So i finally have my 45 gallon stocked with 2 senegals and an african brown knife, (theres an opaline gourami in there too but that's only temporary until i make room for my next tank in here) - so essentially 2 bichirs and ABK. My girlfriend keeps telling me she wishes there were more colors in the fish, this isn't a make or break issue as she just cares that my tanks make me happy, and if there isnt anything that I can responsibly add to the tank then I wont, but can anybody think of any relatively inexpensive dither type fish I could add to the tank without all hell breaking loose or overstocking the tank? I don't want silver dollars or tiger barbs, thanks in advance. She wanted pictus cats but there isn't enough swimming space for these guys plus if they ticked off the bichirs they wouldn't last long haha
Dither Question
- Thread starter NCStateFisher
- Start date
Whats your pH at?
If it is 7.2 or lower you could try Columbian Tetras, they are colorful. Although they will most likely get picked of once the polypterids get bigger.
Giant Danios are another popular dither fish
If it is 7.2 or lower you could try Columbian Tetras, they are colorful. Although they will most likely get picked of once the polypterids get bigger.
Giant Danios are another popular dither fish
You can use tinfoil barbs, Bala sharks, any fast shoaling fish. I suggest bala sharks since they don't get as big as tinfoils, you'd want to get a school of 5 or 6 of them for them to be effect dither fish. They're not colorful, but they're shiney, lol. Anyway, you might want to get a bigger tank some time in the future, seeing how it'll be kinda cramped if you add a school of dithers, especially when they grow.
yeah i was considering giant danios... as far as tinfoils and bala sharks i had considered them because im getting a 100G in december just dont know if ill be able to set it up any time soon and i dont want to overload the 45 they're in now and then have something happen and not be able to set up the 100
even though they aren't dithers i guess a green terror or convict probably would be too much wouldn't they
Tom LoFaro;4550814; said:
Bala sharks? They get pretty freakin big and need a lot of room for their energy expenditure...you don't want a school of them in a 45 and I don't even know if 100g is enough?
I'm tellin you...tiger barbs are badass
Cannibals too
The green terror would be too much for the 45 I'd think, they're supposed to get up to like 12 inches right? You could definitely do a pair of female convicts. My two females aren't bothering anything in the 65. Just look for the orange spots on the bellies, its pretty noticeable in the ones I've seen.
How about green severums? I think they only get to like 6-8 inches, are pretty passive and look freakin sweet.
I don't recomend you any pimelodella, is very competitive for food time, I prefer calamita Calamoichthys calabaricus is colorful with orange body and blacks spots both pectoral fins. Like water conditions and food than polipterus senegalus and knifefish. Finally, calamita is active fish. regards.
If you set up the 100g a GT would be fine, I think a convict would get eaten or killed, since they are small, tbh. I wouldn't put a GT in the 45 you have now since cichlids get very territorial, but you can try 2 or 3 balas, they don't grow very fast so I'm sure you'll be fine with 5 or 6 fish in a 45g. If worst comes to worst and you don't want to spend money on the fish, try a bunch of large feeder goldfish.
Tom LoFaro;4550896; said:
Convicts will hold their own IMO...right now my sen's are too small to tell for sure, but at the moment they aren't paying the con's any attention. This morning actually I cut the lights on the con's were slow to wake up, just stayed laying on the bottom, my larger bichir checked her out and just sway off calmly. No way can the bichir think about swallowing them yet, but he could probably kill it if he really wanted to, especially the smaller convict.
Anyways those little guys are known to take on oscars and even nastier fish...
You could try some clown loaches, as long as they grow with/faster than your bichirs.
zapatower;4550886; said:
isn't that a rope fish and can't they get over 2 feet long?
The bala sharks are questionable.. they're just so plain looking =\
I couldn't bear to put big goldfish in my tank... and fortunately she doesn't really like goldfish
The big problem with tiger barbs is the brown knife, they wouldnt mess with the bichirs but they're fin nippers and if the brown knife gets nipped he wont be able to swim around right
Petsmart fail signs strike again... have GT's listed as 6-8" max so good call
Don't Convicts get 5-6"? I didn't think senegals really attacked anything unless it would fit in their mouth
A severum could potentially be cool... definitely my favorite recommendation so far