Silver Dollar
Metynnis schreitmulleri
Ravenous Tropical Vegetarian Fish
My first Silver Dollar tropical fish were beauties! About 4 inches long, gleaming and glistening in the bag. I’d just made my purchase from the aquarium store.
I got them at a bargain as the guy was getting rid of all the current stock.
He’d assured me they were healthy.
They looked healthy!
But I’d never kept these fish before and didn’t know much about them.
Well, in the end they were healthy...VERY HEALTHY!
Just like this...
What the aquarium store guy forgot to tell me, and what I failed to research was that these "little" guys were ravenous hungry monsters.
Oh yes! That’s right.
I’d also bought a beautiful little wooden ornament with live plants grafted onto it. It was absolutely spectacular and cost a "pretty penny" too.
I guess you can figure out what happened next.
Yes, that’s right.
Those little ravenous "Silver" monsters proceeded to denude my whole tank of plants including the new planted ornament!!
They absolutely devastated the plant life in a matter of days.
I know I should’ve noticed sooner but it was one of those things.
You really don’t want to believe what you’re seeing until its too late.
Needless to say I removed them to their own separate tank where they’ve been ever since but I’ll never make that mistake again and I hope you don’t either.
Here's some swimming & schooling in a tank on YouTube.com...
Don’t get me wrong, they’re great fish to keep and they look fantastic just don’t let them anywhere near your plant life…unless they’re plastic!
The "Dollar", like the Tetra is what’s known as a Characin but so is the Piranha!
I should’ve known they’d turn out to be the piranha of the vegetarian world. :))
Like the piranha they hail from the Amazon region.
There are several species of Silver Dollar from the Genus Metynnis and the Genus Mylossoma but both are equally attractive fish.
This difference is usually spots and stripes and having a more elongated body.
They can also have a difference in their "adipose" fin (the fin between the tail and dorsal fin), specifically the Metynnis has a large adipose fin whereas the Mylossoma have a smaller adipose fin.
You should keep the Dollar in schools as they are a slightly nervous fish that scare easily and the shoaling helps them to feel "safer in numbers" as it were.
You should also keep them out of high traffic areas in the home as they react to quick movements, shadows and vibrations of people, especially small children who jump around as they are want to do.
They like plenty of swimming space but you can put plants (preferably plastic!), driftwood and rocks etc in the tank.
The Dollar is a great fish to keep in your community aquarium tank if you know about its peculiarities before you buy them so you can look after them accordingly.
Let’s now look at the specifics of these fish which will help you to keep them for a long and healthy life span...
More Silver Dollar Info...
Tank Requirements
They need lots of open swimming space with preferably plastic plants, and some wooden and rock ornaments...
Feeding Requirements
Vegetarian flake food or vegetable matter like crushed algae etc...
Water Chemistry
Water can be "soft Water" and slightly acidic. The pH should ideally be between 6.5 to 7.7...
Water Temperature
Between 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal...
Breeding
The silver dollar will tend to lay its eggs around or even in floating plants...
For more information on the
Silver Dollar click here...
Good luck keeping your Silver Dollar beauties!
