How to Keep Siamese Tigerfish? A Detailed Guide to Keeping Methods and Precautions
The Siamese tigerfish, also known as the Nantos fish or Siamese tiger fish, is native to the streams and rivers of Thailand, and is also distributed in Borneo and Sumatra. The basic body color of juvenile Siamese tigerfish is white with black stripes, and after reaching adulthood the white gradually turns yellow, forming tiger-like markings. It is a highly popular ornamental fish. Let's take a look below at how to keep Siamese tigerfish!
Is the Siamese Tigerfish Easy to Keep?
The Siamese tigerfish is easy to keep. The Siamese tiger's ability to adapt to water quality is relatively strong, more so than ordinary fish, and its requirements for water temperature and pH are also relatively lenient. However, its requirement for dissolved oxygen in the water is relatively high, so when keeping Siamese tigers the owner must provide a water environment with relatively high dissolved oxygen. The fish tank should be at least 1.5 m long, 60 cm wide and 60 cm high.
What Does the Siamese Tigerfish Eat?
The Siamese tigerfish is a predatory fish and very much enjoys eating live bait. Feeding live bait can stimulate its activity and enthusiasm, and the bait is also relatively fresh and clean. At the same time, the scene of it catching live bait will give the keeper a sense of satisfaction and gratification. For live bait, you can generally choose to feed loaches, small fish, small shrimp, and so on. When feeding loaches, be sure to soak them in coarse salt, and because loaches are especially vigorous, you must cut them into segments when feeding to prevent them from piercing the tigerfish's digestive tract. When feeding small fish, disinfect them with potassium permanganate or coarse salt, then keep them in clean water for a few days without feeding during this period, so as not to pollute the water quality, ensuring the feeder fish are healthy. When feeding shrimp, be sure to remove the shrimp head and tail; for the same reason, they must not scratch the tigerfish's small digestive tract.
How to Keep Siamese Tigerfish?
1. Fish tank: First, you must choose an appropriate fish tank so that your beloved tiger can swim freely. This is because, under normal circumstances, with proper feeding, a juvenile Siamese tigerfish of about 8 cm can basically grow to about 40 cm after more than two years of keeping. Therefore, a large fish tank should be chosen, and a basic aquarium of 1.5 m * 0.6 m * 0.6 m can meet the keeping requirements. Only in this way can your favorite Siamese tiger grow more healthily.
2. Feeding: The food intake of the Siamese tiger during its growth period is astonishing, so the more you feed, the more feed residue there naturally is. Therefore, regarding the question of whether the Siamese tigerfish is easy to keep, you must choose a sufficient filtration system to improve water treatment and meet the needs of water quality regulation. Few people keep just one Siamese tiger in a single aquarium; Siamese tigers are mostly kept together with other large ornamental fish.
3. Water quality: The Siamese tiger's adaptability is very strong. After long-term keeping, it can adapt well at water temperatures of 26 to 33 degrees, and a pH of around 5 to 8.5 can meet its growth requirements. However, for the Siamese tiger, the dissolved oxygen level must meet the requirement. In actual keeping, as the water temperature continues to rise, oxygenation equipment must be used promptly to create water quality conditions with high dissolved oxygen.
Summary: In fact, the question of how to keep the Siamese tigerfish is very simple. As long as you maintain good water quality, stabilize the water quality, meet the dissolved oxygen requirement, and feed regularly, the Siamese tiger can grow healthily!