Batfish • Hybrid platax batavianus

Juvenile batfish are gorgeous, unique fish, especially the Platax Pinnatus. They are pitch black, with long dorsal and anal fins, giving it a bat-like appearance, with a distinctive orange neon-like outlining of the entire body. Not only has it a mystique appearance, it also swims most gracefully through the water. An outer worldly creature that would make a great addition as a character in the latest Avatar movie.

As adults these looks completely change though. The body morphs into a more flat, triangular shape with a mostly grey and light silver color to it. Quite often the adult version has a dark colored bar running through the eyes vertically and through the fins as well. They become extremely big, making them unsuitable for the average home aquarium but also because of their special dietary needs they are unfortunately not suitable as pets in a home aquarium. Fin to fin measures can be up to 50 cm.

Keeping a batfish
If you want to keep a batfish make sure you have a big tank with lots of open swimming spaces, at least 1500 liters or bigger. Also give them hiding places in the form of caves. As they are active during the day, they will appreciate a place to temporarily hide if they feel threatened. It is best to keep them in FOWLR systems as they are known to eat SPS, LPS and leather corals, anemones and crustaceans.

Regarding mixing batfish with other fish species: batfish do fine with other non-aggressive large fish. When we look at water quality, it is important to keep water quality high and the temperature stable. This is a very sensitive species that doesn’t react well to any changes.

Diet
An omnivorous species, meaning they eat both meat / protein as well as plant based matter. It is therefore important to offer them a varied diet. They love to eat krill, shrimp, crab, squid, live and frozen brine and Mysis shrimp. But equally important is their need to consume ma

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eSHa has more than 50 years of experience in the development and production of disease treatments for ornamental fish, supplements for tropical fish, anti-algae and snail treatments, products for aquatic plant growth & health and of course the AquaQuickTest, test strips for determining water quality. With eSHa the emphasis is always on ease of use and quality.

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