Congo tetra

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Really? Well I just read about "dither" fish and that was one of the suggestions
 
Really? Well I just read about "dither" fish and that was one of the suggestions

Dither fish are also called target fish. They are dispensable fish that are used to lure typical hiding cichlids out of hiding.
 
Congo tetras are usualy used for dithers for semi aggressive sa/ca cichlids like geos or severums. I wouldn't do with Africans at all. even with severums its still possible that they will start to disappear at some point. as rivers said don't get attached to them. I know HUKIT was using them as dithers with a midas but they were being eaten about 1 a week. Dithers are as you said to make shy fish come out more and target fish are fast fish that can take a beating from more aggressive sa/cas
 
Dither fish ARE NOT called target fish. Completely different things.

Dither fish are fish used to pull shy fish out of hiding. Many cichlids see a school of fish out and about as a sign that the area is safe, thus making them more active and adventurous.

Target fish are fish used to deter an aggressive fish from picking on another fish. This is common in the highly aggressive cichlid species, so that grow outs or even adults don't kill each other, but instead focus on the target fish.
 
Dither fish ARE NOT called target fish. Completely different things.

Dither fish are fish used to pull shy fish out of hiding. Many cichlids see a school of fish out and about as a sign that the area is safe, thus making them more active and adventurous.

Target fish are fish used to deter an aggressive fish from picking on another fish. This is common in the highly aggressive cichlid species, so that grow outs or even adults don't kill each other, but instead focus on the target fish.

Explained better than i did Thanks Freakgecko91.
 
I have some Congos with my rotkiel severum and red head tapajos. Nobody bothers them, and they look great in a school. Idk if I've just had bad experiences with them or if they were just wild caught (the prices for congos where I'm at are sometimes RIDICULOUS, at one point Big Als was asking $23 a fish) but I've had a couple just die from what I imagine is chlorine poisoning but they were far more sensitive than my other fish. When I was changing the substrate in my 90g I filled the tank back up and forgot to put prime in before adding the fish and lost 5 congos, but no other fish seemed stressed at all. And then I lost two when doing a water change, I use a water changer so untreated water goes right into the tank which was never a problem but I was doing my other tanks at the same time and forgot to Prime for about 10 minutes, and they did the same thing as the others that died. Just starting swimming upside down and floating until they sank and died. And again, no other fish seemed phased at all by what was happening.
 
Dither fish ARE NOT called target fish. Completely different things.

Dither fish are fish used to pull shy fish out of hiding. Many cichlids see a school of fish out and about as a sign that the area is safe, thus making them more active and adventurous.

Target fish are fish used to deter an aggressive fish from picking on another fish. This is common in the highly aggressive cichlid species, so that grow outs or even adults don't kill each other, but instead focus on the target fish.


Thanks for explaining! Well right now I have a green terror, firemouth, buffalo head, jewel, GBR, Zebra Obliquens, Keyhole, Red Peacock, and some cories. I also had 5 lemon tetras that started off in the tank and over the course of about 2-3 months I'm left with 3 lemons. I'm sure the cichlids got the other two because I never found bodies. Would congos work? I know they are a bigger tetra species. What else would you suggest?
 
I think those GBRs may not last long with a GT, I've heard they can get pretty aggressive when they grow up. I have a pair in with a severum and geos and I would be terrified to put them in with anything aggressive, my rams try and protect their nest area and the other fish are big and just don't care. They never retaliate and try to attack the rams they just kinda turn around when the rams assault them and be like "what do you want I'm like 3x your size". So I don't think they would hold up well. As far as the congos idk how those fish would do with them but generally they are a good schooling fish to have with cichlids because they get too big for most of them to eat. My Geos are like the same size as my congos, they actually get quite thick and big.
 
I think those GBRs may not last long with a GT, I've heard they can get pretty aggressive when they grow up. I have a pair in with a severum and geos and I would be terrified to put them in with anything aggressive, my rams try and protect their nest area and the other fish are big and just don't care. They never retaliate and try to attack the rams they just kinda turn around when the rams assault them and be like "what do you want I'm like 3x your size". So I don't think they would hold up well. As far as the congos idk how those fish would do with them but generally they are a good schooling fish to have with cichlids because they get too big for most of them to eat. My Geos are like the same size as my congos, they actually get quite thick and big.


What kind of geos? Are you talking about acei? And my rams have yet to breed. They been together almost 7 months. I believe they are all female
 
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