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Apisto Dither Tank Mates ?

Hassles

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
100
Location
Melbourne, Australia
What fish make good dither fish for Apisto tanks ? I currently keep Black Neons with A. Gibbiceps and Honey Blue-Eyes with A. Borelli Opal. What other fish are good ?

Thanks
 

bigbird

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
593
Location
Sydney, NSW Australia
Gday,

I use the mountain clouds as I find them very hardy, colourful and a cheaper alternative. They do not eat the fry of my pairs. Elders are also great.

cheers jk :biggrin:
 

Zack Wilson

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
102
Location
Saint Paul, MN
Pencilfishes, with the exception of N. beckfordi, are probably my favorite dither, but I also like them in their own right. Many smaller rasboras are fine as well. Just avoid danios, most fast-moving, schooling tetras, and corydoras.
 

Apistomaster

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
703
Location
Clarkston, WA
I am also fond of using any Pencilfish except N. beckfordi, a species that is atypical of most Nannostomus. They are much bolder and very comfortable seeking food at any level. They are an easy Pencilfish to breed if you ever want to try one.
One of my favorite dither fish is Nannostomus eques. They are usually easy to find, extremely peaceful with very small mouths and very surface oriented. They are also very long lived species. N. harrisoni is another good one.
N. marginatus is a very small harmless and pretty Pencilfish.
I like N. trifasciatus but do not trust them as much as those I mentioned. I will have to try them with some breeding Apistogramma spp before I endorse them.

I have a soft spot for H.amandae, Ember Tetras and they are a diminutive species but I don't know how far I would trust them around any valuable Apisto fry. I raise a big batch of them every few years because they look so good in a large school species display.

Marble Hatchetfish are perfectly safe but are often a challenging fish to acclimate and really one that does best if regularly fed wingless fruit flies.
They are perhaps more trouble than they may be worth to some.
 

Hassles

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
100
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Dither Fish

G'day Csababá

There is no importance or necessity for dither fish.. Its just that some fish are nervous and always secluded in a safe spot where they feel secure. As a fish keeper its a bit boring when you can never see your fish. By placing dither fish in your aquarium the other fish then consider that its safe and will then feel comfortable about roaming around the tank. They think "if they are not being eaten then I won't be eaten either". And out they come.

I recently placed 4 A.Steindachneri into a tank and never saw them. The few times I caught a glimpse of them they wouild imediately disappear. I placed 6 Golden Pencilfish into this tank and with an hour all 4 Stiendachneri were observed out roaming the tank and seeking food.

I recently placed 4 A.Gibbiceps into a tank - 3 males and 1 female. The dominant male was seriously harrasing the other males. I purchased 6 Black Neons and put these into the tank as well. The dominate male and the female continued to harrass the other males but they were also chasing off the black neons which took the pressure off the other male apistos.

These are the reasons we use what we call dither fish. I chose my dither fish based upon the advice I received here.

Take care

regards
Glenn
 

Zack Wilson

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
102
Location
Saint Paul, MN
Of the pencilfishes, beckfordi are quite a bit more boisterous and bold. They are a little atypical. They also get a little bigger than some others. Due to this, they pose a greater threat to fry in the tanks. They are nice fish in their own right though, and one of the easiest pencils to keep.
 

PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
41
thanks.

locally their the only ones available. seen a few others N. mortenthaleri advertised once or twice, but never at any reasonable sort of price.

going to be getting some Axelrodia riesei (ruby tetra) and I would have thought given their eventual size (less than an inch) they should be pretty safe for fry.

wondering if theres any chance of getting any fry from a "community" tank (with tetras, otos, and dwarf corydoras (pygmyus or hasbrosus (probably the latter as I wish to remain biotope correct) (Rio Orinoco)
 

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