# Dither fish were a baaad idea



## ws812 (Apr 17, 2009)

My Jewel cichlid just consumed two entire giant danios we put in yesterday meaning to keep him entertained. This is especially shocking since the danios were almost 2" long and our Jewel is only 3" long. It was BRUTAL. Anyway, is he going to be okay? That's an awful lot of fish to eat for a little guy. I removed the other three we put in there but am now worried about the cichlid getting sick or bloated from too much danio snackin'. He seems fine, maybe a little sluggish. You can definitely tell he's eaten way too much from his oversized belly, but he's still swimming around and pooping so fingers crossed he'll pull through. :?


----------



## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

That is a good sign that he is defecating.
I would do a water change and fast for a day or two.
You could also dissolve some epsom salt to be on the safe side.
It goes to show that dithers don't always work.
Sometimes the best dithers for cichlids are more cichlids.


----------



## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

Ouch... sorry about that... I really thought dithers would help it but it sounds like the mental dysfunction is a bit worse than I thought...

as I mentioned:



Number6 said:


> *ws812* that is not normal behavior, but it is common for animals to display repetitive, *destructive*, and other abnormal behaviors when kept in improper conditions.
> 
> For cichlids, dither fish are a common choice so that the jewel has some interaction.
> Something small and tough would be a good choice. I've always had luck with black neons.


----------



## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

Wow, he ate two whole giant danios!!!! That was one hungry jewel cichlid I have a pair in a heavily planted tank with all sorts of barbs, rainbows and some gouramis and they never bother anyone. I am surprised that he caught the danios, must have been determined. You might just have a very aggressive jewel that will not tolerate companions in a 20 gallon tank. He might be fine in a larger tank (55 or bigger) or maybe not. Definitely atypical behavior as jewels are usually the most aggressive when breeding.


----------



## ws812 (Apr 17, 2009)

He seems to be okay. He was even acting hungry when I came home this afternoon and he doesn't look bloated anymore. I guess he'll have to be a loner fish until we can get him a bigger house!


----------



## ws812 (Apr 17, 2009)

So as an experiment we put a divider in the aquarium and put another Jewel on the other side of it, and he keeps jumping over the divider so they can hang out! They nip at each other and stuff, but there's no violent murdering going on. Finally we removed the divider since they were both just jumping back and forth anyway and I don't want them to get hurt (I guess they're doing more of a "wiggle" over the divider, since there's only about 1/4" space between the top of it and the aquarium lid)

Pushing my luck, I re-introduced the three remaining giant danios and a plecostomus yesterday morning...and neither of the Jewels seem to care that they're there. WTH? I came home at lunch today and they're all just swimmin around doing their thing. Is this weird or what? Nature sure is strange.


----------



## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

maybe you got lucky and found a mate for him Who knows, hope it works out for you.


----------



## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

ws812 said:


> So as an experiment we put a divider in the aquarium and put another Jewel on the other side of it,


 that was a good idea... if the new fish was the opposite gender, it may have given the fish time to "pair up".


----------



## ws812 (Apr 17, 2009)

Day three, all's well. A couple nicks in the danios' fins but nothing serious. The Jewels have found a spot in the corner of the aquarium where they lurk and glare at the danios all day. I'm so pleased.


----------

