in war vs. each other. Or rather, the bigger one seems to want to destroy the smaller one, never actually seen the smaller one even try to go after the bigger one.