SDs successful dithers for Trimac?

[decoy50]

I got a group of 1.5in trimacs from Rapps in March to grow out a big male. My guy is around 6.5in now and meaner than hell. I've got him in a 90gal, but I'll be setting up a 125 for him in Oct/Nov.

I'd like to add a shoal of silver dollars for a little more movement & action in the tank. Anybody done this with any long term success? How frequently did you lose SDs? I'm going to start off with regular SDs to see how it goes, but I'd eventually like to keep some of the more expensive/rare ones if they will last. I'm pretty sure they would get shredded in the 4ft 90, but I'm hoping the 6ft 125 will give them enough escape room.

This trimac is the first large aggressive fish I've owned(viejas don't count), and I'm loving every second of it!

 

[Bderick67]

One thing with dithers/target fish is the more in a school the better. You may find that just 3-5 with get killed of rather quickly. Whereas 8-10 will last without loss. The trick is to keep your trimac from being able to focus on a single fish.

 

[cichlidfish]

I would also make sure you have the tank well covered. I've had dithers chased right out of the water. A 6ft. tank would be good for silver dollars since they are fast moving fish and it will give plenty of space for them to get away from that trimac.

 

[Jc1119]

I have 6 in an 8' tank with my Festae pair and they work great as targets. I've never used them as a dither per se.

The get fairly large and eat a lot though. Mine around 4"


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[decoy50]

I've got a full lid for the tank - I bet SDs can get some distance on a jump when their being chased by a Trimac! haha

I guess dither was the wrong word, as I would like to see them workout longterm. I've always liked plain SDs but I really like some of the rare ones Rapps gets in - spotted, striped etc. I really like the widebar SDs but they get pretty big, I'll have to stick with some of the smaller growing species. They can be expensive, so I wanted some first hand accounts. I don't want to lose $25+ fish on a regular basis.