Proud new dat keeper

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wantokeeptrout

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2011
1,122
2
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Ontario
:headbang2

found this little gem at a big als in mississaga and couldn't resist him, he's tiny, maybe the size of a loonie or a guitar pick but he's really inquisative and stand up to everything after only 3 hours. I've never kept dats before and am relying on what a work college with an american tiger dat has experienced so any advice is welcome. He's in a 30 growout with 4 astatotilapia aenocolour, 4 cave tetras, a growing number of plants, and a growout exochromis. Also would like to know the exact species since the label simply said tiger datnoid. I'm thinking american tiger dat or thin bar based on his less relatively less intense bronze colour, the thin faded stripe shaped like a wishbone and price (20 bucks). My plan to train him is to use live crickets because they are cheaper and are a similar shade to the pellets i use most often but i do have bloodworms and could set up a dwarf shrimp/ghost shrimp tank easily if needed, I want to avoid feeding live fish if it can be helped due to disease and the higher bioload they cost compared to shrimpvics 009.JPG

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thank you for your kind replys (i hope :uhoh:)

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Yeah,let's see it's other side.
 
well i think the astatotilapia are good teachers. he's stalking the dry food already but he stops about an inch or 2 away and just stares until they are eaten by someone else. I'll get more pics later since my glass is pretty crummy with algae.my favourite feature is a white bar along the middle long his body long ways, bisecting his face

Also a question, what is stability, i've read about how dats are frequently unstable and how they are worthless if so. is it anything that will compromise his health.

and would also appreciate any other advice as this is my first ever datnoid
 
Stability refers to the boldness of the dats bars.Sometimes they are really faint and other times they really stand out.When they are faint and the fish's entire body is dark and blotchy,the fish is considered as being unstable.t is not a look that is desired by most keepers but it also usually has nothing to do with the health of the fish.These fish are lurkers and are ambush predators in the wild and the unstable appearance may be a form of cammo.....Try to hold off from giving it any live feeder fish and hopefully in a few more days it will begin to eat what the other fish are eating.
 
yup, looks like an indo. I have had immediate success feeding small dats frozen brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, prawn, and small pieces of krill

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The much demanded other side of this little indo.

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apologies for the crap pic but i got the bright green algae that is hard to scrub and the subject won't hold still anymore.

Good news is this morning it finally ate, but bloodworms since it was starting to look thin and i had no idea how long it had been since it had eaten so figured better then nothing. must say that he is very inquisitive and outgoing compared to the shy lurker i was expecting. my co-workers dat disappeared went on a strike for almost 2 weeks when 4 angels were put in the same tank meanwhile this guy is going toe to toe with african cichlids and become one of the top fish in the tank right now

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