Next week I will be purchasing an EBJD from my LFS. It will be going into a 55gal tank with a divider, the only things on his side of the divider will be 4 cory cats for clean-up and on the other side is a Female JD and a severum. I was wondering if I could keep 3 black skirt tetras as dithers for the EBJD to make sure he isn't hiding and stressed out all the time. The EBJD will be about 1''.
Dithers for EBJD?
- Thread starter ozzyoscar
- Start date
I put lemon tetras in a 125 and my ebjd made short work of them. Mollie's and swordtails have faired well.
well these are fairly thick-bodied tetras, comparable to tiger barbs in size only not as nippy as the tiger barbs....
If possible, I would try to keep an EBLD that small solo until it gets up over 3". They need every advantage they can get. Once it gets bigger you can start adding dithers. That's just my .02
+1 on being careful with LFS EBJDs. My two are pretty strong and healthy, actually kinda viscous to their tankmates but they do have odd fins and one is beaked.
Yeah, I was just thinking about the quality the other day so I called down to the shop and he says that one looks great and one came in half black and weak looking, but the other one looks great. So i will definitely be getting the healthy one, I will be careful with it though.
Also my 2 cents: I absolutely agree, a 1" EBJD should be by itself to increase chance of survival at such a young age. Once they start feeding regularly, they are not shy at all.....they are curious little buggers...so no need for "dithers" here to make more active. I've grown many baby EBJDs from .5" to adults,..... I would consider getting it a cycled 10gal tank with real or fake plants.... all by itself..... if you must have a tank mate, add an apple snail to the equation. Keep the water crystal clear, give good quality/balanced diet (hikari blood worms, mini pellets, etc), and you should be good to go. Due to an EBJDs weak immune system as juveniles, some treat for internal/external parasites (jungle tabs) and/or add salt to the water column (1 tablespoon for every 10 gallons).. as a preventative..... I personally did this with all my EBJDs and never had one die on me. Also keep in mind, if you add the 1" EBJD in the 55, the water quality will not be as clean due to other tank mates.....
I actually ran across a lfs that I have never seen before so I stopped in for a peek and they had black skirts, I thought they were mostly fin but after seeing them they would work.