Black Tiger Badis pair (3.5 gallon shrimp tank)

[Frisbee]

I have had this little top fin 3.5 gallon for a few months. It was a hospital tank for a betta (that sadly did not make it). After the betta passed, I put in sand substrate and heavily planted it. I had a few ramshorn snails in it, but nothing else. Recently, I decided to put it to use. I had originally planned on just strimp, but I was in the LFS today and I saw an adorable pair of Black Tiger Badis.

I just finished acclimating them about an hour ago. The lights are still off. They are pretty pale from the store, but they seem to be doing well. They happily accepted some hikari guppy granules. I didn’t have any other food on hand small enough for them. I don’t even know if they are big enough for frozen brine shrimp. I might have to culture something for them.

Anyways, here they are!


The stock filter on the tank is full of cycled ceramic rings and I am running a small sponge filter on top of that. Perimeters were 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and 5ppm nitrate when I tested this morning. PH is 7.6 or so and temp is 78°. I have been intentionally leaving algae, plant bits and mulm in the tank to make it a little more wild. I’m hoping it will be just perfect for them.

I’m considering making it a blackwater tank. I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.

 

[KingOscar]

This is interesting. Please post a photo showing the entire tank. Thanks!

 

[Blacksheep1]

Well , you just side stepped the whole live food issue !!! Congrats . How do they like the amanos ? If you go black water or even soft water , they will likely have to move tanks or you’ll likely get moulting issues .

 

[Frisbee]

This is interesting. Please post a photo showing the entire tank. Thanks!

Well , you just side stepped the whole live food issue !!! Congrats . How do they like the amanos ? If you go black water or even soft water , they will likely have to move tanks or you’ll likely get moulting issues .

The amano shrimp seem happy and everyone is getting along. Thanks for the input.

 

[TClare]

I am sure they would love some newly hatched brine shrimp...

 

[Frisbee]

I have run into a predicament. I originally had a 20 watt LED over it (pretty bright, I know, but the vals were loving it). I turned it off to keep things dark and low stress for the first day or so. They seem pretty settled in and have been eating, so I tried putting the light on this afternoon. They are terrified of it. I turned it on and slowly lowered it down onto the tank so it wouldn’t be a bright flash, but they still got scared and zipped around before hiding under the decor.
I feel very bad now. How am I supposed to keep the plants alive if light is going to stress out the badis?

edit: I slid pantyhose over it to dim it. They seem somewhat okay with it now.

This is becoming one of my favorite tanks to watch. I think I’ll move it onto my desk in a few days when these little guys get more comfortable. Right now it’s on a shelf in the corner and not very visible.

 

[Blacksheep1]

Does the light get hot at all ? If so that could be a fire risk. If you’re ok with your decision then that’s totally fine, but I just needed to raise the possibility

I’ve had fish have the exact same reaction , I used electrical tape to block more than 1/2 the led’s and planted heavier. They are much happier now.

 

[Frisbee]

Does the light get hot at all ? If so that could be a fire risk. If you’re ok with your decision then that’s totally fine, but I just needed to raise the possibility

I’ve had fish have the exact same reaction , I used electrical tape to block more than 1/2 the led’s and planted heavier. They are much happier now.

The LED does not get very hot, so I think it should be fine. Thanks for the warning though.

I probably need more floaters. There is a little duckweed, but it hasn’t filled in yet. I’m not really a fan of duckweed, but it works.

I haven’t noticed them eating the granules the last few days. I tried some egg yolk, but they didn’t really go for that either. I ordered a microworm culture. I know brine shrimp is better, but I’ve never cultured brine shrimp before and I’m uncertain about it.

Room temp in my house is about 65°F (too cold for doing brine shrimp). I thought about trying it in my oven on a the proofing setting (95°F), but I was afraid it would be too warm. I’ll get some eggs and try brine shrimp eventually, but I’m starting with microworms and seeing if they’ll go for that.

 

[StarGirl]

How big are the fish? They look big enough to not need fry type food.

I used this. All you need is aquarium salt and a light. Works great.
https://www.amazon.com/Brine-Shrimp...cCI6IjQuNDAifQ==&sprefix=brine,aps,222&sr=8-5

 

[TClare]

For my brine shrimp I stand the bottles in a container of water heated by a small aquarium heater. You can also use a heat lamp above the brine shrimp instead.

 

[Frisbee]

The other day I lost a shrimp. It must’ve jumped the tank because I found it dried up on the floor near the tank. The other two are still fine and have both molted I think.

The microworms are a huge success in my eyes. After only a couple days or starting the culture, I scooped up a little of the medium and could see worms wiggling all over my finger. I added some to the tank and the Badis like them and have been hunting them all for the last 10 minutes. I feel very pleased about this.

 

[Frisbee]

So, I have some questions about black tiger badis, because there isn’t a lot about them on the internet (such as behavior, sexing, breeding, feeding, schools vs pairs, etc). All I can really find is their temperature and PH preference and that they like live food (which I sort of figured out myself).


