African Tiger Fish - New Owner

[smoke187]

Hi Guys,

I just got a African Tiger Fish yesterday and just wanted some general infromation on how I should be looking after him regarding food, general tank setup and such.. so far I have him by himself in a 4 foot tank I have avoided plants so he can zoom around and be happy, tossed in two small pieces of driftwood and some rocks so he can hide if need be but he does not seem to be skitish at all.. final touch was to pop in a few minnows for him to "play" with, he has already taken out 3 of them hehehe.. .. I have experience in keeping red bellies for a while, am new to ATF's but just wanted some advice from experienced members on here on how to keep him happy and get him growing into a monster.

Naturally I will post some pics of him if I can figure out how to upload it to my photo account on here.

Thanks to all!

 

[piranha45]

ATFs require *alot* more space than piranhas. ATFs are very active, open-water swimmers who have bodies designed to propel them at high velocities through the water. They are very prone to literally smashing themselves upon aquarium glass if kept in too small a tank.

a 4-foot tank will work for up to a 6-8" specimen, but beyond that it will seriously need an upgrade. The smaller ATF species (you prolly got vittatus, which is one) get 2-3 feet long, eventually, but fortunately they are not particularly fast growers.

Nonetheless, I strongly suggest that if you plan on keeping this ATF in a healthy manner, your next upgrade should be a 240g (you can get a 125g instead immediately if you want, but then youll just have to upgrade to 240g in another year anyway). Eventually, even a 240g will not be adequate, but that time wont come for a couple years.

They are predators, so feed them meaty stuff and a good quality pellet brand.

 

[aapl76]

used to own one ATF as well...its better to get a bigger specimen cos smaller ones get spooked easily and they dun strive well in big comm tank....the smaller ones dun feed easily as well. they just dart here and there when they are spooked...

 

[piranha45]

aapl you gotta remove "super noobie in mfk", it doesnt fit you at all bro, you're way beyond that

 

[aapl76]

aapl you gotta remove "super noobie in mfk", it doesnt fit you at all bro, you're way beyond that

no worries brudder......i am still learning....hope to learn more from you guys....

 

[smoke187]

Thanks for the advice guys, my ATF doesnt seem to be spooked at all, he happly hovers in the middle of the tank and darts back and forth in the tank to stretch his fins lol.. I had a few minnows in the tank before I popped him in and there is just 1 left when I checked in the morning. So far he seems to have seattled in well, theres not much visitors in the room where the tank sits so he shouldnt be getting spooked.

I gotta find where I put my freaking digi cam so I can take some snaps of him and post it up on here for all of yous to check out.

BTW what kind of meaty products should I go for? when I had my red bellies I used to feed them goldfish, whole squid (frozen from a pack), king prawns.. so should I keep in line with this form of feeding?

 

[rayman45]

i need to get one or 2 atf

 

[viper]

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO PUT HIM WITH OTHER FISH I HAVE RAISE TWO OF THEM AND THEY GET ALONG WITH OTHER FISH EVEN 2 INCH CORY CATS .I HAVE ONE THAT IS A FOOT LONG AN EATS KRILL AND SOMETIMES RAW PIECES OF SHRIMP FROM THE MARKET,YOURS MUST BE SMALL WAIT TO HE GETS BIGGER THEN HE WILL REALLY BE VERY SKITTIES MINES LIKE TO RUN INTO THE GLASS IF YOU LOOK AT HIM SO I TRY TO KEEP MY DISTANT UNLESS I HAVE TO CLEAN THE TANK BEWARE THEY ARE JUMPERS AND WILL FLY RIGHT OUT OF THE TANK.WHEN I GET A CHANCE I WILL GIVE YOU THE WEB SITE THAT HAS 100 POUNDS 6FEET TIGER FISH AWESOME SIZE AND TEETH

 

[smoke187]

Nice one thanks for the advice Viper. Yes he is a small lil thing but to be honest he doesnt seem so skitish, when I went to pick up a ATF from my LFS I choose him as he was the most aggressive in the tank, constantly trying to get into the next tank along lol.. I would love to see the 100 pound 6 footer! that must be an evil looking thing.

Got any pics of your ATF at all bro?

 

[mb26]

cool atf