What Dither Fish

[jojomojo1971]

I have a heavily planted apisto tank 28c, 6.3pH, 2kH

I have a breeding pair of baenschi and a harem of trifasciata, I would like something that will use the upper layer of the tank and not be a threat to the fry.

Suggestions

Thanks
J

 

[shroob]

Hatchet fish, they pretty much stay at top. Don't know if they will take fry though.

 

[Davo86]

Hatchet fish, they pretty much stay at top. Don't know if they will take fry though.

yeah i'd either go for hatchet fish, or a shoal of harlequinns

 

[blue acara]

I agree Hatchet fish are a good choice. Go for Marbled Hatchets as they are basically always at the water surface, and stay small. I doubt they would even notice fry at the bottom of the tank.

 

[joecoral]

IIRC scissortails make good dither fish and dont eat fry either

 

[doubledee]

Pencilfish are usually quoted as being ideal as dithers for dwarf cichlids. I have some diptails in my community tank and would like to add some coral reds but they're about 8 quid each! My pencilfish spawn on a regular basis but the eggs are always eaten by the rummy noses, sometimes they eat them as they are laid! My apistos have spawned a couple of times in a piece of bogwood but I haven't been able to get the eggs to hatch. I might try some indian almond leaves to soften the water a little although it's pretty much ideal for easy to keep dwarves.

I have South American Dwarf Cichlid book (published by Datz) and it says "Nannostomus, Copella and Pyrrhulina are highly recommended". Ruby Tetras also get a mention.

My brother has some Pyrrhulina sp. in his tank but they're very rarely seen in LFS. He only saw them the once, so bought them for his apisto community tank.

Micromania sometimes has dithers for sale, so should give you some pointers.