A few dat questions

[poly-nomial]

I just got my 5 dats yesterday. they are awesome

But a few questions

The only thing they have eaten so far is Frozen bloodworms. they are long about penny size to 1" maximum. When can i start with the sinking carnivore and other dry foods?

If i am feeding them frozen bloodworms (half a block 2X daily) how fast will they get 4-5"?

They only eat about 80% of the food i give them.. So i should be feeding less?

When do indo dats stop being fragile?

Thanks

 

[nomad]

Yes .....feed them less. The uneaten food will affect your water quality which is critical for dats. when they get to a quarter size try carnivore ...I think their health should be a bigger concern than the growing rate (and by overfeeding the only thing you accomplish is getting them sick)....IF they start taking carnivore you are looking at around 1.5 yrs. until they become 5".

 

[Ade]

Yes .....feed them less. The uneaten food will affect your water quality which is critical for dats. when they get to a quarter size try carnivore ...I think their health should be a bigger concern than the growing rate (and by overfeeding the only thing you accomplish is getting them sick)....IF they start taking carnivore you are looking at around 1.5 yrs. until they become 5".

Cut back feeding, so there is little to no food left in tank. Being so small, their digestive systems are very delicate still, together with left over food affetcing water quality.... this may be why you have already lost 1.

If u want, try breaking up carnivore pellets, if they take it great, if not, wait till they are say 2 inch, before trying again. Carnivore if not eaten , will pollute the water quite a lot.

Growth rate:
my 2 inch NGT eats only pellets. After 5 months, its now 4 inch.
my IT was about 4 inch , started eating pellets, 1.5 years later, its now 7.5 inch.
All depends on how greedy the fish.

Keep water pristine.

 

[gangster]

when i got mine on dec.22 they too were penny size. I just wanted to made sure they ate. So for the first 7 weeks they always had a small pile of tubifex to eat. Variety is the key. They put down frzn brine immediately. They now eat frzn omega brine, emerald entree, beefheart plus, squid, market shrimp, crushed cichlid gold, food sticks and massivore.

Im home 24/7 and feed my babies 5-7+ times daily. And my IT's now range 1.25-2.75''. In 2 months some have grown 2''

 

[Ade]

Gangster: 5 to 7 times !!!!!! thats alot of feeding & TLC (i suppose if there is no food left in the tank after each feed........)

 

[tjswiif]

Wow I never gave these fish the time of day but I am seriously considering them now as they are very intriguing.

 

[gangster]

Gangster: 5 to 7 times !!!!!! thats alot of feeding & TLC (i suppose if there is no food left in the tank after each feed........)

You know it Ade! When im not working I have lots of free time. And ya....5-7 times a day. Sometimes more....little portions....so there is none left over.

 

[poly-nomial]

Now i am confronted with some new problems.

Right now i am putting in frozen bloodworms 3 times daily, just a little bit of a cube each time. So they almost finish one cube in a day. Well, when i say, they, it is not correct. Because only one is eating. And the other two are the stable ones and are not eating. They have sunken bellies. I will hopefully run out to the lfs to pick up more tetracycline (gill flukes) and some more frozen food. What food do you recommend?

 

[Ade]

Try every type of frozen... Just chop into small bite size pieces.

Prawns, muscle, scallop, smelt, silvrside, lance fish. The more type of food you try .. More chance they will eat something.

But please.... Do not pollute water in the effort to get them to feed. Feed little at each go. If they don't eat, just try again the next day. And don't medicate unless symptoms dictate.

How long has the tank been cycled
for?

 

[poly-nomial]

Try every type of frozen... Just chop into small bite size pieces.

Prawns, muscle, scallop, smelt, silvrside, lance fish. The more type of food you try .. More chance they will eat something.

But please.... Do not pollute water in the effort to get them to feed. Feed little at each go. If they don't eat, just try again the next day. And don't medicate unless symptoms dictate.

How long has the tank been cycled
for?

The tank has been cycled for around 5-6 months.