Silver Dollars

[Tempestuousfury]

Are silver dollars compatible with invertebrates such as snails or with ghost shrimp. I'm thinking about adding some cheap bottom feeders and because I wqant to see what ghost shrimp are like. Since dollars are somewhat aggressive, should I add more of the (there are only two in there now) or is it ok?

Also, some of the other fish have fin rot, but some of their fins look as though they have been nipped at. Could this be done by the dollars? Any solutions?

 

[AquaNut]

Hi fury,

I think that your main problem might be overcrowding, if your signature is accurate. I don't even want to respond to your questions until I confirm what your sig says. If you've got silver dollars in a 5 or 10 gallon tank, you most certainly can't add more to form a shoal. Also, keeping that many oversized fish in undersized tanks will certainly lead to finrot and death for almost all the inhabitants of your tanks. Silver dollars are NOT aggressive fish, however. They're extremely shy and herbivorous. I doubt they'd bother the shrimp.

 

[Lateral Line]

Yeah - got to agree with 'Nut there. Also, goldfish are coldwater fish, they are used to the higher Oxygen levels in cold water, and are not happy in tropical tanks, they are also pretty dirty fish, and heavily load the filter in a tank.

Perhaps you ought to give us a better idea of waht you've got.

 

[cory]

Judging from the advice you've gotten......you definitely came to the right place.


Good luck!

 

[Tempestuousfury]

My dad got the silver dollars w/o asking me. I gave my shark and biggest goldfish away. I moved the danios to the five gal with the platies. Now I have 3 goldfish, 2 black tetras, and 2 silver dollars along with a plecty. I'm thinking about giving some of the fish away anyways...

 

[AquaNut]

You're moving in the right direction, tempestuousfury. Sadly, you either need a much bigger tank or you are going to have to get rid of some more fish. The silver dollars and the plec are definitely too big for a 10 gallon tank. I'd also say 10 gallons is too small for the goldfish. Your zebra danios would surely appreciate moving back into the 10 if you get rid of the larger fish, as they're very fast swimmers and need more open swimming space than a 5 gallon tank allows. Please try not to be disheartened by what I'm saying. I know it sounds like heaps of negative comments, but I really think you'll be a much happier fish keeper once you get your tank populations sorted out and are dealing with a more manageable situation. Good luck with it and keep us posted.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I totally agree with you, but I'm somewhat attached to them and somewhat reluctant to just give them away. I got $40 yesterday, so I could probably replace those fish easily. I think I'll let the comets pleco go, move back the danios, and put in 1-3 (preferably 2-3, though) in there. That would lower waste, remove some of my diseased fish (the comets) and get smaller bottom feeders. Now, to find lfs that'll take them. (I'll probably end up killing the comets, unfortunately )

 

[FishNiX]

why not put the silver dollars and the pleco in the 50?

then you could add a few more silver dollars too?

PS.. Im in Chicago, right next door

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I plan on doing that once my 10 is disease-free and my 50 is set up. I just hope the medicine works and that I can put in a filter cartridge soon! (I was told it would be ok for a week. I haven't done water changes b/c I didn't want to take out medicine, but I'm definitely changing some of the water today!)

 

[silver]

I have to agree that Silvers are not aggressive. Other than the usual once-in-a-while peck at another fish they are very SWEET! I just love the fact that they are vegetarians like myself, although I have heard several times that no matter what a fish eats they will eat any living thing that will fit in their mouths. I haven't found that true with my Silvers at all. I have the teeniest of snails and they've never even tried to eat them.

But they do definitley need to go in the 50.
Happy Fish Keeping!

Silver

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Already there.

They've really messed up all of my plants, but that's because they wouldn't eat the cabbage I put in. They love the rommaine lettuce, though, and that's what I'm sticking with.

 

[silver]

To tell you the truth, I just feed my Silvers Tropical flakes and Cory pellets, whether the shrimp or algae, my Silvers love the cory food . And then of course a treat of peas now and again, shelled of course.


Silver

 

[Tempestuousfury]

You're right. They always steal the algae disks from the plec, so I put it in after dark. They eat quite a bit already, though. They get quite a few flakes and brine shrimp, but they're always hungry.

How do you feed them the peas? I always boil the vegetables, but they didn't go for the peas. They were shelled, but not very soft. How do you do it, and how to you keep the peas down, if at all?

 

[silver]

Well,
I buy a bag of frozen green peas and keep them sealed fairly well. Whenever I want a hand full I just grap a few and put them on a plate and then nuke them in the microwave to unfreeze them. They get pretty darn hot after a REALLY short time in the Micrw. so be careful when touching them. For a palmfull I'd say nuke'em for 45 seconds if you have a big mic. if a small one then a minute should be okay. After that you just take the skin off. I usually just pinch a little part off with my fingernails and then squeeze the pea right on out of the little opening...PLOP there it is in two parts!! When I'm done I just sprinkle them around the tank and they always stay down at the bottom, they never float !!!!

Try it again and maybe you'll have more luck. B)

Silver

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Thanks. I've taken up microwaving all of the veggies that I boil. It's much easier than a stove.

By the way, I just learned a few days ago while studying light in physics that microwaves vibrate the water molecules in food, and only the water molecules, thus producing heat and warming all of the particles in the food. I knew microwaves vibrated molecules, I never knew it was just water!