# Dither fish?



## Fuzz (Jan 27, 2012)

I understand the whole concept of dither fish and what purpose they have in a cichlid tank. I'm just wondering how well they work when the cichlid(s) get big enough to eat the dither fish...are there certain species that cichlids leave alone or would I have to eventually buy bigger dither fish that the cichlids would leave alone.

also, I would think that the dither fish(usually tropical community fish) would get beat up or chased around a lot by the cichlids. for example, I've read somewhere about people using neons/cardinals to make jack dempseys come out from hiding. Since JD's are known to be pretty aggressive, I would think that the neons would get eaten or at least beat up. 

my fiance has flamebacks(i don't know the scientific name) which cower in the corner of the tank whenever someone comes up to the tank. they are beautiful fish, but i'd like to help her resolve the hiding problem without having to buy dither fish all the time. these fish don't get very big, but i'm still thinking that neons will get chewed up.

could someone please help teach me about this?


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Maybe try large platy females. They should be large enough. And if you get fry from them, the jack dempseys will get feeder fish.


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## arch aquatics (Feb 28, 2012)

i prefer to use white cloud as dither or rummy nose

fast and look good while being fast!


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## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

Danios are good dither fish. If your tank is big enough you could get some giant danios.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

Xystichromis sp. "flameback".......this is a species of cichlid from Lake Victoria in Africa....
they require hard alkaline water..PH 8.6+..they need lots of rock piles for hiding places..with that they will feel secure and safe and will be out and about all the time..they don't need dither fish.


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## Fuzz (Jan 27, 2012)

lohachata said:


> Xystichromis sp. "flameback".......this is a species of cichlid from Lake Victoria in Africa....
> they require hard alkaline water..PH 8.6+..they need lots of rock piles for hiding places..with that they will feel secure and safe and will be out and about all the time..they don't need dither fish.


thanks dude. i didn't realize there are several different fish with the "flameback" common name. I'm not sure which is which, but it sounds like you got the right one. i know it's from victoria. I'll have to look into getting some rocks. thanks a lot! good to know that I don't need to worry about dither fish for that tank


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## Fuzz (Jan 27, 2012)

As a confirmation, they are Kyoga flamebacks. Very passive Lake Victorian cichlids that get to be about 4 inches max. 

Also, the dither fish worked almost immediately. We ended up putting Australian Rainbowfish in there(they were cheap, so why not?) I know that the rainbowfish get to be bigger than the flamebacks, but that's okay. They're leaving each other alone and the male Kyoga flamebacks are coloring up really nice. Totally glad we got it all figured out. I'll post pics on here if I think about it.

Thanks for the help, guys!


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