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As you may or may not know, I recently acquired a 4ft tank.
And my convict breeding project is under way, not even a week has ellapsed, I am already getting great success. EGGS!!!

Now another thing that is on my mind is about adding some dither fish, or simply make my tank more action filled.
Heard that Buenos Aires Tetras are great dithers.
At the moment, in my 55G are breeding pair of convicts and 1 larger male blue acara.
Tank is decorated with rocks and drift wood and very lightly planted with 3 amazon sword and 1 anubias nana.

Question is, will Buenos Aires Tetras suit my tank?
Say about 10 of them, will there be enough room for 10?
I heard they readily eat real plants, will my swords and anubias be victims.
Only recently got a 80W light on the tank, I want to take more care of the plants and get the most out of the light.

So far, the plants are doing fine with my convicts.
Wish me luck!

Well i dont know about the diveds or whatever thing but i know that in large groups or even three, they are extremely vicious.


Congrats on the eggs.!!

20 GALLON LONG CURRENTLY EMPTY ~~~~ 10 GALLON W/ STRIPPED CONVICT

I would not add any fish to a tank with breeding convict cichlids. They are mean and usually do not tolerate any other occupants (I'm surprised that your blue acara is still alive). Since the convicts are breeding, it sounds like they're satisfied with their tank. With that being so, the cichlids do not need dither fish.

Could the tetras survive the breeding convicts? Perhaps. They are swift critters, and will grow to a size that allows them to take a hit every now and then. They also live by the safety in numbers rule. However, being attacked by irate cichlids would definitely stress out the Buenos Aires tetras, and stress is not good for animals. Also, there is a very good chance that the tetras would steal away some or most of the convict fry. That would render your breeding project useless. I just think that the tetras would be a bad choice.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I think Buenos Aires Tetra would make
a great dither fish. So long as you dont think
your cons would eat them.
Peter- I dont know why you say these fish
are "extremely vicious", I keep a group of them,
and they are not nippy with each other, nor with
any other fish. In fact, I would say they are even
more peaceful than my neons or glowlight tetras.
These fish get quite large, females tip the scale at 3-3.5 inches, so 10 may be pushing it. 8 might be a better number.
They will not eat swords or anubias,
but if you put in a plant like Bacopa, it will
get gobbled up.
Make sure you feed them veggie matter in their diet, it will help to get them to leave the plants alone.


Last edited by So_Very_Sneaky at 24-Oct-2005 21:46

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I will have another think about it and hopefully hear from some more people.
At the moment, i feed the fish a mixture of food.
Cichlid Pellets ~ 5 per feed every morning and afternoon
Spirulina Pellets ~ 2 per feed with cichlid pellets morning and afternoon
Frozen brine shirmp ~ 1/2 cube, every now and then.
I think the diet should be fine.

One thing is that after the eggs hatch, the parents may turn to eachother.
Hopefully the dither fish will ease that aggression, that is my aim.
But I'll still have a think first.

Thanks guys!

I wouldn't add any Buenos Aires Tetra with Convicts & i agree with sirbooks, I wouldn't add any fish to a tank with breeding Convict Cichlids.



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