# My baby Armatus eating his lunch 8" length



## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

Ive had him for about 6 months or less. He eats 2" feeders and im sure he could eat even bigger  i got him at about 5" so 3" growth in 6 months isnt to bad.


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## aquafunlover (Jul 8, 2012)

Looking good! When are you going to go for the Goliath Fish at King Ed's


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

Funny you'd say that I was just there today admiring the baby tiger fish's they have in


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## hondas3000 (Apr 22, 2010)

Monster . 3" grow in 6 month is nothing compare to my golden dorado. It grows 4" in a month .


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## ariverrunsthroughit19 (Nov 29, 2012)

Sorry to break it to you, that's definitely a Hydrolycus tatauaia (Redtail payara)... Hence the reason it only grew 3" in the 6 months, Armatus grow substantially faster than tat's. Nice fish nonetheless.


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

Well he has all the features of an armatus and they can have red tails I will post some full n red tailed armatus when I get home. Either was I'm happy with him I don't really care what his full grown size is. Turns out I was underfeeding him, he's eating a little over double what I was previously feeding.


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

here is a pic


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Medhbsi, tatauaia has red tail and so does scomb.. Armutus young fish hasn't been exported for a while. The last time they were offered to me was almost 2 years ago. To give you an idea, if you paid anything less than $80 for your fish, the cost before shipping or anything for the true armutus that was offered to me as well as other importers were more than that.

It is far too common to bring a fish in as one and sell it as another. I guess as long as you did not pay the price of an Armutus, it is fine. 

But I do agree, grow rate is very slow for an Armutus.


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

I paid over 160 for the fish


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## hondas3000 (Apr 22, 2010)

MEDHBSI said:


> here is a pic
> 
> View attachment 14213


I like these pics . Look like you need a bigger tank soon.


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

Updated pic


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## ariverrunsthroughit19 (Nov 29, 2012)

I will tell you it is without a doupt it is not a armatus. I have kept tatauia twice and they both look 100 percent identical to yours. It just so happened to be Charles who I purchased my first. I am pretty sure both mike (in a prior post) from exotic aquaria and Charles both confirmed in fact it is a tat. The hydrolycus genus is in my opinion, is the easiest to distinguish...


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

Well either way I love the fish. It was sold to me from my LFS and a sponsor on here soooooo that sucks if they sold me something else when it was called an armatus.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Jason, regardness of what it is, it is in beautiful shape and color. It is a keeper.


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## ariverrunsthroughit19 (Nov 29, 2012)

Alot, I mean alot of fish stores/importers mislabel payaras, aftican tigerfish etc. This is why it is essential to reasearch the fish you are buying, especially oddballs and the like. Personaly I have always purchased my oddballs from importers that specialize in this category. In the end knowledge is imperative, you never want to end up paying a premium for a mislabeled fish. As I said, it is a beautiful fish nontheless, just don't expect "fast" growth from a tatauaia...


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