dither fish

[scott]

i just wanted some others thoughts on this. what is the safest and best dither fish to use when trying to get skittish Apistos to spawn? i generally use harlequin rasboras and rummy noses.

 

[cootwarm]

Hi Scott,

I've found pencilfish to be the safest. I've had pencilfish feeding in a fenzy on BBS right along side tiny fry without touch even one by mistake. They were so safe that the apisto parents tolerated the pencilfish being close to their fry.

Marbled Hatchetfish are also safe as long as the tank isn't too shallow because they spend most of their time near the surface as thats where they fed. This is especially true if the hatchetfish are fed flightless fruit flies. A tank of 10 gallons or less probably wouldn't be as "fry safe" because the surface is so close to the bottom, as they are a kind of tetra and very active.

I haven't had much trouble with just a few tetras in a lager tank like 20H or 30 gallon or more.

I've heard of some people using guppies as dithers, but I haven't used them myself.

Michael

 

[cdawson]

I agree with the pencil fish, several people have told me that they used pencilfish successfully.

 

[Cichlid Junkie]

I have 5 rummy nose in my tank. They have been fine, except the biggest one has been chasing all the smaller rummys around. They do leave my cacatuoides and dwarf bristle nose alone though. I think if I had to do it again, I would go with the pencilefish.

 

[aspen]

i have found nanostamus harrisoni to be too timid to be used in a dwarf cichlid tank (or any other type of cichlid tank) beckford's pencilfish are excellent and very attractive ime. i would use a group of six or so, provided the tank is big enough. there are a few others i've not kept though. buy the bunch and quarentine them for a little while, then they'll be quite sturdy fish.

rick