No luck with Dithers

[davdev]

HA, lol well I can tell you adding dither fish that late in the game will only get you dead dithers as they try to acclimate while getting beat up. I think you'll find a 75 gallon is to small for those fish at adult size with dither fish. you need a 6ft or longer tank for some dithers. When introducing new fish you intro the less aggressive first and the most aggressive last. If this mean catching your current guys and putting them in a bucket with an air stone for an hour while the new guys get used to the digs you gotta do it.

I did do that when I first setup the tank. The first fish in the tank were 20 Rosey Reds. Had them in there a month or so before putting anything else in. All was fine for a few months, then they all started to disappear.

I don't think an hour in a bucket will do much good. When I put the new dithers in, they are fine for the first 6-8 hours or so, but when morning comes they are all dead.

 

[LordDracula]

Kissing gourami, mines use to live with a very aggressive red devil and now a dovii and they are still alive and doing fine. They are also good algae eater.

 

[Dissy]

I only have a 75 gallon tank, so Tin Foil Barbs and Silver Dollars are really too big to keep in schools, so I have been trying to find other fish to act as dithers to my JD's and Salvini's.

I first tried adding a pair of firemouths, but that didn't accomplish anything

I then tried adding Tiger Barbs, but 4 of them were dead the first night, the 5th lasted a few more days only to be tormmented by the firemouths.

Then, 1 firemouth killed the second, and then that firemouth simply disappeared a few days later.

I got a school of 5 silver molly's who could be the stupidest fish on the planet. They kept swimming right up to the JD's face. Needless to say, they were all dead by the next morning (though none actually eaten).

I have tried several Rainbow sharks, but they wind up dead in a few days as well.

All the deaths occur at night, so I am not sure who is doing it. My permanent stock right now are 2 3" Jd's and 2 4" Salvini, and a 5" Featherfin cat. I believe the Jd's and Sals are all males, so there shouldn't be any breading aggression, though the Sals are very territoral and rule the tank.


Anyway, any suggestions as to what may work for dithers. The cichlids are much more active when there are other fish in the tank, but they just don't last. I don't mind restocking the dithers, but they are not even lasting a day at this point. When there are no dithers in the tank, they all just stay in their caves and barely move, so I want to add some life to the tank

I adxed 8 black widows to my 60 gallon to cut down on aggression from my really mean firemouth and draw my severum out of hiding. Worked like a dream and all 8 still live with a con, dempsry, firemouth, severum and 3 pictus. They were 1.50 ea.

 

[Dissy]

Theyre fast lil buggers too.