Datnoid Dither Suggestions

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
janzal3;4842851; said:
It is not a marine tank, you're right about that. NGTs and AT's both do fine with salt/brackish conditions. Brackish estuarian environments are changing in salt content with every tidal change. Are you telling me that you know the specific gravity requirements for all of these brackish species? What is your source? I have even seen scats in some pretty spectacular african cichlid display tanks at the LFS. I bet that would drive you nuts.
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i don't need to know the exact salt content as i don't keep brackish water fish

but this tide thing you are talking about never happens when kept in full fresh water or is your tank filtered by the sea

everyone says that the scats monos archers and AT are always the 1st fish up the front glass begging for food have you ever stopped to think this maybe because there metabolism is all mess up from being kept in the wrong water conditions

by not keeping any fish in the right water conditions is wrong in anyones book

many many fish can live in high nitrates does this mean we should all stop doing water changes because fish can live fine in high nitrates NO because we all do our best to provide our fish with the best water as poss

if i kept discus i wouldnt keep them in a high ph like 8 they would be ok for a bit but not long

just like a RTC or silver aro can both live in a 2ft tank for life just its life wont be that long
 
You're reasoning escapes me. You said that one had to know the specific gravities at which to keep these fish. My point was that for brackish water fish it is not too important or exact. Salinity levels in brackish water are always changing due to the constant mixing of fresh and salt water. These fish are very tolerant to different levels of salt. Your hypothesis that because the fish are feeding well and not hiding are only doing so because they they are being kept in the wrong environment is just absurd. A fish that is sick or that is being kept in the wrong environment will stop eating. These fish act like this because it is in there genes. Scats have always been greedy eaters that's how they got there name. Both scats and ATs can be found from India throughout much of the Indo-Australian Archipeligo. Only you would think of putting a discus in with brackish fish. And I don't think it would survive that for more than a few hours.
 
You´ve got some good points.

As regards scats (actually they got their name for eating..."dump": scatophagus means "feces eater") their more studied and it´s known they live in very low salinity when young and as they mature they go deeper and deeper into the sea becoming an adult "almost SW fish". A full grown "brackish" scat should be kept in a specific gravity close to 1.020. That´s SW ! I used to keep my reef at 1.024.

note: not all scats should be kept in BW. The Scatophagus tetracanthus is - so I´ve read - a full FH fish.

With AT´s although I searched I´ve never seen a study with their habits and what would be the recommended sg. I´ve seen people recommending 1.005 to 1.008 but without a study backing it up.

1.005 is "almost" FH; most of the FH fish handle that sg. pretty well (people that add salt to treat/prevent parasites easily put their tanks at 1.003).

On the other hand, their geographical distribution is so wide (as mentioned by the previous poster) that it´s impossible to know which sg were they used to before collection.

Maybe we should do what´s done to most BW fishes: FH when young and as they mature "some salt". But how much? And are all AT used to live in BW or are the Indian less brackish that the Malayans; the Indo AT are more or less brackish than the Papuan? Or vice-versa ?

Anyone knows? I don´t and would like to...
 
lilolmedn;4832995; said:
Greetings all,

Specs: 180g 7x2x2 / FX5 / Eheim 2250 / AC110 (Mechanical Filtration)

Stock:

5x Indo Dats (3x 4-5" 2x 6-8")
2x Endil Bichir (6-8")

All pellet trained.. never eaten a feeder in their lives...

My delima...

I am looking for some opinions from the community on Dither for the tank.. I've been rolling it around in my head the past few weeks of what type of schooling flashy (silvery) dither I could house in this tank to make it a little more active to help keep these guys stable (please don't let this turn into a how to stabilize debate there's another amazing thread going on about it already)... I saw bomber with his school of Silver Dollars and Silver Dollar variants and thought they would be awesome and thats what I am leaning more towards.. a school of around 5 Silver Dollars...

but..

Other than Silver Dollars (Red Hooks and Barred Dollars etc etc) what else would you guys throw out idea wise for some good flashy quick moving dither to stir up the tank a bit and keep it lively? (Keep in mind I am not worried about the tankmates eating them as long as they are 3" or so)

Thanks as always =)
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are you sure you you dont have a 210G? 7x2x2 should be a 210
 
nmadsen4;4848328; said:
are you sure you you dont have a 210G? 7x2x2 should be a 210
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Hah I always do that... I type 7 because the inches are 72" =)

It's 6x2x2
 
If your looking to introduce more colour, some of the larger rainbows should work. Fast enough to avoid predation. Kinda have that silvery sheen depending on how the light hits them.
 
Joao M;4847950; said:
You´ve got some good points.

As regards scats (actually they got their name for eating..."dump": scatophagus means "feces eater") their more studied and it´s known they live in very low salinity when young and as they mature they go deeper and deeper into the sea becoming an adult "almost SW fish". A full grown "brackish" scat should be kept in a specific gravity close to 1.020. That´s SW ! I used to keep my reef at 1.024.

note: not all scats should be kept in BW. The Scatophagus tetracanthus is - so I´ve read - a full FH fish.

With AT´s although I searched I´ve never seen a study with their habits and what would be the recommended sg. I´ve seen people recommending 1.005 to 1.008 but without a study backing it up.

1.005 is "almost" FH; most of the FH fish handle that sg. pretty well (people that add salt to treat/prevent parasites easily put their tanks at 1.003).

On the other hand, their geographical distribution is so wide (as mentioned by the previous poster) that it´s impossible to know which sg were they used to before collection.

Maybe we should do what´s done to most BW fishes: FH when young and as they mature "some salt". But how much? And are all AT used to live in BW or are the Indian less brackish that the Malayans; the Indo AT are more or less brackish than the Papuan? Or vice-versa ?

Anyone knows? I don´t and would like to...
Click to expand...

This is pretty much my original point. No one knows the exact sg ranges for these fish. If they do, I haven't seen that data. The AT has such a wide range for a single species that one can only wonder how it became so wide spread. My guess would be that it swam and can tolerate extremely high levels of salt. It is funny how so many people won't mix certain types of fish because they have these dogmatic beliefs. If fish have simliar water requirements and you like those fish, try it. Don't worry about the fish store curmudgeon.
 
Great topic. goes well with the influx of the mini tigers readily available this year. I have several grow outs in a 110 with some decent size clown loaches. I will add some top water tetras.

Bala sharks are terrible, they are very sensitive to water changes, especially temperature drop.
Tin foils eat too much and grow too fast!

Great topic.
 
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