Would like input from ATF keepers

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DB junkie

DB junkie

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Jan 27, 2007
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I haven't been keeping ATF very long, but have enjoyed these things more then any non ray/Moray fish I've ever kept. So now that I've been infected with Tiger fever I've been thinking a lot about the future. Since I'm fairly new to these things I'd like to open a conversation about housing them long term.

I know these things need room, but exactly how much room seems highly debatable.

Say you had a 10x4x2.5' tank and wanted a group of Tigers. How many would you have? How many would you say could live long term in this tank? There might be a single Goliath, but mostly Tatf and a few Vatf. So I'm assuming max sizes to be 18-24"?

I'd like to say that without a doubt a bigger tank would eventually be built, but I don't know when I'll get a house bought that allows for something "big". Might be a year or 2, might be 5, so just trying to get a feel of what I could get away with in my largest grow out tank (the 10x4)

Would love to hear what you guys think......... :naughty:

Any input and reasoning behind it would be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance. :)
 
My fear is how they will act as they get older. My first aft was a VATF (i believe) and once he got to 14" inches he got super aggressive and started trying to kill my black aro. I told myself i would never get another atf but here i am growing out a GATF

Djlaax has a group in his tank and seems to be doing pretty well



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Just my opinion but I don't think my 750 will be sufficient for my gatf long term. I got him 2-3 months ago and he's grown 3 inches in that time and that's with heavy competition for food. Smaller species I would guess are possible but we don't know much about adults getting along with each other at this point. It would certainly be an impressive sight to see a group of adults together.
 
Like I said, not concerned about the Gatf long term.... More interested in keeping Tatf and Vatf.

I thought Alix only had a Trio (2Gs and a V) in his 400? Might have to have another look.......

So here's what I'm taking away from this......

1) Bad idea.
2) Tank is too small.

Thanks guys...... Keep it coming.
 
KNH said:
Only one way to find out Alan....
Click to expand...

I know...... ;)

But it's hard to account for losses along the way, and still end up with enough to disperse aggression.

I'm new to Tigers but not to angry toothy fish, and would just like to openly discuss suggestions to try to arrive at a number that will work in the tank I have.

I suppose I could take the typical approach and say by the time they're actually grown out I'll have something much bigger, but seeing what people have for tank sizes and looking at the stock lists I thought this might be an interesting discussion...... ;)
 
A ATF thread is always interesting. I always wanted to get a atf in the past but I heard so many horrible story's about them such the need of a big tank ,aggression against tank mates,skittish banging on the glass so hard they will die and so and so!! ..So I decided to test the waters myself. First I got a fatf at around 3 inch then another fatf same size, then like 2 months later a tatf at 2.5 inch by the time the fatf were probably at 4inch. I thought the fatf's were going to kill the tatf, they actually nipped he's tail off almost completely but the little guy survive. I was going to move the tatf to a hospital tank but I noticed he was the first one to eat when feeding time so I took the risk and left him in the same tank. To make a long story short now I have 5 atf's living together in the same tank. 2 fatf's at 6 inch, 1tatf at 5.5inch ,1 gatf at 6inch and last a vatf at 7.5inch. They have been together for the past 4 month's or so and no big aggression. They all feed on tilapia except the Vatf he is a tough nut to crack. So sometimes we can use others people information or personal experiences but each fish has their own personalities and may act differently in a different story. . A really good friend of mine is trying to break the odds and is keeping a group of 15 atf's at the moment, ranging from 2.5 inch to I believe 3.5-4 inch and there doing pretty good at the time. So my advice to you is if you have the opportunity to keep a atf just keep it well fed and have a strong current to keep them happy and busy. .
 
Although I obviously don't have experience with full grown tigers, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to try at least 3 VATF/TATF in a 10x4. My only worry would be aggression in adult ATF, but with dither/target fish and a lot of current, I'm pretty confident it can work. It would come down to the individual fish IMO, but if you were able to grow the ones you have now into adult sizes, you should have a good chance of being able to cohab them all together into adulthood.
 
Well let me try to contribute from my experience. I had 4 VATF and one GATF but now I'm down to just one of each. When the group of 5 were together they were around 8-10". I had them in my 650 which is 7X5X3'. That was barely big enough for them. If they were going to get any bigger say over 14" each that tank would definitely be too small. At this time my GATF is around 14" but he's only with one other VATF at around 10-12". The GATF regularly bumps into the side of the tank whenever he feels the urge to do a sprint.

If I were to keep a group of 5 fish together I would say I'd need a minimum of 1,000gallons. Possibly a 12X5 or more. The bigger the tank the better with these fish. The depth is not as important as elbow room with these guys.
 
This is an awesome question! I think a 10-4 could house a nice shoal of non-goliath ATF's for life .... throwing a Goliath in changes everything due to their max size, and in my opinion their behavior ... my VATF handles the tank environment better than the goliaths, and seems more nifty and controlled when swimming and eating, and freaks out much less ... i've had my Goliaths coming up on 3 years, and i think they could easily live in a 10-4 for 5+ years, probably more, considering i really dont know how big they'll get in an aquarium .... they havent passed the 2 foot mark yet in 3 yrs and a 2ft goliath can def live in a 10-4, probably even a 3 footer could as well, so i think a 10 x 4 may even get you 8-10 yrs considering how slowly they grow ... i have to say current is a major factor in how much the fish swim, so that has an influence as well ... about 2 weeks ago i had one of my koralia magnum 8 water circulators fall, and take in sand, and basically grind its insides so its so out of balance it wont work .... i had 4 of them, now only 3 and the amount of swimming the fish do has increased dramatically with the reduced current ... i look at it like more swimming is more turns the fish has to make per hour, so he's going to need a bigger tank with less current ... i've been thinking about building my final tank for these guys for a while now, and am still up in the air about how big i should make it so that theres no risk of being too small, but yet i dont have crazy money, so i dont want my electric bill to be 1000 a month ... the size i've been toying with is 12-15 x5-6 x3-3.5 ... having seen my ATF's and how much they enjoy the 10 foot 400 gallon i have, i know the longer the better, but ultimately width is the biggest issue for big fish ... hope this babbling helps ...
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