Earlier this summer, I posted about dither fish. In fact, I am a big proponent of them and use them frequently.
What exactly are dither fish? See my original post about them or visit Aquarium Co-Op’s dither fish page.
Over the past several months, I have added more of them. Below I outline three benefits of these fish for cichlid keepers. The first is obvious.
Three benefits of dithers:
- They act as sentinels. By definition, that’s their purpose. Their behavior signals danger or, the opposite, everything’s fine. Cichlids and other fish recognize signals (visual and olfaction) expressed by dither fish. If you have shy or timid cichlid species, dither fish can put them at ease.
- They keep a tank cycled while you await your next batch of fish. When I set up new species-only tanks, I can borrow beneficial bacteria from my establishe aquariums. Keeping these new tanks cycled is much easier with fish than without.
- They’re active. Schooling fish are probably some of the most active fish in an aquarium. They’re constantly on the move, so they add some activity to a tank that maybe only contains some timid species or species that frequently remain hidden. And since their activity will drastically change if there is danger, they make some of the best dithers. This is especially true if you have rock-dwelling or shell dwelling cichlid species.
Numerous species can be used as dither fish but it’s their purpose in your tank that defines them as dithers. Tetras, livebearers (guppies, platys), and danios are good fish for this purpose.
Your choice of dithers should be based on at least a couple of factors. One is the type of water you have. Since many tetras prefer softer, less alkaline water (except Congo tetras), they probably aren’t the best option for your African cichlid tank. On the other hand, many live bearers are good choices for harder water tanks. Secondly, what you choose should depend on the type of cichlids you keep. Large, predatory cichlids will simply eat the dithers. Also, if you keep cichlids such as Cyprichromis (and similar species), other schooling species, or have overstocked your tank because of aggression, dither fish are probably not necessary.
I have used black skirt tetras with decent success. My water isn’t terribly alkaline (~7.5 pH), so they do okay as tetras go. However, I prefer danios for five reasons: they school, they’re non-aggressive, they’re hardy, they won’t reproduce, and they’re inexpensive. Though danios come from native waters less alkaline than mine, they’ve been commercially bred for so long that they are now much more tolerant of higher pH ranges.