Common name/s: False siamese tiger fish, Indo datnoid

Scientific name: Coius microlepis

Family:Coiidae

Origin: Eastern asia

Maximum size:15" usually smaller

Care:Can be kept alone or in a group of at least 5, if kept in smaller groups aggression can be focused on just one fish and will often result in death, the minimum tanksize for this fish would 75 gallons for 1 or 125 gallons for 5. The fish does not do well in soft water so the pH should be kept above 7 with a hardness of 15GH+, temperatures should be kept between 22 and 26 centigrade (72-79f). As a reasonably shy fish the tank should have pleanty of hiding places and a densely planted area, do not keep with overly aggressive fish like some cichlids. The fish is a predator and has a protrusile mouth so can take large prey, all tankmates should be around the same size or larger.

Feeding: Large meaty frozen and live foods of all kinds, fish are particually favoured. The fish usually will not eat dried foods.

Sexing and breeding:Unknown

CommentsOften wrongly named as Siamese tiger fish which is the common name of Datnoids pulcher. D.pulcher differs from C.microlepis in that it only has 3-4 vertical black stripes, C.microlepis has 5-7. Also often wrongly labled as a brackish fish, C.microlepis is a true FW inhabitant which is only sometimes found in brackish areas.

This post has been edited by Lateral Line: Jul 31 2008, 08:08 PM

My two.