In the world of Feng Shui aquariums, there is a legendary pairing: The Dragon and The Tiger.
The Dragon is the Arowana. The Tiger is the Datnoid (Datnioides microlepis).
Even if you don’t care about luck, the Datnoid is a spectacular fish. With its broad, flat body and striking yellow-and-black stripes, it looks like a predator built for stealth.
However, many beginners buy a “Tiger” expecting bright yellow stripes, only to bring it home and watch it turn pitch black like a piece of charcoal.
Here is the guide to keeping the Indo Datnoid stable, yellow, and happy.
1. Indo (IT) vs. Siamese (ST): Don’t Get Scammed
First, you need to know what you are buying.
- Siamese Tiger (ST): The “Holy Grail.” Extinct in the wild. Costs thousands (or tens of thousands) of Ringgit. They have clean, wide stripes and almost always stay yellow.
- Indo Tiger (IT): The common one found in Malaysian shops (RM50 – RM300). They have more irregular stripes (often a “fork” pattern).
- The Northern Thailand (NT) / Thin Bar: Cheaper, with thinner stripes.
Warning: Unscrupulous sellers might try to sell you a nice IT as a baby ST. Look at the tail stripes carefully.
2. The “Stability” Obsession (Why is my fish black?)
This is the #1 struggle for Datnoid keepers.
Datnoids have a camouflage mechanism. When they are stressed, scared, or just moody, they turn “Unstable” (Dark/Black). You can barely see their stripes.
When they are “Stable”, they fire up into a bright gold/yellow color.
How to improve stability:
- Water Quality: They are sensitive to Nitrates. Keep the water pristine.
- Tank Mates: They need to feel safe. Ironically, having a bigger “Boss” fish (like an Arowana) sometimes makes them stable because they don’t have to be the alpha.
- Lighting: Some keepers swear by warm/yellow spectrum lights to encourage the gold color.
3. The “Pellet” Struggle
Datnoids are stubborn predators. In the wild, they stalk prey.
- The Problem: Most ITs will refuse pellets. They will starve themselves for weeks waiting for live food.
- The Diet: They love live feeder fish, market prawns (MP), and frozen fish fillet.
- Training: It is possible to train them to eat pellets (like Hikari Carnivore), but it requires a “Battle of Wills.” You have to starve them until they accept the pellet. It is painful to watch, but necessary if you don’t want to buy feeder fish forever.
4. The Perfect Tank Mate
Why do Arowana keepers love them?
- Size: They grow big (12-15 inches), so the Arowana can’t eat them.
- Speed: They are slow and calm. They don’t dart around stressing the Arowana.
- Zone: The Arowana stays at the top. The Datnoid hovers in the middle or bottom. They rarely cross paths.
5. Growth Rate: The Slow Game
Unlike the Red Tail Catfish (which grows 1 inch a week), Datnoids grow glacially slow.
A baby Datnoid might take a year just to grow a few inches.
- Buying Tip: This is why large Datnoids are expensive. You are paying for the time someone spent raising it. If you have the budget, buy a larger one (5-6 inches). Raising a baby coin-sized Datnoid takes extreme patience.
The Indo Datnoid is a fish for the patient hobbyist. You might spend months staring at a black fish, waiting for that moment it decides to “fire up.”
But when it does—when those black bars pop against a solid gold body—it is arguably the most beautiful predator in the tank.
