Dat ID and info....

[TCZeli]

As in quadrifasciatus? That was my suspicion. Is brackish water essential to keep this species comfortably? Also at 5" what kind of other fish would be safe? Finally these appear to be fast growers (for a dat) but what are we talking here; I thought they'd only grow an inch per year, have I been misinformed???

They are known to be more aggressive then other dats during feeding time. Other then that they are pretty relaxed and will do good with any fish that can't fit in its mouth.

They are found in brackish conditions in the wild but do great in fresh.

They are slow growers that max out around a 1'. When small they will deff grow faster then 1" per year. That is more the scale for dats once they hit the 1' mark.

FYI - quadrifasciatus is outdated they are now refered to as Polota.

 

[Interzone]

Cheers all. I think it's dawned on me that getting one could be a really bad idea. All the qualities that I love in them will cause havoc in the new tank. Would a 3-4" plec be safe?

 

[pwmin]

Cheers all. I think it's dawned on me that getting one could be a really bad idea. All the qualities that I love in them will cause havoc in the new tank. Would a 3-4" plec be safe?

a plec will probably be safe. what else is in the tank?

 

[Interzone]

a plec will probably be safe. what else is in the tank?

Nothing at the moment cos it's still on its way from china. However it's 6'x2'x2' and it will have to house 7xclown loach (smallest 2.5-3"). I'm basically transferring all the small sized stock (harlies, corys, keyholes etc) to a 200l and adding the 6 footer (so closing down other smaller tanks and just having the two). I'll then have a small fish community and a large(ish) comm and the larger will probably therefore have various plecs from 4-6" current size.

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

Cheers all. I think it's dawned on me that getting one could be a really bad idea. All the qualities that I love in them will cause havoc in the new tank. Would a 3-4" plec be safe?

I don't think you'll have a problem. Dats are predatory, no doubt about that, but I've never had a problem with my dats being aggressive (other than food aggressive) or even trying to eat tank mates.

The ATs will be fine in freshwater. I have 6 of them and they are all in fresh...no problems what so ever. As far as adding a plec...you'll be fine. Most fish don't show interest in plecos, and their growth rate is so slow their tankmates will easily outgrow them in the short run.

What are your hesitations on the dat? Just predation?

 

[milkman407]

I don't think you'll have a problem. Dats are predatory, no doubt about that, but I've never had a problem with my dats being aggressive (other than food aggressive) or even trying to eat tank mates.

The ATs will be fine in freshwater. I have 6 of them and they are all in fresh...no problems what so ever. As far as adding a plec...you'll be fine. Most fish don't show interest in plecos, and their growth rate is so slow their tankmates will easily outgrow them in the short run.

What are your hesitations on the dat? Just predation?

agreed.

quad is an outdated name, not sure what the new scientific name is.

They are gennerally more docile than say the ngt datnoid. I dont see a problem keeping him with smaller fish, I currently have a 4" widebar with corrys and he dosnt give them the time of day.

 

[Interzone]

What are your hesitations on the dat? Just predation?

Yup, that's the only thing. However the irony is this is the whole reason I want one; watching them feed is the amazing. I was originally gonna go for cichlids with the loaches/plecs (geophagus tapajos 'red'). See any issues (bar water chem but they're all gonna be in hard london water) adding the dat as long as the other fish are over, say, 4"?

 

[Interzone]

agreed.

quad is an outdated name, not sure what the new scientific name is.

They are gennerally more docile than say the ngt datnoid. I dont see a problem keeping him with smaller fish, I currently have a 4" widebar with corrys and he dosnt give them the time of day.

'Polota' I believe.

Now i'm totally confused???!!! I'm just paranoid about losing one of my prized L numbers. Also I'll have nowhere to go as it grows, surely a 10" dat isn't gonna be so forgiving on the corys?

 

[David R]

Probably not, but it will take a while to get to 10". I've got a small AT in fresh water with small geophagus and clown loaches. As others have said, keep it well fed and it won't bother the tank mates.
Just a slight side-track, when I first got mine I read they were hard to train off live foods. Well mine was scoffing down shrimp only a couple of hours after being let out of the bag, and now happily eats cichlid crumble and other pellets, along with shrimp and bloodworms. Its also way more stable than my other dats.

Kenyansandboa, do you have all six in the same tank? I'd love another one but have read they don't get along.

 

[Interzone]

Probably not, but it will take a while to get to 10". I've got a small AT in fresh water with small geophagus and clown loaches. As others have said, keep it well fed and it won't bother the tank mates.
Just a slight side-track, when I first got mine I read they were hard to train off live foods. Well mine was scoffing down shrimp only a couple of hours after being let out of the bag, and now happily eats cichlid crumble and other pellets, along with shrimp and bloodworms. Its also way more stable than my other dats.

Kenyansandboa, do you have all six in the same tank? I'd love another one but have read they don't get along.

The one I'm after has been in LFS for a while and it feeds on dry foods which is a bonus.