Most of the time when somebody mentions dither fish it seems to be in relation to cycling an aquarium. The name just doesn't fit, so I consulted Mr. Webster and Mr. Google. Dither means something like active confusion, and the term dither fish means a fish you put in an aquarium to help another fish feel comfortable. It's sort of like using a regular old horse, whatever that is, to calm down a race horse on the way to the starting gate. A dither fish or two, therefore, is used to calm down a race fish, or at least an exotic fish that doesn't like being alone. I guess because a dither fish is considered one of less value, it's almost come to mean a throw away fish. It helps complete the nitrogen and is useless or sick thereafter. Again speaking as a mushy headed old geezer, it seems that a nice big glob of hornwort will work just as well without putting anybody in a dither about sacrificial fish.
Additional comments are solicited.
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