Doing due diligence in reporting. Of the smaller GATF batch of 11, one has done the same suicidal run-in with a wall about a month or two back. The remaining 10 have been ok. They are also with 4-5 VATF of similar size.
Six GATF from Wes
- Thread starter thebiggerthebetter
- Start date
R.I.P little man let’s hope the other 10 hits 2’+ that’ll be a sight to see
Update Aug 29, 2018.
The bigger GATF from the original Wes' batch of six are now down to two. Two more have killed themselves, despite having more calm tank mates than water in their 240 gal. So this is not a way to go.
With ATF it is survival of the fittest in the wild and of the calmest in captivity. No news though. Just like Wes
fugupuff
says,
-- keep them in a tiny tank, where they can't pick up too much speed, or,
-- in a tank with padded sides and top, or
-- in a pond, or
-- the best is from the get-go place them in their final home of tens of thousands of gallons, or
-- at the very least one ATF per fish tank but the last approach is the least effective, I think.
I have rehomed the surviving duo (the smallest of the six BTW, ~9" and ~10") to a different 240 gal to join the batch of the other, younger ATF, and installed two thick filter mats at the side walls of the tank (8'x2'x2'). Wes recommends padding the top too, perhaps by stretching a net, which is not easy to accomplish but I need to think hard how to accomplish that in the 240 gal.
Out of the younger batch of 4-5 VATF and 10 GATF, 3 more GATF committed suicide over the last 6 months or so. Not a single VATF. All GATF. And all were the largest in the batch (again!).
All in all, we now have
-- two 20" VATF in a 4500 gal,
-- one 14" VATF in a 240 gal, and
-- four to five 5"-7" VATF and
-- ten 5"-10" GATF in the 240 gal with the padded sides.
Below are the photos of the two perished GATF, final sizes 11" and 12", grown in 1.5 years from ~3", not the fast growing kind at all that some report occurs seldom (never mind the VATF on the top as its drama is described in our VATF thread):
The bigger GATF from the original Wes' batch of six are now down to two. Two more have killed themselves, despite having more calm tank mates than water in their 240 gal. So this is not a way to go.
With ATF it is survival of the fittest in the wild and of the calmest in captivity. No news though. Just like Wes
fugupuff
says, -- keep them in a tiny tank, where they can't pick up too much speed, or,
-- in a tank with padded sides and top, or
-- in a pond, or
-- the best is from the get-go place them in their final home of tens of thousands of gallons, or
-- at the very least one ATF per fish tank but the last approach is the least effective, I think.
I have rehomed the surviving duo (the smallest of the six BTW, ~9" and ~10") to a different 240 gal to join the batch of the other, younger ATF, and installed two thick filter mats at the side walls of the tank (8'x2'x2'). Wes recommends padding the top too, perhaps by stretching a net, which is not easy to accomplish but I need to think hard how to accomplish that in the 240 gal.
Out of the younger batch of 4-5 VATF and 10 GATF, 3 more GATF committed suicide over the last 6 months or so. Not a single VATF. All GATF. And all were the largest in the batch (again!).
All in all, we now have
-- two 20" VATF in a 4500 gal,
-- one 14" VATF in a 240 gal, and
-- four to five 5"-7" VATF and
-- ten 5"-10" GATF in the 240 gal with the padded sides.
Below are the photos of the two perished GATF, final sizes 11" and 12", grown in 1.5 years from ~3", not the fast growing kind at all that some report occurs seldom (never mind the VATF on the top as its drama is described in our VATF thread):
I reported in another thread that a guy in Thailand still had this issue in his 32,000g where his one gatf of ~34-36in killed itself by ramming the wall. I think folks need to try a cylinder tank like is used for sharks. Maybe that would work.
Wow. That's really disheartening. And that was in a pond with one small window. Wow. So short of padding the walls like in a suicide watch room, there is not much hope. Or going with a cylinder but a fish can run into a cylinder wall at a normal angle and it'd be no different than running into a flat wall. Far, far less likely though, true, but not impossible.
fishtankphil
is on the right track - he's got an 8x4 tub, 1500 gal, for his GATF, currently at 20".
He still tires the ramming thing but get deflected even when it dose that nose digging action and swims all excited at the walls it gets pushed along. It happened last nite. It is going to take some time for them to get used to a new tank environment. Some are doing good while others are still skittish with any above movements.Wow. That's really disheartening. And that was in a pond with one small window. Wow. So short of padding the walls like in a suicide watch room, there is not much hope. Or going with a cylinder but a fish can run into a cylinder wall at a normal angle and it'd be no different than running into a flat wall. Far, far less likely though, true, but not impossible.
btw vik here is what i did for the netting i ran above the pond. I got the clip at home depot in a big pack that u can remove afterwards but i glued them on since they are small and dont stick all that great to the fbg. The net i got from ebay i believe 14x14 or something like that. Has like .25" holes or so. Cheap and stretchy too.
Perhaps my anal nature but I'd feel safer with them 2" spring clamps. I'd worry a fish jumps, is able to stretch the netting and clear the tank lip and fall into the netted cradle below supported by the lip and the clear clips. I'd need to have a high tension on the netting to avoid that, which may prove to not be practical. Aesthetics - thumbs up. Function - thumbs down from an OCD keeper.
I cam A test that the netting is vwry taught and bouncy so if anything hits gets pushed bk down. So far sp good no jumping except a few splashes from the aro and flagtail when eating off the surface.
