Minimum tank size for school of silver dollars

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kate_kuhli
 
Posts: 268
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 2:04 am
Location: Florida

Minimum tank size for school of silver dollars

by kate_kuhli

I've heard that silver dollars can get as large as dinner plates(?!) so I know they need a large tank but how large do you think 6 adult silver dollars would need? There would be other tankmates, but nothing too large except for the SDs.

And does anyone know how fast they grow? E.g. would a 90 gallon hold them for a couple years or no?


a201
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:21 pm

Re: Minimum tank size for school of silver dollars

by a201

Some silver dollars do get very large such as the "red hook". Others, like the spotted variety stay relatively small, 3" to 5". I have 11 of those in my 120. Most of them are about 5 years old. The biggest is a female, approx 5 inches. I believe their scientific name is "maculatus" spelling?
8 of them grew up in a 65 gal. Community tank and did just fine.
Your 90 gal. Tank should be fine for a school of 6 to 10 SD' s provided you purchase the smaller varieties.
It's also good to provide 2x the rated filtration for your tank. I run 2 fluval/Aqua clear 110 filters on my 120. I also change 20% of the water every week.
Don't worry too much about the water chemistry. Most SD's are farm raised and have evolved to adapt a wide range of water perameters.
SD' s are hardy and tough. Mine live well with a green terror cichlid several red terror "Festae" juveniles and various african rift lake cichlids. I have kept SD' s in my tanks for many years; one of my favorites.


reefer171
 
Posts: 52
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2017 2:53 pm

Re: Minimum tank size for school of silver dollars

by reefer171

a201 has given some good advice. I always recommend people to get the spotted silver dollar unless they really want a huge tank because some silver dollars do get about as large as dinner plates and most people's tanks aren't equipped to handle them.


lumi
 
Posts: 63
Joined: Wed Sep 07, 2016 10:26 am

Re: Minimum tank size for school of silver dollars

by lumi

I was really interested to hear this about the spotted silver dollar. I've never heard of those before and I've always loved silver dollars but I can't have a large aquarium for the foreseeable future, which is why I don't have the large kind of goldfish or giant gouramis. So I didn't think I could have any silver dollars until now.... and now I'm already looking into having some spotteds lol.

Minimum tank size for school of silver dollars

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