NGT Info Appreciated

[Cichlids+Oddballs]

Been reading content here for a while and am very impressed with the collective knowledge here!

Was wondering what size NGTs get. Will they do well in a standard 6' 125 gallon tank (either for life or a period of time)?

How tough is it to get 5-6" NGTs on feeders to get on pellets?

Other than appearance differences, are there any other differences between care of a NGT compared to the other species?

All feedback is deeply appreciated!

 

[tlindsey]

Been reading content here for a while and am very impressed with the collective knowledge here!

Was wondering what size NGTs get. Will they do well in a standard 6' 125 gallon tank (either for life or a period of time)?

How tough is it to get 5-6" NGTs on feeders to get on pellets?

Other than appearance differences, are there any other differences between care of a NGT compared to the other species?

All feedback is deeply appreciated!

K krichardson

 

[tlindsey]

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/ngt.745150/#post-8398500

 

[Midwater]

How tough is it to get 5-6" NGTs on feeders to get on pellets?

I love dats, although I have not got NGT.

Contrary to popular thinking, I do not think dats should be converted to pellets. I feel it is cruel to them and shortens their lives.

It is quite common to 'raw feed' dogs and cats. I believe dats should only be raw fed or better still only live fed.

I do find myself pouring copious amounts of ghost shrimp into my tank, and may have to start a ghost shrimp breeding pond to keep up.

 

[krichardson]

Contrary to popular thinking, I do not think dats should be converted to pellets. I feel it is cruel to them and shortens their lives.

It is quite common to 'raw feed' dogs and cats. I believe dats should only be raw fed or better still only live fed.

I do find myself pouring copious amounts of ghost shrimp into my tank, and may have to start a ghost shrimp breeding pond to keep up.

Interesting take on dats and pellets...another species I have always had a tough time training would be the NTT/Thinbar,in fact I don't think that I have ever had one that took pellets and,along with NGT I have sworn them off...well I tried to but a few months ago I brought home a nice looking little thinbar.I have decided to put off trying to train it at least for the time being and I have it growing in it's own tank where it eats a rotation of chopped raw seafood.

 

[robroy]

My favourite Datnoid but buggers to get onto pellets. Like with any Dat the smaller they are the easier it is to get onto pellets

Years ago in England I had a 4" one in a 100G. When I got it would only eat bloodworm. Took 4 months to get it onto pellets. Regime of controlled short starving periods (never more than a week), marinating prawn in bloodworms, mixing prawn and pellets and then marinating pellets in mashed up prawn. It grew to 12" before I emigrated to Canada.

The one I currently have is 4" and it took forever to get onto pellets-its a very timid feeder and doesn't eat much per sitting. When I got it it'd only eat tiny pieces of raw prawn. Tried my usual methods to no avail. Then last Summer went on vacation for a week-fish didn't get fed-and when I returned out some pellets in for the other fish and BOOM is stated eating pellets. Couldn't believe it

I will say they have have the smallest mouth of all Dats and don't seem to swallow large items well

 

[Cichlids+Oddballs]

Tremendously appreciate all the feedback. So just to be clear on what we mean by "pellet training", that is literally, giving pellets only and wait for X number of weeks/days/months to see if the Dat starts eating, right?

Do the NGTs get to the same size as ITs? If I understand correctly, there is a size difference between ITs and NTTs, so just trying to figure out whether there are appreciable sized differences with the NGT as well.

Finally, the ghost shrimp pond...how much ghost shrimp would be needed? I don't know anything about shrimps, but if I start with a group of 50 shrimps in a tank and put a Dat in there, would that become self sustaining? The worries I have with feeders are parasites and quality of feeders (I don't know if there should be same concerns with ghost shrimp), but if the shrimp breed in the tank itself, I suppose that might not be a problem. Or is that a bad idea?

 

[krichardson]

Well...."pellet training" is just the process of getting the wild caught fish to accept and eat pellets,there are a few different ways of going about it.
The NGT can grow to well over twelve inches but I have seen very few really big ones in a tank.
I will leave the ghost shrimp talk to Midwater as I have not used them as food.I won't rule them out for my thinbar though.

 

[Midwater]

if I start with a group of 50 shrimps in a tank and put a Dat in there, would that become self sustaining?

The dat would have one good meal and there would be no ghost shrimp.

Finally, the ghost shrimp pond...how much ghost shrimp would be needed? The worries I have with feeders are parasites and quality of feeders (I don't know if there should be same concerns with ghost shrimp), but if the shrimp breed in the tank itself, I suppose that might not be a problem. Or is that a bad idea?

You need not worry about parasites with ghost shrimp. I have previously fed ST with tilapia fry that I would get by the kilo. They were tank bred to be feeders. Currently, I can get tilapia fry, but they are pond bred, so I do not use them.

Would fifty be enough? As a gauge, currently I have seven four inch NTT along with four two inch zebra tilapia (who are pretty greedy), and twenty nine two inch redtail loaches in one tank. I am putting in three to four hundred grams of ghost shrimp per week, and that is going up.

I am going to start a ghost shrimp pond, which will be one metre fifty across and half a metre high. Just over one tonne of water (whatever that is in gallons). I am even doubtful that that will be big enough to supply my own demand.

Dats can eat an awful lot of live food. Starving them till they go for pellets seems - to me - like torture.

One thing that seems obvious to me, on this forum, there are currently many threads with dats for sale. They are a responsibility.

 

[krichardson]

I think a lot of people get tired of their moody behavior after a while and then get rid of them.