Bye Bye Cichlids...... Hello Dats!!

[sazhar]

I came across this site accidentally when searching for a new aquarium for African Cichlids. That was when first came across datnoids. That was just over a month ago, and now I have a tank full of dats.

I picked up 3 NTTs each around 3" and 6 ITs between 1"-2". They went into my 45 gal last Thursday. They are all eating blood worms and krill. 2 of the ITs have been stable since going into the tank, the rest are 50/50. The IT's have been out in the open much more than the NTTs. Not sure why.

This is my zen tank, and the dats fit in quite well. I am planning on getting a 265(7'x2'x2.5')some time this year. So this will be a grow out tank for that tank. Here are some pics. The first is a before pic of the tank.

 

[studd muffin]

Awesome!!!

 

[alexx-w]

much better fish, awesome tank

 

[scriving]

cool

 

[gangster]

Congrats on the new dats!

 

[sazhar]

Thanks guys. One question I have is about the amount of food I should be giving them. How much should I be feeding them?
I am feeding them twice a day and putting in about a half inch sqruare piece of frozen Hikari bloodworms, and about 4 or 5 frozen krill in the tank. The ITs eat the blood worms and even small bits of krill right away.The problem I have is that NTTs won't eat while I am at the tank, unless the krill drifts right in front of their face. So I usually turn out the light and walk away from the tank for 10 to 15 min and when I return the krill is gone.
I know clean water is important so I don't want to over feed. Is this a decent routine for right now? I was thinking about dropping the krill in a tube so the krill comes out right in front of the NTTs to distibute the krill evenly. Is this "force feeding" a good idea? I plan on trying to get them to pellets eventually, but right now I just want them to eat and get bigger.

 

[bomber]

Welcome to the addiction.

I like to feed mine as many times a day as I can. Just make sure there is no food left over after a few minutes.

 

[poly-nomial]

nice transition! they are lots of fun! make sure you are superbly careful

 

[vanimate]

Datnoids over cichlids anyday!

 

[sazhar]

First off thanks for replies.

After reading some of your comments I decided to inspect my gravel for left over food. From the front of the tank it looked good. Then I looked through the side of the tank and found quite the collection of old krill behind a piece of slate.
So I did a 25% water change making sure to suck all the krill I could see. Then when I poured the new water, the current from the water being poured brought up a ton of tiny bits of krill from the gravel. I did a water test and everything came back fine, but I definitely need to do something. First thing I did was put the extension on my inlet for my AC110 to get it closer to the gravel. Here are some questions I have for you more experienced Dat keepers:

How do you add krill to your tank? I've been using the aquarium water in a small dish to thaw out the krill. When it is thawed I pour the entire dish in the aquarium. Is that correct?

What kind of clean up crew would you suggest? I was thinking of getting some Cory's to clean up the scraps from my dats. Would this combination work well?

Would it be alright to put a power head or two along the bottom to keep the krill from settling in the gravel? I'm just not sure if this would work since my ITs are so small. I don't want to over power them when they want to hang out near the bottom of the tank.