Tank size for african tigerfish?
- Thread starter _erik_
- Start date
Depends on their size at fiest they can be housed in a smaller tank but once they exceed12" they need at least an 8-10ft long tank just to swim. One stroke of the tail they're from one side to the next
The smallest tank I'd recommend is a tank with a footprint of 8'x3'. Height isn't too important here, 2' will suffice. = 360g
being an ATF fan myself I guess I can add my 2 cents =-)
As everyone stated a big tank is a must in order to succeed. In the past I read/heard of people keeping multiple ATF's, then it was, " OH, they are killing eachother, they are bashing themselves on the walls of tank". Then when asked how big the the tank was, "oh it's only a 100 gallon". This is setting yourself up for failure.
I had to get rid of an ATF that was 15+" because I had him in a 125 Gallon ? Sure it was possible but the jaw/snout of the poor guy was bashed in. This was the one that almost took out Wes's eye....LOL
Anyways, I told myself if I ever plan on keeping ATF's again it will be in a bigger tank. So I picked a 96X48X30 (The wider the better). I read all of TIGERFANGS post and admired his bad ass tank. The key to his success was the mere size of the tank.
When the oppurtunity came about to pick up a school, I did. From my experience it's good to socialize them with a variety of fish soon as they are small. However take into consideration ones that are similar to shape & color will eventually be killed or eaten. So be prepared for when that day comes. ATF's are like dilinquit children with no set of rules. However they do show some intelligence. It's like monkey see monkey do with them. Like any other ATF's they were skittish when small. I introduced them to a variety of FISH and as you can see from pix's of my tank it's cluttered. But this helps in so many ways. By having so many fish's in the tank they are distracted and don't focus on eachother as much. They seem to adapt with all the activity in the tank that they don't get spooked to easily. When I approach my tank, rather than speeding off to the other side of the tank to get away. They come up to me instead, replicating what they see from the other fish's behavior. Like a puppy dog wagging his tail when you greet him, the ATF's get's excited as such circuling around the area where I'm at like a school of hungry Sharks.
It's like a child who's locked in a closet without social company. As the kid grows up they wil be distant to strangers and be weary of social interaction. Now, get the same child but introduce them to to a social gathering of kids and such and they will develope more of an open personality and not be jump towards strangers.
I guess this is enough ranting =-) I don't even remember the question..
hahahaha....
Anyways heres' an update pix of my ATF's
As everyone stated a big tank is a must in order to succeed. In the past I read/heard of people keeping multiple ATF's, then it was, " OH, they are killing eachother, they are bashing themselves on the walls of tank". Then when asked how big the the tank was, "oh it's only a 100 gallon". This is setting yourself up for failure.
I had to get rid of an ATF that was 15+" because I had him in a 125 Gallon ? Sure it was possible but the jaw/snout of the poor guy was bashed in. This was the one that almost took out Wes's eye....LOL
Anyways, I told myself if I ever plan on keeping ATF's again it will be in a bigger tank. So I picked a 96X48X30 (The wider the better). I read all of TIGERFANGS post and admired his bad ass tank. The key to his success was the mere size of the tank.
When the oppurtunity came about to pick up a school, I did. From my experience it's good to socialize them with a variety of fish soon as they are small. However take into consideration ones that are similar to shape & color will eventually be killed or eaten. So be prepared for when that day comes. ATF's are like dilinquit children with no set of rules. However they do show some intelligence. It's like monkey see monkey do with them. Like any other ATF's they were skittish when small. I introduced them to a variety of FISH and as you can see from pix's of my tank it's cluttered. But this helps in so many ways. By having so many fish's in the tank they are distracted and don't focus on eachother as much. They seem to adapt with all the activity in the tank that they don't get spooked to easily. When I approach my tank, rather than speeding off to the other side of the tank to get away. They come up to me instead, replicating what they see from the other fish's behavior. Like a puppy dog wagging his tail when you greet him, the ATF's get's excited as such circuling around the area where I'm at like a school of hungry Sharks.
It's like a child who's locked in a closet without social company. As the kid grows up they wil be distant to strangers and be weary of social interaction. Now, get the same child but introduce them to to a social gathering of kids and such and they will develope more of an open personality and not be jump towards strangers.
I guess this is enough ranting =-) I don't even remember the question..
hahahaha....
Anyways heres' an update pix of my ATF's
I need to see pics of your tank R1. I'm interested in a 72"x48"x30" tank. That will look dwarfed by whatever it is you're working with. I need to see that. And filtration info would be a help too.