Giant ATF in Captivity

[Goban]

greenerinks well i would say 18 inches is already considered monstrous for captive goliath ! Whats the dimension of your tank?

L lightsout the goliath owner said that he got it 3 yrs ago at around 1ft, so 2ft growth in 2 yrs. Even if he says his goliath is only 3ft( he never really measured this beast), eyeballing, i believe it has reached the 1meter mark. Would you please elaborate on your opinion , it is quite interesting.

 

[carbene]

never mind the fishes. What plant is that?!!

 

[moe214]

I think an important piece of info has been left out, such as at what size was the fish captured?

My thought process is if a monster sized fish that has been in captivity since it was 3-4" will not reach its full potential size as it would in the wild. On the other hand if a bigger sized fish was collected in the wild it would have a better chance at reaching its max growth then a smaller one in captivity.

Well a theory for gatf is that they may grow slower than other atf, but they grow at a more consistent pace for a longer amount of time eventually passing the other atf. Also, what you are saying has been discussed on MFK many times and it always comes down to no one keeps there fish in an adequate set up long enough to reach their full potential. And life gets in the way of things as well, and sometimes it costs fishes lives or the person can decide to get rid of the fish. A number of variables go into play when you begin talking about why we never see fish get to their full potential in captivity. You also have to think about, not all fish are wc, gene pools become flooded with deformities etc, and we get the wrong end of the stick when we get fish from fish farms. It's a discussion in its own.

 

[Goban]

moe214 yeah. Considering the constant growth on gatf, compared to other atfs. I guess that in the end they still have the quickest growth.

C carbene the owner claims that it is artificial plant bought in ace hardware

 

[Red Aimara]

Would like to add ATFs don't ship well at large sizes - those that came in bigger than 2-3 inches size are about 6-8 inches.

These are the sizes that importers normally bring in to prevent DOA. Anything bigger is probably raised at some quarantine farm after import or traded in by hobbyist.

 

[DB junkie]

Can you guys over there in the land of sweet fish (across seas) share with us how big you've seen/heard of the other species getting????

Mainly Vatf and Tatf.... Surely there has to be some monsters over there!!!!

 

[Goban]

Biggest Captive VATF i've seen is the one in Singapore's River Safari DB junkie , i believe its around 2ft
These are the fishes that has been murdered by my friend's 3ft+ GATF
Their behavior is very unfriendly when they get big, the only tank mates that remain untouched are the bottom dwellers. However, i believe that their behavior varies depending on each individual as i have seen large GATFs in community tank doing good with tankmates (I don't have information on how long the community has been running though, and also different tanks have different feeding routine which affects their aggression). Here's the link of the video:

 

[Red Aimara]

How about FATF?

Guide says average 12 inches wild and rarely more than 10 inches at home aquarium.

Mine is about 13 inches now. LOL! Any keepers can share their FATF growth rate and experience here as well?

 

[celebrist]

Wow, that's some serious damage

 

[Goban]

Red Aimara your FATF is a beast man, how long have u had him for? may i know how much current u put in the tank? and the feeding routine. Sorry for the many questions lol. I think the guide is not accurate as i have seen a lot of FATF over a feet in the wild (fished for sport).