From India (Orissa) we have received quite adorable tiger perch babies of the species Datnioides polota. Most of the only 1-2 cm long babies still have the dark baby dress, which is only interrupted in the front third of the body by a bright band. But single animals change already into the adult dress, which is silver-colored with vertical dark bands. Cheeky as Oskar they roam the aquarium and are incredibly curious.
Tiger perch (Datnioides) are large, magnificent fish. As predatory fish, they develop significantly more behavior that seems intelligent to us humans than most other fish. Datnioides species grow up to 30 cm long. Accordingly, they need large aquariums, not so much for swimming space as for water stress. Such a large tiger perch eats quite a lot during a meal and everything that disappears through the gullet in the body (live and frozen food of all kinds), comes converted back into the water. And that’s why you need volume, otherwise there will be a water chemical catastrophe.
But true tiger perch fans provide large aquariums for the animals anyway. In the many years that a tiger perch accompanies its keeper through life, the animal becomes tame and develops into a real pet! Among themselves tiger perch are relatively compatible, other fish that do not come into question as food, they ignore. Datnioides polota is a brackish water fish that is also commonly found in pure freshwater. Aquaristically, it has been found to be best to make sure that the pH does not drop below 8 on a permanent basis.
For our customers: the animals have code 414051 on our stocklist. Please note that we supply exclusively to wholesalers.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
