Datnoid question

[mshill90]

oh. Well that's the one I want anyways. lol.

 

[megalops///]

What size tank should they start out in when quarter size?
I grow mine out using a 55g. I found that a 30g was to small.
How fast do they grow?
If you get one the size of a quarter, it will take about a year to get to 6 inches. after that they small down growing a little bit. I'd exspect about 12inches after 2.5-3 years.
Are they aggressive?
I don't care what anyone says, Datnoids are aggressive. They don't have the "KILL EVERYTHING" attitude, but good chance are if there is a dat in the tank, hes running the show. If you get my drift. Personally I think dats are one of the smartest fish you can keep in an aquarium... that's why i like them.
What kind of tank mates can they have?
They get along well with anything that doesn't bother them or fit in to their large mouths.
Are they hard to care for?
Only at the beginning and if your trying to get them to eat pellets. lol They require clean, well filtered water, a little bit of current, and a lot of cover. They like drift wood the best. I really don't like the people with bare tanks so they can see their fish. IMO it takes away so much of the datnoids natural behavior that its not worth keeping them to me.

 

[megalops///]

Quote:
Originally Posted by mshill90

What size tank should they start out in when quarter size?
They don't need a big tank to start with
How fast do they grow?
they grow pretty slowly
Are they aggressive?
Not to aggresive
What kind of tank mates can they have?
Lots of people keep them with arowana, pbass, bichirs, etc
Are they hard to care for?
Shouldn't be that hard if you keep them in a large tank

please don't answer if you have never kept a Datnoide before. Thats how wrong information gets passed about... thank you.

 

[TTTT]

What incorrect information did I give?

 

[poly-nomial]

I am new to the tropical/monster fish keeping unless you count Koi, and I see tons of people on here talking about Datnoids.

They seem really cool looking, and I am interested in getting one. A siamese Tiger Datnoid to be exact.

What size tank should they start out in when quarter size?
I am using a 55g with extreme filtration for 5 dats
How fast do they grow?
They grow very fast until about 4-6" and than slow down
Are they aggressive?
NGT datnoids are the most aggressive. But ITs, NTTs, STs and ATs are alright
What kind of tank mates can they have
When small, nothing aggressive or big. When big, tigrinius, stingrays, arowanas, cichla, other datnoids
Are they hard to care for?
they are difficult to care for, especially at quarter size. They are very sensitive to water quality and quick temperature changes

I do know that they will eat smaller fish.

I see a lot of people with small datnoids, and they are so neat and clean looking. Do they get messy in pattern as they get larger?

The messy pattern is called being "unstable"
Stable means thick black bars that are fully black and the yellow/white part doesn't have any black in it
Unstable means mottled patterns, somewhat grey bars

A few more notes on datnoids:
As babies, feed them A LOT to get them to grow fast and do very regular water changes; make sure you don't over feed though
They need a high temperature as babies, around 86F is good, than you can lower it when they get bigger
Do daily water changes as they are small; i do 2g a day on my 55g
Have dim light, they hate bright light and they wont be as active
Very powerful filtration is required
Keep a backup heater
Having a plant like java moss or java fern is good because it can survive under poor light but provide a natural environment and keep the nitrates low
Sand or bare-bottom is best

Good luck with your monsters!

 

[poly-nomial]

Siamese tiger datnoids are the most rare. They are virtually extinct, too. And the majority of the ones that are left are adults and adults cost several hundred, sometimes up to 1000$

Usually when they say "gold" datnoids, they mean indonesian datnoids, which are the most common datnoids.

 

[megalops///]

The messy pattern is called being "unstable"
Stable means thick black bars that are fully black and the yellow/white part doesn't have any black in it
Unstable means mottled patterns, somewhat grey bars

A few more notes on datnoids:
As babies, feed them A LOT to get them to grow fast and do very regular water changes; make sure you don't over feed though
They need a high temperature as babies, around 86F is good, than you can lower it when they get bigger
Do daily water changes as they are small; i do 2g a day on my 55g
Have dim light, they hate bright light and they wont be as active
Very powerful filtration is required
Keep a backup heater
Having a plant like java moss or java fern is good because it can survive under poor light but provide a natural environment and keep the nitrates low
Sand or bare-bottom is best

Good luck with your monsters!

good post man! This is a pretty good guideline to begin with.

 

[poly-nomial]

What incorrect information did I give?

Wasn't really wrong, just very vague and somewhat off. Datnoids are very difficult to keep alive as juveniles and when adults are just alittle bit easier. They have been known to die for no reason. some are aggressive too. But it is pretty good info for a person that has never kept dats

 

[mshill90]

Well here's what's going on right now.

I have a 75 gallon tank with loaches and 2 baby JD's in them.

The rainbow shark is probably going tomorrow as he's being a PITA to the JD's.

My tank is boring atm.

I have parrots feather, but it floats and covers the top of the tank, so the loaches are out most of the day because the lighting is dimmed.

I have a plastic fake stump that the loaches chill in, and I am thinking about getting another one for the other side of the tank.

There is a fake plastic log that the pleco chills in, and I have a small piece of drift wood for everyone to snack on.

My thought are this:

Change the substrate out with sand. Get a large piece of driftwood, or a few small pieces and link them together. Keep the plants.

I also just got a 55 gallon that is cycling now, so I have some options in there too.

I want the datniod in the 75 with the JD's.
The common pleco will probably go. I could put it in the koi tank, but the plecos creep me out when they get large.

I don't want a bare bottom tank. Boring. But I don't want anything unnatural, unless we talk about going with black. I have Red black and white, and OMG it's hideous.

I just don't want to get a fish, and then it dies because I didn't put them in with the right fish, or I didn't feed them right.

What type of food should they eat when they are small and growing.

All of these fish will eventually be in a 3-400 gallon tank. We are taking the winter koi tank down in the basement and making that our living room and we are going to be making a 3-400 gallon tank built into one of the walls.

 

[poly-nomial]

good post man! This is a pretty good guideline to begin with.

thanks