Buying crappy looking dats

[the_deeb]

I was at an LFS and saw a tank with a bunch of 2-3" indo dats. They were all crammed up behind the overflow pipe and were mostly black. I'm thinking of picking some up, but I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of shy, black dats. How much does their behaviour/appearance change from the LFS to the home aquarium?

 

[ewurm]

We had some in the same situation at the store. Poor water quality and not enough hiding spots. After taking them home, most colored up nicely.

 

[TCZeli]

its 50/50 some dats become very stable and others (especially indos) stay like that for a long time.

 

[DiXoN]

the IT i have was black in the LFS and stable for a while in my tank and now its stable sometimes and not others.
its luck of the draw.

 

[dbenson]

Just buy as many as you can and you're sure to get some nice ones.

 

[Razman]

a dats a dat imo, I think they even look kinda cool all black, but if its that important to youbuy a bunch and one or two are bound to brighten up.

 

[jonahonah]

i just bought 6 from my store and they were all black but 2mins in my tank, literally, they are all stable and have nice three bars, split bars and half bars. Buy them it works out in the end.

 

[josefandtin]

its almost always like that. when buying juvi dats you can rarely find any lfs that gives you stable tigers. thats why raising dats is such a challenge. i bought 8 last month and they were still all black. luckily only one is still unstable now.

 

[the_deeb]

Do you think it's better to buy smaller ones or larger ones to start off with? They have some that are in the 1-2" range and some that are in the 2.5-3.5" range. Is there any difference relating the age of a dat and how quickly they adjust to their new homes?

 

[josefandtin]

Do you think it's better to buy smaller ones or larger ones to start off with? They have some that are in the 1-2" range and some that are in the 2.5-3.5" range. Is there any difference relating the age of a dat and how quickly they adjust to their new homes?

sir personally i do think its better buying larger ones as juveniles are prone to cloudy eye disease and growth rate of dats is relatively low. still it depends on the price difference. if you think the price difference of the small and the bigger dats are ok, then buy the larger ones. but of not, if the prices for the bigger ones are way way higher, dont. still its your decision. good luck