Silver Dollar Question

[catwoman]

I have a 75g tank and I had a lone adult silver dollar in it that was left over from previous homeowners. I decided he needed company so I tried to find some silver dollars like him (the black-spotted kind). I couldn't find any so I got 2 baby all-silver ones with reddish fins about 6 weeks ago. They haven't really taken to each other. Will they still school in the long run I hope? I finally found some spotted ones last week at Petsmart and bought one. The spotted baby one definitely took to the big one and is following him around. now they are just basically paired off. should I try to replace the silver ones wih the spotted ones or should I just leave them? I don't want to get more than 4 because the tank has a pretty heavy bio-load with 3 clown loaches, 2 yoyo loaches, 9 Rummy Nose tetras, a rainbow shark, and 6 danios. The SD's and the loaches are pretty piggy eaters!

 

[StingrayKid]

The small ones should start to school once they gete adjusted to your tank. As for the large one from the previous owners, he will probably not school until the small ones get to his size. How big is the large one now? How big are the small ones?

 

[sylvia]

I'd leave them as they are. The two silver ones may decide to school with the spotteds once they are larger.

 

[lucky62]

I'd leave them as they are. The two silver ones may decide to school with the spotteds once they are larger.

I agree , with both the above posts actually .


That makes 4 , I wouldn'nt worry myself much why not get 1 or 2 more

How big are the clown loaches now ?

You might be able to squeeze in a pair of red hooks .

I had three of the slver kind and 2 red hook silver dollars , all 5 swam together .

 

[catwoman]

I would say the clowns are about 4in. they are only slightly bigger than the yoyo's. The big silver dollar, Biff, is about 4in and the little ones are about 2in. Biff hasn't grown much in the year that I've had him if at all.

 

[silver]

Hi there. The two older ones will probably always be a "pair" or should I say they will probably always be more "together" rather than "pairing up" w/any of the smaller ones. They will, however, all school together. My experience has shown me that they know who else has seniority along with themselves. I have added 2 babies in with 2 adults at 2 different times and both times it has been the same experience. The 2 smaller ones tend to be a "pair" and same goes for the 2 older/bigger ones, but they do all school together when the little ones get bigger. It took my little ones at LEAST 6 - 8 weeks before they stopped hiding and starting hanging out with the big guys!! ANd they are also a diff. species!

 

[catwoman]

Ok, great. I have only one older one. the other 3 are new little ones. I was mostly worried about the species difference since the new little spotted one is following the big spotted one instead of the little all-silver ones his same size. I just want them to be happy If they will inter-species school eventually and be happy that I am good to go. Actually I was quite surprised how brave the little SD's are. Within a day they were all over the tank and don't even move when the loaches bump into them. The big SD is the one that is hiding! I think he misses his old kissing gourami pal that we gave away recently. I don't think he realizes he is an SD and not a gourami yet.

 

[silver]

Ah, that is sweet

I wish my Silver Dollars would chill out a little more. They are so darn skiddish it just erks me!!

Good luck with the beebees!!

Here are a couple of pictures I took a couple (few?) months ago of my newest itty bitties!!!:

In this picture you can see the little guys down in the bottom right-ish area....and my second to biggest one on the left They are next to some albino corys!

Here is them and a Rainbow or two:

 

[catwoman]

Well the biggest fish in my tank is the big SD so maybe my babies are more at ease? They are sooo cute. I like the way they catch the sinking pellets in their mouths and they play keep away with them. Sometimes two will have a hold of the pellet at the same time and have a tug-of-war over it. I have to admit that I think the little spotted guy is the cutest - more than the all silver ones. I will try to take a picture of them. Thanks for posting your pics.

 

[Whynitica]

Schooling takes time. I have various species and they didn't school much the first 6 months. Here's a vid:

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9bpi3bE3bE