Free Fish should i take them?

[sandyd]

Hello everyone, my sisters's friend from work is in the process of moving. She has a (she thinks) 55 gallon with silver dollars in it. She does not know if they are really silver dollars, i will go see on Saturday if they are. She cannot take the fish with her on her trip since she will not be able to set up her tank until her home is finished. They are going to be living in a hotel for a month. Anyway, do i take them home with me or say sorry will not get along with my fish.

The only tank i have with any room is my 55 gallon which currently has a pleco, he is about 7 inches long. 3 Black skirt tetras, 2 head and tail light tetras, 2 swordtails, 5 guppies, 4 corys. The tank has 6 plants in it so far.

Ok now for the questions. Do I want to put silver dollars in with the tank mates that are there, or will there be trouble? How many can I add if i do take them? I have no idea how many she has in the tank, or if there are other occupents, i will find out Saturday when i see them. I tried to convince her to give me the tank too, but no go. Any responses will be great, thanks.

Sandy

 

[teknikz]

WITH A TANK THAT SIZE AND THE FISH U GOT ALREADY ID SAY U WOULD BE SAFE TAKIN THEM SO ID GO FOR IT

TEK

 

[AquaNut]

You have the perfect set up for silver dollars! They're lovely fish, and I'd say take em! Hopefully she has at least three, as they are very shy and nervous in small numbers. Know that they can reach rather enormous sizes (at least 8"). Also, be prepared for them to behave as if extraordinarily stressed after re-locating them. They may even go directly to the bottom of the tank and lie on their sides. Turn off the light in your tank and any extra aeration. Turn down your filter if it's turned up high. Don't feed the tank until the silver dollars are acting at least a little bit adjusted. Keep away from the tank for a little while, if possible, until they settle a bit.

 

[sandyd]

Thanks everyone, ok how many can i safely add without overpopulation?
Sandy

 

[AquaNut]

How long has your 55 gallon been running? How much experience do you have keeping fish? The more silver dollars you can have together, the happier they'll be. I don't believe in the 1" per gallon stuff or any other magical formula regarding how many fish you can keep together successfully. If your tank is well established and you are experienced, you can safely add quite a few. Your tank sounds quite lean on stock at the moment. The silver dollars won't be in competition with the pleco, cories, or guppies for swimming space; they occupy different areas of the tank. However, if you're going to be adding more than three or so, I'd suggest that you get the media from her filter, or else set up a little box filter or two in your tank, filled with plain ol' filter floss. This will help house all the bacteria you're going to require to 'instantly' appear when all the big fish/big eaters/big waste producers arrive.

 

[sandyd]

My 55 has only been running for a bit over a month, but i heavily jump started it. I guess I will explain. My hubby set the tank up for me for my birthday and took all of my fish from one of my 10 gallons and put them in there. After it was all done, and he cleaned my 10 gallon, i knew i had to do something to start a good colony in there quick. I have 6 tanks in all, so i took the filter medium out of all of them and put it in the 55, i also took gravel from 1 tank and put that in there too. I monitured it every day for the last month and have never seen a real ammonia spike in there. I did see it go up a little, but my nitrates stayed stable, around 10. It is still the same.
I have had fish all of my life, but only have been taking care of my own tanks for about 7 or 8 yrs. I am just hopeing that they are healty so that there is nothing transported to my tank. I was also worried about a mini cycle with adding alot of them, but i was thinking i could just pull some of the filters out of my other tanks and drop them in there to handle the extra load until it gets all settled again. I keep extra sponge filters in my tanks just in case of an emergency hospital tank or something.
You mentioned that they will be ok with everyone but you did not mention the tetras, will they compete with them?
Thanks for all the info, you all are great. Sandy

 

[AquaNut]

It sounds like you know exactly what you're doing in terms of nitrifying bacteria and bio-load etc. Silver dollars are the hoover vacuums of tropical aquaria. Once they figure out there's food in the tank, they inhale it with great vigor. However, my experience has been that they're probably the last fish in the tank to realise that it's feeding time, so by the time they've started eating, everyone else has already fed. Also, I think you'll find that they prefer to feed in the middle to lower regions of the tank, sucking in the flakes or pellets (or anything else that looks even remotely edible) as they sink, whereas some of the smaller fish will likely feed in the upper regions of the tank. Silver dollars are largely herbivorous and will appreciate fresh veggie matter in their regular diet. In fact, if you fail to provide it, expect them to eat your plants. You should be able to tell at first sight if they're healthy. They have a diamond-like shimmer that's absolutley gorgeous, and healthy specimens display quite a bit of red in their tail and anal fin (at least in the males). They can move with extraordinary speed, but spend much of their time just 'hanging out'.

 

[sandyd]

Thank you so much for your reply, lots of fish stuff going on here. LOL I am thrilled and cant wait to see them. I had some in a 29 gallon tank a few years ago,I loved them. But they got killed.

I had mentioned that i needed to clean my tank and one of my sisters and her kids were over. I had to run to the store for something and when i returned, her son had put them in my bathroom sink and was washing them with hand soap. I tried to save them, but by the time i got there, they were blowing bubbles. It was sad, and i have not owned any since. I did not so nicely tell my sister how well she was watching her son while i ran to the store, but it was too late. He was upset because he thought he was helping me.

So,, just be careful when you mention it is cleaning time, as little ones might think its time for the soap. I will keep you posted, goodness knows how many fish i will find in this tank on Saturday. If it is too many for me, I am searching for other homes for them.
Sandy

 

[KnuckleHead]

Thank you so much for your reply, lots of fish stuff going on here. LOL I am thrilled and cant wait to see them. I had some in a 29 gallon tank a few years ago,I loved them. But they got killed.

I had mentioned that i needed to clean my tank and one of my sisters and her kids were over. I had to run to the store for something and when i returned, her son had put them in my bathroom sink and was washing them with hand soap. I tried to save them, but by the time i got there, they were blowing bubbles. It was sad, and i have not owned any since. I did not so nicely tell my sister how well she was watching her son while i ran to the store, but it was too late. He was upset because he thought he was helping me.

So,, just be careful when you mention it is cleaning time, as little ones might think its time for the soap. I will keep you posted, goodness knows how many fish i will find in this tank on Saturday. If it is too many for me, I am searching for other homes for them.
Sandy

Ugh that sounds like something my son would do.