Silver dollar dance

[Mr B]

Hi All

I have 4 silver dollars in a 150 gallon tank. Two of them have taken to chasing each other around the tank and then shaking their bodies against one another. I am assuming this is a courtship ritual. Anybody else seen this or can enlighten me.

 

[jams.alaskan]

That's interesting! I have seen it in a large aquarium that a friend owns - it's been years now but I remember being fasinated with the "dance". I am not sure if it is courtship or not but I do know that She never had fry from her silver dollars - I believe that she had 6 or so in the tank...

ALASKA

 

[Lateral Line]

As long as they are large enough, Silver Dollars do spawn in captivity. I had a friend in England that turned them out by the hundred. The problem usually revolves around finding a compatible sexed pair. What you describe sounds very "spawning" like. That said, I've never kept SD's, I'm too fond of my plants!

 

[silver]

Hi there MrB!!!

I have witnessed this dance many times! I had 2 larger SD (now one has passed on) but I believed them to be a pair (maybe not a mating pair but M and F) They did this beautiful dance all of the time, in the dark more often. It was lovely! They would swim back and forth, back and forth, not nipping of course, just dancing and shimmying.........well the male did the shimmying......I think it was the male

Very beautiful fish they are!

 

[scottminot]

I have three silver dollars and two of them are constantly doing this. I always thought that it might be some kind of a pushing and shoving match for tank dominance. They are both males so I don't think it's a spawning ritual. Unless I have gay fish?

 

[silver]

How do you know they are both males?? Because if they are Red Hooked SDs, females can have the red anal fin too!! Just to letchya know