Help with Dempsey's please

[hulkamaniac]

I've got two Dempsey's that are starting to get on my nerves. One was a rescue case. The lady who had him wanted to get rid of him b/c she didn't like him. I got him and he hid all the time and I never saw him. I added some Buenos Aires tetras as dither fish. He ate them all. I added some convicts. He killed them. I added another Dempsey. Now both of them hide.

I really need some sort of dither fish so I can actually see the fish I own. Any ideas? It's a 55 gallon tank and the convicts are currently about 6 inches and 3-4 inches.

 

[Zagz]

A lot of people use danios as dither fish.

 

[Menagerie]

It's a 55 gallon tank and the convicts are currently about 6 inches and 3-4 inches.

The JDs are that size, or are there more convicts? My only dealings with a JD led me to rip apart my tank and take that sucker to the nearest LFS that would take him. He was so cute and then he hit maturity and went after fish 2-3x his size. JDs were built to be assertive--just look at the mouth/head structure--all jaw! I do not know if danios will survive in that tank or be eaten as the tetras were.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

I'd try a smallish school of tiger barbs; if they don't last, probably nothing will.

 

[hulkamaniac]

It's a 55 gallon tank and the convicts are currently about 6 inches and 3-4 inches.

The JDs are that size, or are there more convicts? My only dealings with a JD led me to rip apart my tank and take that sucker to the nearest LFS that would take him. He was so cute and then he hit maturity and went after fish 2-3x his size. JDs were built to be assertive--just look at the mouth/head structure--all jaw! I do not know if danios will survive in that tank or be eaten as the tetras were.

Sorry. I guess that was confusing. The Dempseys are that size. The convicts have been evacuated to another tank. The Dempseys are currently in there alone.

 

[triazole]

few ideas -
dim the lights with some floating plants.
place the tank in a less crowded zone (might be hard to do).
use danios as dithers (as zagz said earlier)

 

[hulkamaniac]

few ideas -
dim the lights with some floating plants.
place the tank in a less crowded zone (might be hard to do).
use danios as dithers (as zagz said earlier)

The floating plants isn't a bad idea. I've got tons of hornwort laying around. The tank is in a room that I never use. I've got a bunch of tanks in there so I'm in there when I'm working on the tanks. Other than that, it's never seen. None of my main display tanks are in there. I'm scared the Dempsey might eat the danios if he can catch them somehow.

 

[triazole]

danios are extremely hard to catch. but, 1/2 might get caught.

 

[lowriderb]

my big one is that size and it comes out when no one is in the room, and when the lights are off it runs the tank.. its just started to come out a little more when im in the room. it will go hide pretty quick if i move too fast around the tank..

from what ive seen if it can fit the fish in its mouth its probably going to try to catch it..