GATF Arrived

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N

nzafi

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Mar 14, 2008
2,185
1,244
179
USA
My 4in GATF arrived today. Cute little fella but even at this size you can clearly see they have jaws designed to do some damage. He has the 180g to himself and I will probably keep it like that for a couple weeks to let him get settled and eating. I picked up from Wes and he was busy eating cut filet so I am hoping he continues on that path. Now I think to think of names.

I still do not know what I want for tank mates. Long term I want an aimara but I would say that is probably in about a year once this guy puts on some size. Until then I am thinking the following:
1) tinfoil barbs
2) tiger barbs
3) barramundi - I know these guys grow fast and big but figured at the size they grow he could be a good peacekeeper between the gatf and aimara. Due to speed of growth I would not add him for a while either.

Open to other suggestions. Thank you fugupuff fugupuff !!!

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Congrats! I am picking up mine today at an airport. From Wes too.

At the face value, I am sure you realize these concerns but I'll mention them anyway. Tiger barbs would be snacks for all three large predators and GATF's slim, highly hydrodynamic profile (face-on) lends it, on the down side, a prey that's easy to get a hold of and swallow, esp. by barramundi - these guys are voracious, ravenous gluttons. My 2'+ barra swallows thawed fish that's 1/3-1/2 it's size.
 
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thebiggerthebetter thebiggerthebetter You are spot on. My plan is to co-hab an aimara and GATF which means I will need dithers. The problem with the barbs is that they will be great for probably 6 months to 1 year and then they will become food, especially to the aimara that will grow fast.

I would love to have another large fish that can hold their own, hence the reason I was thinking barramundi. I would love a dorado but they are way too aggressive can harm the aimara or GATF. I think other large cool looking fish like barra or gars will probably be too aggressive. Thoughts?
 
nzafi said:
thebiggerthebetter thebiggerthebetter You are spot on. My plan is to co-hab an aimara and GATF which means I will need dithers. The problem with the barbs is that they will be great for probably 6 months to 1 year and then they will become food, especially to the aimara that will grow fast.

I would love to have another large fish that can hold their own, hence the reason I was thinking barramundi. I would love a dorado but they are way too aggressive can harm the aimara or GATF. I think other large cool looking fish like barra or gars will probably be too aggressive. Thoughts?
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You won't be adding Aimara to your tank for few more years, until your GATF 14+ inches, only take few months for 5 inches Aimara to reach 14 inches. So your GATF tank mate good for now is Tinfoil barbs and i'm 100% sure 6 months later the 2 inches barbs will become 10 inches and pretty much 2x bigger than your GATF :)
 
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Mahseer, SD come to mind. Tin foils, as you said. Distichodus, pbass, tarpon, GG, cigar barb, bala, cichlid, may be even iridescent shark catfish...
 
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N nzafi I started off with a 6" Goliath for a year and a half before I added my 5" Aimara. I bought 5 red hook Silver Dollars about 3" inches and they help break my Goliath off of live food and helped him not be as skittish. Yuki Rihwa Yuki Rihwa was spot on when he mentioned how fast they grow. My Aimara is sitting at 12" and my Goliath is 13.5" in about a year and a half span and my Red Hooks are about 5.5" now. I've never tried Tinfoil Barbs, but the Silver Dollars worked great for me.
 
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Quason778 said:
N nzafi I started off with a 6" Goliath for a year and a half before I added my 5" Aimara. I bought 5 red hook Silver Dollars about 3" inches and they help break my Goliath off of live food and helped him not be as skittish. Yuki Rihwa Yuki Rihwa was spot on when he mentioned how fast they grow. My Aimara is sitting at 12" and my Goliath is 13.5" in about a year and a half span and my Red Hooks are about 5.5" now. I've never tried Tinfoil Barbs, but the Silver Dollars worked great for me.
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Thanks for the feedback. Any reason you went with the red hook silver dollars? I was thinking of just regular silver dollars as I think they get the biggest.
 
nzafi said:
Thanks for the feedback. Any reason you went with the red hook silver dollars? I was thinking of just regular silver dollars as I think they get the biggest.
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N nzafi it's funny, I went with them because I got a deal from my local fish store, lol. It really doesn't matter what kind IMO, but like I said they worked out great for me getting the Goliath of off live and spreading the aggression out in my tank.
 
Out of what's listed, tinfoil barbs would be best. Gars aren't aggressive, except maybe alligator gars which will inevitably be to big for the planned tank. If I were you I'd go with a larger growing brycon species and wide bar SD, which are the largest silver dollars. True red hooks will get larger than the regular red hook you see in shops AFAIK.
 
with any ATFs i think zaccos would work/look best. i got some zacco koreanus frm wes
and had my gatf eating pellets very fast.
 
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