How to care for Tarpon

[OzMonsterFish]

Hi,

I have a 6 foot tank set up with a Tarpon in it. I have recently purchased this fish and it is only 15cm long at the moment.

Does anyone here have any idea on the details of keeping this fish in good health and happy?

Cheers.

 

[OzMonsterFish]

this is what a tarpon is

 

[VLDesign]

Try something 100 times larger than what you already have.

These fish should never ever be kept in home aquariums.

 

[cichlaguapote]

It's ok there are many here that keep them.. hopefully someone will chime in..

I assume if he knows where to find pics of a tarpon he's read about their sizes. You are keeping it in freshwater right?

 

[polish]

What kind of Tarpon?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pacific_tarpon

or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_tarpon

I sure hope the first one, it is the more common one in Aquaria to my knowledge. I don't think I've ever even seen an Atlantic Tarpon in a tank. Not many people can house a 6-8ft 300+lb fish though. The indo pacific doesn't get nearly as big.

 

[Tsubakai]

What species of tarpon is it? Since you are in Australia I'll assume its the Indo-pacific one. If that's the case it will be fine. As far as I've seen they should grow to maybe two foot long so your six foot tank will probably be ok. They like to school - mine is schooling with a group of five salmon-tail cats only about half his length. They have good appetites and should get on to pellets easily enough. In the early days I fed mine frozen/thawed prawns and whitebait but now he seems to get the idea with the pellets. I'm considering geting another 3 or 4 so I can have a little school once the cats have been grownout and moved on.

 

[OzMonsterFish]

It's ok there are many here that keep them.. hopefully someone will chime in..

I assume if he knows where to find pics of a tarpon he's read about their sizes. You are keeping it in freshwater right?

Yep. freshwater. At the moment about PH7.8 and 28C.

What kind of Tarpon?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pacific_tarpon

or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_tarpon

I sure hope the first one, it is the more common one in Aquaria to my knowledge. I don't think I've ever even seen an Atlantic Tarpon in a tank. Not many people can house a 6-8ft 300+lb fish though. The indo pacific doesn't get nearly as big.

It's the freshwater Indo one.

What species of tarpon is it? Since you are in Australia I'll assume its the Indo-pacific one. If that's the case it will be fine. As far as I've seen they should grow to maybe two foot long so your six foot tank will probably be ok. They like to school - mine is schooling with a group of five salmon-tail cats only about half his length. They have good appetites and should get on to pellets easily enough. In the early days I fed mine frozen/thawed prawns and whitebait but now he seems to get the idea with the pellets. I'm considering geting another 3 or 4 so I can have a little school once the cats have been grownout and moved on.

Can you possibly give me more details as to PH, temperature, other health related stuff, maybe some pics would be nice.

 

[Piscineidiot]

Indo-pacific tarpon aren't fussy. Just keep the pH up to prevent fungal infections, add some salt if you like for the same reason, and feed them well. Mine ate incessantly and learnt to eat from my hands only one and a half weeks after I'd caught them.

Bear in mind that their growth potential is rather larger than most people believe. According to the records, they can grow to 1.5m in length. I have caught them over 60cm to the fork of the tail, and friends have caught them to 85cm to the fork of the tail. They will easily get a metre in length if maintained well. It will take some time (i.e. years), but it will get there if you manage to keep it alive.

They aren't fussy, but they do require lots of food and room. They have a tendency to try and swim through tank walls for a little while. Enjoy yours, I got rid of mine after they tried to eat a 90 buck chalceus 35 seconds after I'd released it into the tank.

 

[OzMonsterFish]

chalceus - the local store has them atm. do they get big?

 

[reddragon343]

these guys are fast and furious. Dont worry abt them too much. give them lots of space to cruise, well fed, and decent water conditions. Also....so for kicks, u can throw in feeders and watch em dissapear in abt.....2 mins. U probably have the Indo-pacific type. No way in hell u can keep the Atlantic species.