Datnoides microlepis “Tiger Datnoid”

I never understood the fascination with the various Datnoids, until I got these in. The Tiger Datnoid, Datnoides microlepis, also known as the Tiger Dat, Indonesia Tiger, Siamese Tigerfish, or even simply IT, is certainly a big fish. I don’t just mean big in terms of the sizes they can grow to (being a predator capable of reaching 18″!), but even their personalities are big. Even the little 2″ small individuals have boatloads of personality and intelligence. They certainly are the type of fish that I could see growing up to be a true “pet”….but also requiring the space to match.

The individuals currently for sale are housed with my Archerfishes in a very low salinity brackish environment, roughly 1 tablespoon marine salt mix per gallon (helpful for this species in my care, as we have very soft water as it is, although this species is a true freshwater Datnoid). They feed easily on freeze-dried and frozen foods, and to a lesser extent show some interest in prepared diets. Their bar patterning is quite variable, and some individuals have merged and/or broken bars. They are roughly 2” in size at this time.