Bare base tank or bogwood...?

[Swarsh]

Hey guys!
Just wondering what you guys think is better for dats!

At the moment I have sand + bogwood, was wondering whether to go bare (not sure if fully bare no sand, or just no wood).

Dats are varied from 4inch to 6inch.

I have recently taken out a big "cave" in the tank and that made the dats a lil more active. So will taking all the bogwood out be good? and will it affect dats stability?

Thanks,
Swarsh

 

[ErikV]

Just for the sake of your dats I think the addition of bogwood or other type of hiding places to your tank is best.. Dats like to hide and prey from a hidden position.

I am planning to set up a bare tank for my Indo (and tankmates) as well... because it will alow me to see a lot more of my fishes.. Don't think it will hurt them.

 

[yh_loh]

You need time for tiger especially IT to settle down. With bare tank hopefully it will train to be more brave but its still depend on the fish. Some of my ITs still tend to hide in the corner even without any hiding space. But some are brave enough to swim around. Maybe the lighting also another point you could look at. Dim light usually is more preferable. Good luck on your setting.

 

[Swarsh]

The main tank dats are all fine, they swim around the tank with no problems (with or without light/wood)
Only the NTT hide sometimes the rest all swim out.

Lighting is a problem I have with my small tank.
Have 3 dats in there all 2-3.5 inches, they would all come out if main lighting is off (room light, sunlight is all fine).
Once main lights are on they all hide and are too scared to come out...
Trying to find a way to dim the main lights a lil bit!

Any ways to dim the light? (wrap something around it?)

Swarsh

 

[ErikV]

I use reflectors, normally used to make the lightning stronger, to dim my lights by hanging them upside down on one or two of my TL's.. Works great.. only to bad they still use a lot of energy while I am not really using them..

 

[Ade]

You need time for tiger especially IT to settle down. With bare tank hopefully it will train to be more brave but its still depend on the fish. Some of my ITs still tend to hide in the corner even without any hiding space. But some are brave enough to swim around. Maybe the lighting also another point you could look at. Dim light usually is more preferable. Good luck on your setting.

Excellent point here. I have kept tigers for 6 yr plus now.
Some did not swim about or display for a year, then after a year, they grown a few inches, and a bit bigger, so become a bit more confident. Also tigers can turn stable after 1 week, 1 months, several months, 1 year etc etc

I would go for a slither of sand and no decor.

I have tried various backgrounds and substrate and none make much difference.
Best 3 bits of advice are:

Dim the lighting
No hiding spaces
Less changing of tank setup/decor
Big tank: 100g plus
Time/patience

It's worth putting up with a hiding and unstable tiger for a year, only to have it turn stable for te next few years. A couple of IT I have had for 5-6 years were like this. Now they r 13 inchplis and stable 24/7.

 

[Swarsh]

Ahh sweet~
Thanks for advice~

I think I might try removing bogwood and just have some plants and sand.
The thing is I also have some clown loaches and a flagtail so not sure what the outcome will be without bogwood in the tank!

Swarsh