TATF vs VATF

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DB junkie

DB junkie

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Jan 27, 2007
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Anyone kept groups of each species?

I want to know if it's just me, but I didn't have much trouble with my Tatf getting along. I'm likely going to have to split the Vatf. One is relentlessly harassing the others...... One is missing the entire bottom half of the tail, although not entirely sure if it was a ATF that did it.

The V's seem quite a bit more aggressive and a lot more persistent then the T's?

Would like to hear if others have found this to be true?

I haven't added dithers yet, but maybe they just settled in quicker and I should add them.......
 
I've never owned a group of VATF, but I've seen multiple instances where they're the aggressors out of a group of mixed ATF. Especially when younger, it looks like vittatus are the worst offenders for fin nips and bullying between conspecifics. I don't really have a good thought as to why this is, but might have something to do with them not being the alpha ATF in their area, so their instinct is to be tougher from the get go.
 
I am growing out 16 baby ATFs at the moment ranging from 2.5"s to 5"s.....and yes absolutely, VATFs in my experience are the worse.....harassing any other ATF, not just same species. My smallest which happened to be VATF was punking my larger 5" TATF & 4.5" FATF! I could not believe my eyes.....this tiny little VATF chasing around my big ATFs.....well that night, they killed the tiny VATF. I am left with one VATF out of my pack of 16 and it is hands down the most aggressive ATF in my tank. As a result, other ATFs are starting to show aggression (as a defensive mechanism from the VATFs agression I imagine). I am actually considering getting rid of the VATF soon.

BTW I do have dithers in the tank. That doesn't seem to lower the VATFs aggression towards other ATFs. And yes I have an incredible flow in the tank, much more than the minimum recommended. And filtration is over the top for the tank I have them in. Length of current growout is 60"s.

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Frank,

Care to share specifics on your tank? I hear incredible, and over the top, and I need to know what this consists of!!! :)

This isn't the news I wanted to hear.... lol.....
 
When i kept my 2 taft and 3 goliath together, they coexisted perfectly. They shoaled together and never tried to attack one another. When i added a vatf that was a different story. Fin rips, missing scales, and gashes occurred frequently. My Vatf also eats the most. Dithers don't seem to help. The more current I add though, the less aggressive my vatf seems to be.
 
DB junkie said:
Frank,

Care to share specifics on your tank? I hear incredible, and over the top, and I need to know what this consists of!!! :)

This isn't the news I wanted to hear.... lol.....
Click to expand...

Haha. Yes relative to tank gallonage. It is about 35 gallons. Custom made dims 60"s by 12"s by 12"s. i know this may sound incredibly small but its got the length & i theorize a large group of ATFs will do well in such a tank when babies, keeping aggression to a minimum. I have used this tank to convert all my atfs to non live within 48 hours... Even those strictly on live feeders. Power head consist of one koralia 1,500 gph. Huge bubbler. Temp at 86 degrees. Water changes 2-3 times per week. Feed tilapia and hikari carnivore exclusively 4x per day. Penplaxx 1200 canister and fluval g6 canister. All bio media well established from my big tanks and material is sintered glass serra siporax. Tankmates include 2 tinfoil barbs and 4 baby endlis plus the 16 atfs.
 
Frank, do you keep the temp that high to increase metabolism thus feeding increase.
My Vittatus has never been any higher than 78.
 
ShadowStryder said:
Frank, do you keep the temp that high to increase metabolism thus feeding increase.
My Vittatus has never been any higher than 78.
Click to expand...

Just checked my temp....it's actually at 84/85 degrees. I had the temp at 78/80 degrees a couple of months ago.....then i acquired a FATF that had ich. I increased the temp to 88 degrees plus salt to treat the tank. I noticed that at higer temps they acted more "normal"... By that i mean they schooled together & swam all over the tank. They seemed more comfortable if you will & less skittish. Since then i have kept temps at mid 80's. i feed 4x a day to lessen aggression---- i made the mistake once to not feed for 14 hours....when i came back about 6 of them had serious bite injuries. Lesson, if you gonna keep a big growout group of afts.... Keep em well fed.

Interesting note....my buddy is also growing out a large group of atfs....but feeds feeders exclusively..... The growth rate of his atfs is about 40% faster growth rate than my atfs!! If you wanna grow out faster....feed feeders.
 
framcosco said:
The growth rate of his atfs is about 40% faster growth rate than my atfs!! If you wanna grow out faster....feed feeders.
Click to expand...

Thats what I am hearing with Armatus.......
 
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