silver dollar growth rate and care.

terror

terror

AC Members
May 23, 1999
1,235
1
38
Manila, Philippines
Hi,

just got myself 10 pcs 1 inch silver dollar.
they are in a 75 gallon tank.

are silver dollars really hardy?
what do i feed them? more on veggies? or meat?
right now feeding my fish tetra bits. and freezedried tubifex.
what would be better food for faster growth?

thanks.
 
Since you just got them, you should be watching for ick and treating it as soon as you see a white spot. It is very likely that they will get it. Once you have had them for a couple weeks and are performing weekly water changes, silver dollars are fairly hardy. They are vegetarian and should be fed flakes supplemented by slices of cucumber or zucchini. Within about a year they should be 5 to 6 inches.
 
Yes they are herbivores, but love meat as well. Mine get live bloodworms once a week and veggie stuff the rest of the week. Use a veggie clip and add Romaine lettuce, zucchini and other veggies to the tank.

They prefer dim lighting and one way to acheive that and supplement their diet at the same time is by adding duckweed or frogbit to the tank. It will float and they will eat it.

If you want them to grow fast, feed them well, but don't overfeed. Give them lots of green to graze on. Change the water out every week. 50% is always good.

Make sure they have lots of places to hide, too.

They usually grow 6-8", unless you have red hooks -- those get to 12+ inches. They do grow fast, too. Mine are about 6 months old and 4-5".

Roan
 
fiske said:
Since you just got them, you should be watching for ick and treating it as soon as you see a white spot. It is very likely that they will get it. .
Click to expand...
I'm curious as to why you would say that? None of my SDs have had ich.

Roan
 
thanks for the info.
seems to be in good condition, btw i live in a tropical country , so weather is quite warm.
mmm will start to feed them veggies. thought they were carnivore. :)
 
my dollars love to have freeze dried crill, as well as frozed blood worms and frozen brine shrimp. i feed them that as well as lettuce and zucchini. i feed them the tetra min crisps, they like that as well. i have had my 3 for about 5 months and they have about trippled in size, the newer ones for about 3 months and doubled.
 
I guess it is because they stress so easily and are small scaled, but 90% of the time they have ich when I see them in store tanks and once they get alittle it isn't long before they are covered. You are right they may never become infected, of the six I have had only one showed ich, but it is definitely a fish to keep an eye on at first. I should have said primarily vegetarian, they will eat anything but I didn't want to recommend meat because I wasn't sure if they experience some of the digestive problems other fish have.
 
silver dollars are herbivores and grow HUGE 8 inches . if your 75 is planted with live plants u can kiss your plants goodbye. i had a pair who totally DESTROYED my 30gl planted! do not be worried if they have random black spots, its quite normal! Try feeding them small cuttings of cress.


Hope this helps.

Flag
 
They'll eat sprite.

They may or may not eat anubias, depends on the type. The thicker-leaved, dark green types will probably be left alone. Anything fine-leaved will be eaten.

They will eat java fern as well, contrary to what I've seen posted. I have a windelov that is unrecognizable :)

They will most likely leave all crinum genus plants alone (anything that is an "onion"). They don't eat mine at all, so their tank is planted with a *lot* of onion.

Roan
 
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