Atfs

[africantigerfish7]

African Tiger Fish. How big do they get? Growth rate? What size tank do they require? Any help with these questions would be appreciated.

 

[Lateral Line]

Hydrocynus vittatus is a big vicious predatory fish. Reputed to grow to over 600mm, although I've never seen one that big. Obviously, they need tank space comensurate with that kind of size though.

The biggest I've seen was probably about 450mm, and was caught with a rod and line at Popa Falls on the Caprivi Strip, Namibia, near the border with Angola. The guy that caught it fought with it for about 15 minutes before landing it. He "killed" it and bought it back to the camp site where he intended to eat it. Left by the tents, he went back to clean it to find it had jumped about 20m and was still going - a real tough cookie. Well dead, cleaned and cooked in foil over a fire, he said it made good eating.

 

[CFC]

In aquaria they grow slowly but even small specimins require a minimum of a 150 gallon (5x2x2') tank due to their skittish nature and tendency to smash themselves into the ends of the tank at any noise or movement. Once over a foot nothing less than a 10x4x3 tank will do and is just about suitable for adult fish, the largest one i have ever heard of in captivity was a little over 20 inches long but this isnt to say with proper care they shouldnt get bigger.

 

[africantigerfish7]

Thanks for the info all. Will consider this fish when I upgrade to a much bigger tank.