Dither Fish

[blainep]

It's interesting to see the calming effect, on wild type fish, commercial fish can have.

My latest arrivals of nearly wild livebearers (again, my thanks Melody) still have a very strong instinct to hide in fear anytime I am in the fishroom.
All but one of the groups of fish stay as hidden as they can whenever I'm near.
The one group of fish that doesn't hide, shares their tank with a small group of Platys.
Overall the Platys have no fear of me and know that the big hand over tank every morning means food.

These little Platys have had an amazing effect. The wild type Mollies are very relaxed, their colors are brighter, they always come to the glass to say 'Hi' ( Really I think they're saying feed me, but.....) and they generally appear to be happy in their home. Happy enough that I have 2 very fat, very gravid females.

This cannot be said of my other wild types, The only time I see them not hiding in a corner is if I very quietly peek at them around the fishroom door. They are always nervous and their colors are no where near as bright.

That said, this weekend, I will be moving a couple of Platys into each of the remaining wild type tanks, with the hope that a couple of 'dither fish' can help turn a tank into a home for my wild type Mollies.

Just an interesting observation.

[Melody]

I found the exact same thing. Everytime I walked by a q-tank those Mollies would jump a mile - they never got used to it. The ones in quarantine with the big group of Plumetails didn't jump at all.

After I sent you your fish, I moved everyone around and the Kykesis Mollies went in with the Red-eye Swordtails. The Mollies almost immediately relaxed and stopped jumping.

Now the males flare at me when I get the vacuum too close to them, bold as brass and downright sassy.

I guess its true that the captive bred strains lose their instincts over time, and sometimes even their judgement. Like that article I posted about Ameca Splendens, which indicates that basically it can make them more aggressive and stupid when it comes to fearing other fish, even when they SHOULD fear that particular fish.

[Pamelajo]

My H. Furmosas are very shy, don't jump when I get near just always hidden. They seem to like their tank and are eating. They all look good and enjoy laying in the plants, was wondering if they would not be so shy if I put them in with the RR Minnows, both like cooler temps.

[Melody]

Its worth a shot, but the Minnows will chow down their fry. :mad:

Another thing that works with wild-types that prefer a colony, is putting them into a smaller tank. They have that comfort of always knowing where each other is.

[Pamelajo]

I had thought about the babies dissappearing. They are in a 5 gallon planted by themselves, the one from the pic of the rr minnows. Moved all rr to my 32. After I posted last night went down and two were actually out and about, maybe starting to feel at home.