African Tiger Fish - New Owner

joc38

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 3, 2005
21
0
0
57
my atf is skiddish every now and then but he has gotten comfortable in the tank and he kinda hangs out near a big piece of wood(artificial) that I have in the tank,,he also is getting along fine with a couple of the fish I have in there with him,,and when it's time to eat :thumbsup: he wastes no time,,I hope that one day soon to try to get him to eat out of my hand,,he's about 6 inches right now so he won't take the hand or other digits off,,at least not yet :grinyes:
 

smoke187

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 8, 2005
14
0
0
Tigerfish - Sorry man but im based in London, UK and picked it up from my local LFS, dont think they ship to the states..
 

Ariel

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 12, 2005
33
0
0
56
its available locally there (singapore) , usually vittatus, goliath is a rare catch
 

tigerfangs

Candiru
MFK Member
May 5, 2005
318
10
48
53
smoke187, good to hear that your new ATF is doing well. As p45 pointed out, they need a lot of space (eventually expect a minimum of 360g tank) compared to most of similar size due their speed and skittishness. They become more so as they grow and the tank conditions become tighter. They normally grow 6-9" per year an if the tank upgrade is not done soon enough, they will damage their faces against the walls of the tank. A trick that worked for me while my ATFs were in a 180g was to place a black board on either end of the tank so they could see that they could not go further without taking any of their swim space away. As you noticed, they don't hide, so they don't need large rocks or such. For decor, avoid any sharp rocks such as lace or lava as they could severely injure a fleeing ATF if scraped against. Driftwood would be a much better alternative. Plastic plants are good as they do give them some security if spooked. Also they don't really like bright lighting. You'll see as it gets bigger when you tiurn on the light it'll dart around til it feels comfortable.
Food, try to get it off live as soon as possible to avoid parasites and disease. They are easy to get on krill, chopped market shrimp and then smelt or any other chopped fish as the get bigger. Don't worry they won't lose their predatory instinct by going off live. If every once in a while you want to throw in some feeders, they'll nail em.
In a nutshell they are awesome fish, but can be real pain in the arse if conditions aren't just right.
 
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