can I ask three daft questions please...

[keane]

......what are dither fish?


......what is their purpose?


......can you give me some good examples?


thanks

steve B)

 

[Undawada]

dither fish are used for breeding.

As far as I know (im not a breeder), dither fish are used to reinforce pair bonding between certain species.

Example:

You are trying to breed two Rams, you put them in a tank to breed. If you add another species of fish, say, some kind of tetra, it would cause the rams to become more territorial, and the male will be more protective of the female, the eggs, etc.

Those tetras are dither fish.

 

[keane]

Cheers Undawada!

Please don't ask me where I got this notion from but..........

........for some insanely bizarre reason , I had it in my head that dither fish were small but really speedy fish that were put in with larger more aggressive fish to reduce aggression, i.e. to get the larger more aggressive fish to concentrate on the "dither" fish and thus take their minds off fighting with each other!!!!!

How wrong can one be!!??!??! )

thanks again.

steve B)

 

[Fishy411]

Cheers Undawada!

Please don't ask me where I got this notion from but..........

........for some insanely bizarre reason , I had it in my head that dither fish were small but really speedy fish that were put in with larger more aggressive fish to reduce aggression, i.e. to get the larger more aggressive fish to concentrate on the "dither" fish and thus take their minds off fighting with each other!!!!!

How wrong can one be!!??!??! )

thanks again.

steve B)

actually that is what theyre for.

 

[freddyk]

Dither fish are generally used to create the notion of a safe environment for fish that are more shy, and hide when they are not comfortable - comfortable shoaling fish means no predetors, means it's safe for them to come out. In effect, making monogomous fish more comfortable does strengthen their bond. Stressed fish won't get along as well. Dither fish are not meant to buffer aggression.

target fish are used to distract aggression from other types of fish. The differences between these can be vast - dither fish should be active shoaling fish, target fish must be able to handle the aggression of the fish in question.

 

[keane]

Eh

you mean i am right??

Where did I learn that from then?? Has it been posted somewhere on here because I couldn't have made that up in my head could i ???

Is Undawada not right then?

God i am confused now!!

steve

 

[Undawada]

I think dither fish is a broad term.

We are probably both right. FYI my info came from an article in Practical Fishkeeping magazine a year or so ago about breeding golden rams. It suggested using dither fish to reinforce pair bonding.

Dither fish could also be used to buffer aggression in community tanks.

Maybe an expert could swoop down and set us right?

 

[Discomafia]

People usually tell you to get dither fish for tanks w/ big cichlids in them...

I found this link to be very helpful...

http/www.fishinthe.net/html/section-viewarticle-18.html

 

[keane]

People usually tell you to get dither fish for tanks w/ big cichlids in them...

I found this link to be very helpful...

http/www.fishinthe.net/html/section-viewarticle-18.html

thanks Discomafia.

Great link.

that's exactly what i was thinking about when asking my question (should have said really!)........will i need dither fish in my less aggressive Mbuna tank (Labs, Pseudos etc) or will there be no need?

steve B)

 

[Dwarfs]

Can I give an example?

Some of my cichlids go spooked a week or so ago and wouldn't come out, (rainbow cichlids and an Uaru if your curious) I waited a few days to see if they would come out and they didn't. Then I added some tetras in, and they came out almost instantly when they saw the nine little fish swimming around aimlessly

Target fish are used to take a breeding pair's aggression away from eachother, so they cam keep defending their spawn from the target and not their partner

 

[keane]

so to recap on all the above......basically I don't initially need them in the tank at the outset but should any of my mbuna become somewhat reclusive then adding a small shoal (of tetras for example) may give them the encouragement to come back out to play!!

nutha question (!!) ......do i then take them back out at some point or juust leave them in there?

sorry to keep on with this one but i wanna get things clear in my mind (which is somewhat cloudy most of the time!!)

cheers

steve B)

 

[Fishy411]

you should pick something that will survive in yur tank so Most tetras would be eaten. A lot of people use tiger barbs and they work good

 

[SarahBravo]

I dunno about your other fish Steve, but the yellow labbies are likely to be exploring everywhere and begging at the glass like little doggies - my 4 and the 3 juvie dolphins are like a pack of puppies - tails always waggin' My afras and the aulonocara are a bit reclusive, but it's still a very new tank. I can't think that adding barbs would help that much when the labbies are already happily nosing about everywhere without a concern in the world.

BTW - where are you getting your cichlids from - LFS or mail order?
Sarah