Dartfish Extreme Help

[CoralNerd]

Has anyone tried two different kinds of Dartfish in the same tank? If yes, what size tank, number of fish and experience?

I was thinking about housing these fish together Zebra Barred Dartfish and one Purple Firefish Dartfish.

I have the purple firefish, and he's doing good in my 85g tank. I'm not sure if I added 3 Zebra Barred Dartfish if they would get along or not. I'm trying to have a peaceful tank but I like how the Zebra Barred Dartfish swim at the top.

P.S. I will have no issues with them jumping out as I have a secure lid/canopy and I have a sand bed for sleeping.

 

[fearyaks]

I have a purple dartfish and two Zebras... they coexist in a 100g and have no issues.

I have a super mellow tank. The Zebras hang out at the top/mid of the water column while the Purple hangs out in the lower half.

Great fish! They will jump but you addressed that.

 

[borjam]

Yes. You shouldn't mix decoras and magnifica, and I've been unable to keep more than one decora long term. They can be very nasty. My latest attempt end in tragedy and the usually shy decora spent all the day swimming around the tank like a devil seeking the intruder actively.

Zebras are fine because they are larger and although not aggressive they have more character. I have a zebra (I had a group but lost three of them due to jumps before I covered the tank ) and the decora has never even noticed it.

My tank is around 300 litres. And it has a DSB. Zebras need a DSB in which they will dig a burrow.

There is a way to keep more of these sometimes aggressive fishes: if you manage to keep a slow but constant plankton drip (copepods, lobster eggs, etc) so that plankton eating fishes will feed as they do in nature, a morsel per minute or something like that, the fishes will be entertained and there won't be many quarrels.

Otherwise, you know what happens when the devil is bored

 

[eatbreakfast]

There will be ABSOLUTELY ZERO issue in combining the purple firefish with the zebra dartfish. Firefish will often be intolerant of other firefish, this intolerance does not extend toward other members of their family outside of their Genus, so since firefish are Nematereleotris and Zebra dartfish are in the the Genus Ptereleotris they will NOT fight, in fact they will often share dart holes.

Also, although dartfish will utilize a DSB to build a burrow, it is not a necessity, as they will take advantage of the rock work to use as dart holes. They will also use the burrows of other fish and inverts. I have seen them use jawfish and pistol shrimp burrows frequently.

 

[CoralNerd]

Cool excellent feed back!

Thanks a bunch...

I will be ordering three Dartfish within a week ....I look forward to having these guys swimming around the top.

 

[fearyaks]

Good luck!! Note, mine swim around quite happily at the top. There's no guarantee that yours will too. While in my quarantine tank, they were quite shy and often hung out under my PVC. It took them a few weeks after being transferred to my display tank to constantly swim in my water column.

 

[CoralNerd]

I figure they should like my other fish friends. Purple Firefish, Two yellow Coris Wrasse, Fairy Wrasse, yellow Watchmen goby, Yasha goby, pistol shrimp and cleaner shrimp.

 

[CoralNerd]

Not sure if I should get 2 or 3 Zebras?
------------------------------>
The local fish store said they like odd numbers.

 

[kolalysy]

I had one decora and one magnifica one year in 100 g tank with no problems.

 

[fearyaks]

Eh it's a big enough tank to support all three. If you want.

 

[CoralNerd]

I read some people have had three Zebras, and two bonded and the third was chased away.

I'm wondering if I should get SIX ZEBRAS and if that would be TOO MANY based on my 85g mixed reef tank and fish??????

Existing Fish:
1 Purple Firefish
2 Yellow Coris Wrasse
1 Fairy Wrasse
1 Yellow Watchmen Goby
1 Yasha Goby

@fearyaks
What fish do you house in your peaceful 100g?

Picture of my sump/filtration

It has three filter socks, and I just bought 26 socks so I change them out every few days. I work from home so feed frozen and dry food three times a day.

 

[RayL]

I kept a red with a helfrichi in a 150gallon for about 2 years. They were friends, always hanging together

 

[CoralNerd]

Bump for how many question above.

 

[fearyaks]

Super Mellow.
Pair of Occy Clowns
Purple Firefish
Tanaka Pygmy Wrasse
Chromis
X3 Chalk Bass
Starry Blenny
Kamohara Blenny
X2 Randall's Assessors
X1 Yellow Assesor
edit: forgot my Kole Tang
X2 Zebra Barred Dartfish (Had 3, one jumped while in QT)... at night all three would sleep together so I don't think it was 'chased' away....

And I had a full hooded QT. It was in a biocube and the darned thing jumped into the lighting fixture and got wedged between the splashguard and a piece of random plastic.

 

[CoralNerd]

So what's the best # of Zebras to keep?[emoji118]

If I get three what if two of them are males will one chase the other away?

Is it best to get six?

 

[eatbreakfast]

With social fish more is always better.

 

[CoralNerd]

[quote name="footyreefer" post=23493899]My zebra barred dartfish ALWAYS stay at my top of my tank. At night they hide in the rocks[/QUOTE]
What other fish do you have with your Zebras and how many Zebras do you have?

 

[Betta132]

My LFS usually has zebra darts in stock for quite a while before all of them are bought. They're fairly calm even in the sale tanks, and they definitely like groups. Given that they aren't aggressive, I'd just get a bunch.

 

[CoralNerd]

[quote name="footyreefer"post=23493899]
2 Picassos
1 Kole Tang
1 Yellow Tang
1 Flame Angel
1 Chromis
1 Watchman Goby
1 Yellow Coris Wrasse
1 Fairy Wrasse
1 Potters Wrasse
2 Zebra Barred Dartfish[/QUOTE]

Cool, I'm going to get 5 towards the end of the month, I will let you guys know how it works out.