Little Datnoid, Big Aspirations

[islandguy11]

This guy's a character....video clips were taken on his 3rd day in tank (not long after he started eating pellets). I was surprised by how outgoing he was, but even more so when he started attacking the juvi Flagtail, which is nearly twice his size...

Fortunately it was only for about an hour (pretty much stopped after the young Aro got kinda pissed at the Dat for disturbing the peace and whacked him a couple of times). He's settled down now, and since establishing himself as #2 there's been no further aggression, they're swimming and feeding around each other with no issues.

I'm pretty sure his outgoing fishonality is due to low stocking of this tank (only the 3 of them in a 375g) -- if it were a more heavily stocked tank with lots of bigger fish I bet he would be acting differently (hiding, maybe not stable). As mentioned in another thread higher tank temps might also be a contributing factor.

 

[krichardson]

Very nice find with that youngling.I have had horrible luck in getting NTT to eat pellets.

 

[ROY1204]

Really nice!! I am surprising your aro won't eat the little tiger or flagtail. my flagtail just die by my aro attacked. Now is only tiger and Aro.

 

[islandguy11]

Really nice!! I am surprising your aro won't eat the little tiger or flagtail. my flagtail just die by my aro attacked. Now is only tiger and Aro.

Well for better or worse the Aro won't be eating anyone -- just came back from a 2-day business trip to find her dead -- she somehow jumped past a barrier into my large internal corner filter which had very little water at the top portion. Something must have spooked her -- in my opinion they're actually quite a mentally frail fish (at least when younger and in an aquarium setting), despite their 'dragon fish' moniker.

So now it's only the flagtail and the datnoid....in a 8 ft, 375 gallon tank.

At this point I'm really not sure what else to put in there (no plans at this time to get another aro) -- on the one hand I'd really like to have a Peacock Bass, and another LFS has some nice juvies about 4" -- but I'm concerned it'll grow too fast and maybe try to eat the slower-growing Datnoid (Flagtail eats all day on something or another and is growing fast) maybe 6 months down the road or whatever.

So what do you guys reckon, is that just asking for trouble later between the PB and Dat? Or if the PB is kept well fed do you think they'd be ok?

 

[ROY1204]

Well for better or worse the Aro won't be eating anyone -- just came back from a 2-day business trip to find her dead -- she somehow jumped past a barrier into my large internal corner filter which had very little water at the top portion. Something must have spooked her -- in my opinion they're actually quite a mentally frail fish (at least when younger and in an aquarium setting), despite their 'dragon fish' moniker.

So now it's only the flagtail and the datnoid....in a 8 ft, 375 gallon tank.

At this point I'm really not sure what else to put in there (no plans at this time to get another aro) -- on the one hand I'd really like to have a Peacock Bass, and another LFS has some nice juvies about 4" -- but I'm concerned it'll grow too fast and maybe try to eat the slower-growing Datnoid (Flagtail eats all day on something or another and is growing fast) maybe 6 months down the road or whatever.

So what do you guys reckon, is that just asking for trouble later between the PB and Dat? Or if the PB is kept well fed do you think they'd be ok?

Sorry to hear that!! Pb is growing much fast that datnoid.

 

[islandguy11]

NTT update: Al Capone is doing great -- though as I've learned from others here they are indeed slow growers (maybe he's a couple of millimeter bigger, while the Flagtail is growing like a sprout). But he's still remained stable and good looking since I first got him, and in fact his bars are cleaning up a bit more.



He's also continued to eat very well, gorges on pellets every day and also likes shrimp and pangasius filet which I feed every couple of days.

And, at least for now, he is the de facto tank boss. The Flagtail definitely demurs to him and in fact often follows him around like a puppy dog.



However, Al Capone's tank status will likely change soon as I'm thinking to put a new Blue Base Crossback that'll be here next week into that teak wood stand tank.

But I have some reservations, as while I don't have proof, I have a sneaky suspicion it was actually Al Capone who startled my previous Gold Crossback at night when dozing, leading to her death by jumping into the corner filter. It's just a hunch, but very possible. Even during lights on time he wasn't shy about swimming around the Aro; in less light he'd be even more confident about doing so, and again very possibly accidentally spooked her, so question is should I chance this cheeky little guy with another, even more expensive Aro?

The only alternative is to give the Blue Base a new 84"X32"X28" tank that'll be finished soon -- then keeping my new Goldenhead in his 4' tank a bit longer (he was supposed to go in the 84") until a new maybe 72" tank could be made in a few weeks.

But for sure it's kind of a waste to have just a little datnoid and flagtail in a 96"X30"X30", and it's near some sliding doors where I can get a bit of sun on the tank for an hour or two a day, which is the best way to groom/show a Blue Base I've been told. So it's a tricky decision I need to make soon.

As always advice or opinions are always appreciated.

 

[Galantspeedz]

You should just buy bigger bbxb, pb and IT