When Picking a Datnoid, what should I look for?

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BenSow

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2009
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Kuala Lumpur
Datnoids are amazing fish if you ask me and I plan to get one some time.. So I just came back from my LFS and saw an Indo Tiger up for sale at MYR65.. Passed the offer since I don't have enough tank spce-- yet.. So I have been to a few LFS selling datnoids but sometimes I see Pale ones and sometimes very dark ones.. The pales one are not silver datnoids though.. Even their bars are pale... The dark ones are quite dark and sometimes you can even tell where the bars are.. So I'm thinking why is this happening? Is one of the colours normal for a datnoid and will change back soon?

Thanks
 
BenSow;4538857; said:
Datnoids are amazing fish if you ask me and I plan to get one some time.. So I just came back from my LFS and saw an Indo Tiger up for sale at MYR65.. Passed the offer since I don't have enough tank spce-- yet.. So I have been to a few LFS selling datnoids but sometimes I see Pale ones and sometimes very dark ones.. The pales one are not silver datnoids though.. Even their bars are pale... The dark ones are quite dark and sometimes you can even tell where the bars are.. So I'm thinking why is this happening? Is one of the colours normal for a datnoid and will change back soon?

Thanks
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stable= good looking, bars are pitch black and there is great contrast between the bars and base color.

unstable= ugly, what you've just described.

Those datnoids are just unstable. Datnoids can be stable/unstable anytime they want. My datnoids are stable all the time except when doing water changes. You can buy one of those unstable datnoids home and they can stable up instantly. No one knows why they turn unstable or how to get them stable.


When buying datnoids (indos):
  1. Pick they ones that are not breathing heavily. Make sure the gills aren't red.
  2. Pick one out with a pattern you like; 3 bar, classic 4 bar, split bar, oddball, etc.
  3. Go for the ones that are already taking pellets, although it's pretty easy converting them if you need to.
  4. Make sure they aren't skinny or have a cave in stomach.
  5. Go for the ones that are active, ask owner to feed them.
  6. Go for indos. Hardy, good looking (IMO), and pretty cheap.
Good luck, post pics when/if you get them. Also take a look at new guinea datnoids AKA NGT datnoids. A bit pricey, but looks amazing when stable. Take a look at my signature.
 
BenSow;4538952; said:
Thanks very much... Hoping to get one when I upgrade... What's Indos minimum tank size?
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They grow extremely slow. IMO if its too big for your tank (unless you have like a 20 gal) then somebody will most likely buy it off you. And you should try to buy the stable ones. I bought 5, 1 was stable at the store and 4 were unstable, and they stayed the same in my tank
 
That really becomes your choice if you wanna wait or just buy it and risk it. I'm not sure if it's better to buy a lighter or darker datnoid. I've personally only seen the larger unstable datnoids dark and never light.
 
look for the one that catches your eye and you have that i got to get it feeling
 
Just get one that eats well and looks healthy. I got my old Indo out of a straight up brackish tank at an LFS. It didnt look good but it ate anything in sight and as soon as i got in my tank it was always stable. No matter what, it always looked at least 90% stable. Someone on here bought it and i would be willing to bet its still stable.
 
Use the search function snow. Type in stable or unstable and you will find a zillions threads. Nearly every thread here is either to do with feeding, stable or tank mates.

It's a bit of a mystery why they go stable and unstable. What makes one tiger change colour may NOT make another tiger do the same.

Hows the NGT mcphisy?
 
good info from mcfishy! when you look for a dat, be sure to go for the active, hungry ones first.. a healthy dat is better than a stable one!
 
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