A little Tiger update.

[DB junkie]

OMG they're gorgeous! Makes me really sad we weren't able to finalize our deal.

Rob, you know IF the group is ever broken up you'll be the first to know. Have always said you'd have one in the event I ever sell any. I'm just happy to see the anti social one join the group. Fingers crossed they continue to get along......

what size tank are you putting them into?

Looks like you have a good number of dithers in there. Hopefully it will keep the aggression down. How big are they now?

Next stop was going to be a 180. I already have an empty 180 and a pair of Dart return pumps I was planning on using, just need to knock holes in the tank. Above their little growout is a pair of 6x3 tanks. I could move them into one but they'd be in with rays that range from 7-9" across. I thought a 180 with no rays would be safer, figured throw them in there for another few inches then once they were around the size of the rays across then house them with the rays in a 6x3. I'm totally open to suggestions..... I'm betting the less I move them the better off I'd be, but not sure it's worth risking them with rays when small, and I really don't want to move the rays, but not too excited about knocking a bunch of holes in, and plumming a tank that will likely only be used a few months. What would you guys do??? The big tank is a 4x10 (750) but they need to be big enough to avoid the bigger rays in there (9-16" across) before going in.

There's definitely plenty of Dithers..... The Tiger tank has a Blue Masheer, a Bala shark, and 3 silver dollars in there right now, but I planned on it taking a lot more to get it to work. Have 4 Tinfoils, 3 more silver dollars and another 7 Masheer that could all be added if needed. Unfortunately the Masheer seem to out compete everything for food, so may have to reconsider them, but then again maybe the Tigers will appreciate some competition in the future.

They look good Alan. Are they going to eventually end up with your odoes in the big tank?

Thanks Kevin. I have mixed feelings about the Odoe ending up in the big tank. Sometimes I think they'd be OK in there, but other times I think they may not appreciate everything that may end up in there, some of the fish may get big enough to eat the Odoe and I know most people have frowned on the idea of keeping Odoe and ATF together. But with everything I have here I imagine I'm going to find stuff that isn't going to work. Worst case scenario they stay in a 6x3 till I get another big tank.

The group looks nice Al....Cant wait to see the progression of this group being housed together!

Thanks Don! I'm juiced! Been years since I've been this excited about some new fish. Read a lot and feel like I'm pretty prepared. Have Lots of Dithers ready, several empty tanks, lots of pumps, now if I only had some more time! The big tank filter rebuild has taken 5 weeks longer then planned, so that's put me behind on the Tiger's tank upgrade. I'm going to have to have some children pretty soon as I could really use some help caring for all these creatures.....

 

[DB junkie]

Agreed, very nice DB ... nice not having to worry about water conditions so much for once! Lol! They look great, healthy and clean, and growing very nicely too ... awesome man, def look forward to seeing them bigger and bigger

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Thanks Alix! I hope to eventually get to the bottom of these water questions someday. Hopefully it ends up I just think too much, or I'm crazy, or just feeding them a crappy diet, but sure seems like the African fish do much better here then South American ones do..... Hey, is your Dorado bigger then any of your ATF? Been thinking pretty hard about seeing how Robert does with the Tiggers.....

 

[Chicxulub]

Rob, you know IF the group is ever broken up you'll be the first to know. Have always said you'd have one in the event I ever sell any. I'm just happy to see the anti social one join the group. Fingers crossed they continue to get along......

Al, you have no idea how hard I've been trying to find a pack of vittatus for you! Unfortunately EVERYTHING this year seems to be BATF/FATF. I've got my BATF which is one of my favorites, but no luck with finding either Southern species.

I'm torn about your fish. On one hand, you're my friend and I genuinely want your combo to work and I'm glad the little guy came around; but on the other hand I was kind of hoping that he would continue to get picked on. As I've mentioned before, I have a sentimental attachment to the fish that came from that import batch.

