Saturday, June 15, 2013

How to Care for Silver Dollar Fish?

Just a small article for people who need to know a few things before buying this amazing piranha (yes, they are related to piranhas but have tiny teeth).
1.Silver Dollars do grow large and fast so you will probably need a big tank to accommodate them. Because they grow to the size of a dinner plate (8 inches in diameter), a VERY large tank will be needed to house a shoal of 4-6 adult fish. A 300 gallon or larger tank would be appropriate for these fish. So keep this in mind if you plan on having these fish for a long time.
2.Silver Dollars prefer subdued lighting and may become shy if the lighting is too intense. But, they have been known to get used to regular lighting.
3.The water should be to usual standards (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <40 nitrate etc.), pH 6-7.5 or so.
4.A good temperature would be about 24-28 C (75-80 F) or around that.
Tips:
-->You can buy romaine lettuce and hang it from the side of the tank and they will devour it.
-->They should also be fed some live foods like brine shrimp and blood-worms. Water quality doesn't seem to be critical but keep it clean.
-->Silver dollars make a great addition to any large tank. They are a shoaling fish so try to get 6 or so of them.
-->Buy several plants for them to graze on so they won't totally destroy any single one, giving them a chance to grow back.
-->They like the large(about the size of a dime)vegetable discs that are normally for large Pleco's.
Warnings:
-->They also don't like certain kinds of swordplants (Amazon) but not all. They definitely eat melon swords, so avoid those.
-->Silver dollars are vegetarian by nature so they'll eat everything green but seem to avoid things like java moss and java fern as well as tough-leaved plants like anubias.
-->They will however eat any exposed roots and kill a plant if you aren’t careful.
Things You Need:
-->Silver dollar fish
-->Large fish tank
-->A decent filter can clean tank 3 to 5 times per hour


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