I have been having difficulty getting these guys to develop their color. I also have no idea what sex they are. One of them it noticeably more colorful that the other. This one is also a little more aggressive and slightly larger. I’ve seen him(?) chase the other (slightly smaller and paler) one around the tank a few times.

They are both pale though, and I’m not sure why. I know they don’t have optimal diet. They are getting mostly microworms and hikari livebearer granules. These are the only things I have that are small enough for them. I see them eating both quite happily. The reason I haven’t gotten more food for them is because the closest major pet supply stores are petco and petsmart, which are both around a half hour away… and I don’t drive. I’ll be able to catch a ride to a store with someone by the end of the month. We also have a couple fish stores, but they are further away and I don’t like them very much because one is saltwater only and the other is very busy an has an ick problem in their tanks.


This is black tiger no. 1 (the more aggressive and colorful one. It is also very weary of me).


This is black tiger no. 2 (the paler, friendlier and less aggressive one).

 

[ruud]

You keep a heater in your tank?

Regarding sexing...I've given up. And I've been keeping and breeding them in 6 tanks for years.

If you add a female in a tank that houses a male, the colors of the male should resemble the one in my avatar, in like....seconds.

Here's footage of spawning. Initially, you find the female on the left; more colourful than the specimen shown in your images. And then the male enters...

You'll see the male wrapping himself around her for a second or so.

These were the only 2 Dario's in this tank, resulting in over a dozen offspring.

Males are highly territorial. I keep them either separated or in large tanks.

I can't tell you a lot about their social behavior. Badis are typically portrayed as solitary. But Harry, Donna, Michael and Sara like to double date every once in a while.



Regarding feeding, do yourself a favor, purchase a Hobby dish. You need "artemia salt" and artemia eggs. The eggs can be stored for a very long time in the fridge.

Twice a week I prepare a salty bath in the dish and add some eggs. The next two days I can harvest nauplii which I feed to my fish. You don't need any bubbler. Just a warm spot for the eggs to hatch; I use a small heat mat that I place underneath the dish, around winter time.

 

[Frisbee]

You keep a heater in your tank?

Regarding sexing...I've given up. And I've been keeping and breeding them in 6 tanks for years.

If you add a female in a tank that houses a male, the colors of the male should resemble the one in my avatar, in like....seconds.

Thank you, that is very helpful! Yes, the tank is heated. should it not be?

 

[StarGirl]

ruud your Badis SEE the BBS? Mine dont see them even though they are right there. I dangle a blackworm right next to them and they continue to look at the side of the tank. lol they drive me crazy some days. Its almost like they have no smell like other fish do.

 

[ruud]

Thank you, that is very helpful! Yes, the tank is heated. should it not be?

You can keep Dario tigris below 55 F winter nights and above 85 F summer afternoons. I'm pretty convinced they benefit from natural daily and seasonal fluctuations. They breed at 71 F or higher.

ruud your Badis SEE the BBS? Mine dont see them even though they are right there. I dangle a blackworm right next to them and they continue to look at the side of the tank. lol they drive me crazy some days. Its almost like they have no smell like other fish do.

Dario tigris definitely and instantly.

Haven't had Dario dario's in years... I think they did, but I recall they were always hesitant. I also recall they'd love to ambush prey near big floaters; not sure if they caught any . Dario tigris don't seem to be doing this at all.

 

[Frisbee]

You can keep Dario tigris below 55 F winter nights and above 85 F summer afternoons. I'm pretty convinced they benefit from natural daily and seasonal fluctuations. They breed at 71 F or higher.


Dario tigris definitely and instantly.

Haven't had Dario dario's in years... I think they did, but I recall they were always hesitant. I also recall they'd love to ambush prey near big floaters; not sure if they caught any . Dario tigris don't seem to be doing this at all.

My house temp stays between 60 and 70 year round. Usually 64-66 during the day and 60-62 and night. It’s more like 68-71 in summer.

 

[ruud]

My house temp stays between 60 and 70 year round. Usually 64-66 during the day and 60-62 and night. It’s more like 68-71 in summer.

Sounds a lot better than applying a heater that fluctuates a few degrees around some average.

 

[Frisbee]

So, I decided to give it a shot, and they definitely didn’t like it. I unplugged the heater the other day and let the tank drop a few degrees over several hours. They seemed fine with it at first, but after about 24 hours of the tank sitting at 66-68 they became way less active. By today they aren’t doing much at all and are mostly hiding under the heater. They seemed to be much happier and more active at warmer temps, so I’m going to slowly bring it back up into the 70s in the next couple days.

 

[ruud]

Yup, mine too are less active and more pale in winter than in summer. I also feed less in winter.

Nothing unnatural about it; on the contrary. Some species like channa from almost the same area as Dario tigris retreats into burrows and hibernates.