Thanks Don! I'm juiced! Been years since I've been this excited about some new fish. Read a lot and feel like I'm pretty prepared. Have Lots of Dithers ready, several empty tanks, lots of pumps, now if I only had some more time! The big tank filter rebuild has taken 5 weeks longer then planned, so that's put me behind on the Tiger's tank upgrade. I'm going to have to have some children pretty soon as I could really use some help caring for all these creatures.....

My boy is only months old and he already ADORES the fish tank! I'm pretty confident that he'll be all about it when he gets bigger.

I'm glad you came around to the tigers. They're a challenging group of fish to keep (not that it would seem so to a ray keeper though) but quite rewarding in my opinion. I can't wait to see that big group of yours in the big tank- you'll be a brevis away from the Characin Big Six.

 

[DB junkie]

you'll be a brevis away from the Characin Big Six.

What's the big six????

I count 7 big Characin species here already?

I know how you feel about regretting selling prized Charries, I sold 2 Cynopotomus I should have never sold. When was the last time you saw some of those for sale?? I've only seen them available once.

I'm sure you'll get a Tanzy tracked down, they seem to pop up for sale every now and then. Thought Charney just had one for sale???

 

[Chicxulub]

What's the big six????

I count 7 big Characin species here already?

I know how you feel about regretting selling prized Charries, I sold 2 Cynopotomus I should have never sold. When was the last time you saw some of those for sale?? I've only seen them available once.

I'm sure you'll get a Tanzy tracked down, they seem to pop up for sale every now and then. Thought Charney just had one for sale???

The six characins that are apex predators-

Goliath
Tanzy
Brevis
Armatus
Aimara
Golden Dorado

The "big six" is a concept I'm going to start pushing in the OC world.

Charney had one for sale, and I wanted it, but he was pickup only.

 

[DB junkie]

If Tiggers get species, then Dorado should 2- Franky / Brassy .....

Way to go..... "Lucy" wants to know why the hell Lacardae missed the list. Of all the freshwater fish I have here, this is the one I'd fear getting bit by the most.

Yet the guy that sold this monster hand fed her.

The Great 8?

 

[wantokeeptrout]

i think they should be called the wolfpack, given hydrocynus means water dog and given their fearsome reputation, but thats just me

 

[djaalix]

I'd say my Dorado is maybe slightly larger than my tigers, or the same size ... he's def heavier though since he has a thicker profile ... he can be a jerk if he wants, but really he doesnt bother the tigers much although I'd be nervous as they are like adding a stick of dynamite ... biggest problem I'm having is my 2 Goliaths are fighting ... 2nd eye injury in 2 months to my biggest and prized goliath from the other smaller one chasing him, and this injury was a pretty bad one ... its clearing up now, I'm hopeful in a couple weeks it will be healed, but it may not heal 100% which is very upsetting, only time will tell ... starting to think the 3rd Goliath that I lost played a huge role in downplaying aggression, although the remaining 2 dont fight often, all it takes is an eye nip for permanent damage ... fish with teeth are so dangerous ... I'll get some pics up soon to see the Dorado/ATF size relationship for you

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[KNH]

I'd like to see the combo of odoe and ATF together in a large tank. I've considered getting another vatf but my odoes are just growing too fast. You should have quite the tank in the future.

 

[Chicxulub]

If Tiggers get species, then Dorado should 2- Franky / Brassy .....

Way to go..... "Lucy" wants to know why the hell Lacardae missed the list. Of all the freshwater fish I have here, this is the one I'd fear getting bit by the most.

Yet the guy that sold this monster hand fed her.

The Great 8?

Wait- I thought you had an aimara...?

I included aimara instead of lacerdae because lacerdae is a mesopredator. Their peak size is 4 kg as opposed to aimara's 40.

I see what you're saying about the dorados. My thoughts on the subject was that they are so similar and the brassy is so hard to get that rather than make a requirement for both for a 'grand slam', just to have one. That's why with the tigers, even though I listed three species, I didn't use species names.

Even to the uninitiated, GATF, BATF and TATF are easy to tell apart.

I'm gonna go start a thread about this so we don't have to have such a derail.