Siamese Tigerfish Info

[Scatta]

I'm looking for a bit of info on the following fish;

Siamese Tigerfish (Datnioides microlepis)

Targetfish (Terapon genus)

I'd just like a bit of info from people who have had experience keeping them (e.g. maximum size in aquaria, water requirements, diet, etc).

Also, will a mixture of different Scats (e.g. Silver, Red, Green, etc) shoal together, or would they be best kept as a single variation group (if that makes sense!)?

 

[CFC]

The siamese tiger wont handle the salt levels needed for the target fish and scats, in my experience D.microlepis starts to show distress once the SG is above 1.003, Datnoids quadrifasciatus tollerates higher salt levels and can be kept in water with a SG as high as 1.010 which will suit the scats and target fish too.

Red and green scats will school together though i have found that often the reds are more aggressive and will dominate the greens.

 

[k.o.d]

What would you like to know about Dats?

Have had the silver and the thin bar Tigerfish, both have been kept in hard alkaline London water
Very hardy, slow growing but lovely to look at
Will grow to 12" + and are highly predatory with huge mouths
Fed on; earthworms, mealworms, prawns, mussels and whitebait

These are a couple of pics of mine, but T1karmann has some stunning Dats and he knows lots about them

Steve

 

[Scatta]

The Tigerfish in those pics looks beautiful. Very stunning blue eye! Is that a result of the camera, or are the eyes always that deep blue?

Will the Tigerfish grow 12" + in aquaria, or are they wild caught size records? Are they particularly aggressive in their predatory nature, or are docile with similar size fish?

Thanks for the info, by the way.

 

[AMS]

Target Fish.

 

[nmonks]

Siamese Tigerfish (Datnioides microlepis)

This is a freshwater fish. While it may tolerate a little salt (as CFC suggests) it doesn't need it. Best kept in a large freshwater aquarium, preferably with lots of sturdy plants like giant Vallisneria and Java ferns.

Targetfish (Terapon genus)

Not much to add beyond what AMS has said. One interesting observation Frank Schaefer makes in the Aqualog book is that while juveniles are solitary and territorial (presumably because they live in tide pools) and adults are peaceful schooling fish (presumably because they live in the open sea). If so, these fish will be tricky to keep. But they are surprisingly attractive. Maidenhead Aquatics in St. Albans has a batch, and very nice they are too.

I'd just like a bit of info from people who have had experience keeping them (e.g. maximum size in aquaria, water requirements, diet, etc).

These are both predators, the tigerfish being a stealth predator and the target fish and active, opportunistic feeder. Neither are especially difficult to keep in captivity.

Also, will a mixture of different Scats (e.g. Silver, Red, Green, etc) shoal together, or would they be best kept as a single variation group (if that makes sense!)?

Yes. I personally haven't noticed the bullying CFC mentions, but I have no reason to doubt it. Different species of closely related fish often have different levels of aggression. Just consider platies and swordtails. I happen to like silver scats best of all because of their very pretty colouration. Scats also school well with monos, which can work well because monos are sometimes aggressive to each other, so keeping a couple of monos and a couple of scats seems to balance things out.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Scatta]

Thanks for the info! As much as like both of those fish, I think they may grow too large for my aquarium. Is there a member of the Datnioides genus that doesn't grow too large?