Yeah it's interesting how certain fish will grow faster on feeders whereas others grow faster on massivore.
TATF vs VATF
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Yeah it's interesting how certain fish will grow faster on feeders whereas others grow faster on massivore.
Definitely. They eat much more daily.
8" is the size to convert to frozen IMO& IME
Interesting that VATF appear to be more aggressive than other atf. I remember West1 saying his VATF was much more interactive than his GATF. Interaction and aggression seem to be correlated from my experience with cichlids - same holding true here?
A good friend of mine who has grown these fish in the past theorizes that they grow faster with feeders because of the fats in feeders --- atfs tend to have a high metabolism & need high fat content as an energy source. Also if you have the tank well stocked, they eat WHENEVER they get hungry. Personally, I have never liked feeding feeders to any fish so converted my atfs as soon as possible. Despite a slower growth rate they seem very healthy and thick. I don't mind the slow growth as their homes is/will be catering to their needs. But if you want faster growth, feeders is definitely the way to go.
Yes, I know what you mean as I have kept cichlids and continue to keep cichlids in other tanks...... but I want to say these guys are somewhat different....in the sense that they are always active in my tank and come to the middle of my tank "begging" for food right before I feed them. They have been conditioned.......every time I feed them -- I turn off the casnisters & so they have "learned" to know right away when it's time to eat....in my group there is only one atf that spends all its time on the upper back corner of the tank as its always being picked on......it's my one eye FATF at about 3.5"s. Other than this little fella all the rest of my atfs are very bold & not skittish at all.
As for GATFs, I find them to be the most skittish & can be punked very easily by other fish at a small size. Interesting observation.... saw a 8 foot tank full of 5"/6" gatfs (about 15 or so)....... they were absolutely skittish.... got close to the tank they freaked out...... another tank right next to that one.... there was a GATF of same size but was not skittish at all (same batch)! I mean you could put your face right next to the tank and it was chill. Difference? It was being housed with multiple ATFs of different species & there were dither fish.....in my growout tank the GATFs are not skittish and are some of the boldest in my pack. The more I grow my group out & observe others, it is quickly becoming one of my favorite fish to keep.....
I wouldn't say Armatus grows faster with feeders. I feed mine home made food and they're growing like weeds. The trick is to get them to eat a big mouthful. Mine will eat pellets but they're not stuffed. When they eat the home made stuff I drop in big logs and they stuff it down.
I also have had a pack of 4 VATFs and 1 GATF. The VATF were the instigator and alpha dogs. They always had slices or split tails. It wasn't too bad because they were spread out among the fish. But I can see if there were only a few the smallest would get the beating.
I also have had a pack of 4 VATFs and 1 GATF. The VATF were the instigator and alpha dogs. They always had slices or split tails. It wasn't too bad because they were spread out among the fish. But I can see if there were only a few the smallest would get the beating.
As time continues to march forward, I become more and more convinced that his big one was in fact a tatf. At this point I don't see a single shred of evidence to indicate that it was vittatus.
As for Al's issue, my thoughts on this are as follows:
There are two types of atf; apex predator species and meso predator species. The apex predator species (gatf, tatf, batf) seem to be much calmer and are more likely to play nice with each other.
The meso predator species (vatf and fatf) are prey for the apex predator species. As such, they seem to be VERY intolerant of congenerics and are overtly aggressive toward conspecifics of different sizes; be it smaller or larger. I strongly suspect that this is because the meso predator species are prey for the apex predators.
Vittatus further complicates things with the fact that it actually comprises a species complex that consists of four separate subspecies that can only be differentiated by either DNA or collection point. Some of these populations are the apex predator in their range, some are suppressed by other atf species.
Basically with vatf, its a crap shoot as to whether or nit they'll play nice with others. Some do, some don't.
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I've already seen more aggression in the Vs then I've seen with my Ts and the Vs have only been here a few weeks.
I guess this is a lesson for me. I had what I wanted and gave it up for what I thought I wanted.
Back to the drawing board...... OR maybe its time to throw the drawing board in the trash and head to the saltier side of things since my rays seem to keep crapping in my cheerios.
I guess this is a lesson for me. I had what I wanted and gave it up for what I thought I wanted.
Back to the drawing board...... OR maybe its time to throw the drawing board in the trash and head to the saltier side of things since my rays seem to keep crapping in my cheerios.
Did you get rid of your Ts?!
No, but like I said, I had a feeling once the first one went that it would start going down hill....... Will be interesting to see if the 3 left start getting aggressive with each other, I'm guessing 4+ is going to be the best recipe for a happy group, but I'm hoping 3 will still work.
