Animal-World > Freshwater Fish > Characins > Silver Dollar Fish

Silver Dollar

Family: Serrasalmidae Family: Characidae - Sub-family: Myleinae

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Metynnis argenteus Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

   The Silver Dollar looks just as its name implies, round and 'covered with silver'!

   These are named "Silver Dollar" because their body shape is almost round and is very compressed laterally. Generally they are a silver color with slight green and blue tints in the right light. There are also hints of red, especially the anal fin of the male which is edged in red. In some habitats they will have small dots on their sides.

   The peaceful Silver Dollar is a choice fish for many aquarists who want a community aquarium with good sized inhabitants. The Silver Dollar, though very peaceful, gets rather large and needs a good sized aquarium. They are a lively fish and like to hang out in schools, so get several if you can!

   These fish are happiest in a large shallow aquarium with peat filtered water, dark gravel, and lots of plants and hiding places. The Silver Dollar does like to eat plants! So get plants that are not so tasty like java fern and hornwort, or you can use plastic plants.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Distribution:
   The Silver Dollar was described by Ahl in 1923. They are found in South Americain in Guyana, Orinoco, western Amazon, and the Paraguay Basin.

Status:
   The species is not listed on the IUCN Red List.

Description:
   The Silver Dollar is a very deep bodied fish with a round almost disk like shape that is very compressed laterally. They are a silver color with slight green and blue tints in the right light. There are also hints of red, especially the anal fin of the male which is edged in red. In some habitats they will have small dots on their sides.

Size - Weight:
   These fish get up to 6 inches (15 cm).

Care and feeding:
   Since they are herbivorous the Silver Dollar will generally eat mainly vegetable foodstuffs including a variety of plants, lettuce, cress, chickweed, and large vegetable flake. A good spirulina formula would be beneficial.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   These fish will swim all over but mainly in the middle of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
   Hardness: to 15° dGH
   Ph: 5.5-7.5
   Temp: 74-82° F (24-28° C)

Social Behaviors:
   The Silver Dollar is a good peaceful fish recommended for all community aquariums.

Sexual Differences:
   The male has a longer anal fin which has a red tinge on the front of it.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   Suggested water conditions: 79-82° F (26-28° C); pH 6.0-7.0; below 10° dGH.
   The Silver Dollars are easy to spawn, they will do so in a school. Place clumps of plants on the surface so they will spawn in between them. The female will lay up to 2000 eggs which will fall to the bottom and hatch after 3 days.

Buy Silver Dollar From LiveAquaria.com

The parents will not eat the eggs so there is no need to remove them. The fry will attach themselves to a surface and eat small plankton. See the general description of how to breed Characins in Breeding Freshwater Fish.

Availability:
   The Silver Dollar is readily available and is reasonably priced.

Author: David Brough, CFS

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Latest Comments
I have had a silver dollar for a 8 years, is true. I bought them at Walmart. I don't know how old it was at that time, but they are older than two of my children. 8 years and they look so healthy and I love them. They are about 5 inches long. Raul Rosales 2009-02-17
Hello! my name is Ethan and I am from Long Island, NY. I have a 20 gallon tank that is half full with 2, 3 inch Silver dollar fish. They get along great with my Gold barb, Zig zag eel, Dwarf African clawed frog, my Albino cherry barb (which passed away yesterday), Black neon tetra, Black line rasbora , Cory doras cat, Black skirt tetra, Violet crowned tailed betta, Emperor tetra, Upside down catfish, Head and tail light tetra, and Pretty tetra. My tank is half full because I used to have fire belly newts which need land so I have to have some land for them. [but now the newts are deceased, so I don't really need land anymore.] The silver dollars are very peaceful fish, and get along great in my community tank. The only thing bad about them, is they are a little skittish. They are only babies now, and I can't wait until they are adults. They are both males. I found out how to tell the difference on other web sites. The males have a slight red botttom fin. from, the big "E"! Ethan 2009-01-15
I have a silver dollar fish that is 12in. long and have it in a 55 gal. tank with oscars. Did not know they grew that big, so now what to do with the silver dollar. kerry burks 2008-12-30
I just bought two silver dollars, about 1 -1.5 inches long. I just fed them and they are so fast my poor blue gourami got nuttin to eat. I am hoping to get some more soon, and I named them philip and johny. eric 2008-10-26
Hi, I have 3 dollars who shoal together with 4 very large black widows. They swim around in one big shoal & never bother about the other fish in the tanks. (Rams, red fin shark, silver eyed teras & a couple of catfish.) They are always active & I've never had a problem with them. Lennie 2008-10-14
Some of the coolest comments:
I just bought a silver dollar 2 weeks ago. It didn't like being alone, remaining still in one corner and doesn't even notice the food that I aim at it. I was worried so I bought another one the next day, just a bit smaller and problem solved. They mostly stay together, always arguing and fighting but never to the point that either of them or any other fish gets hurt. They are living in a 50 gallon tank with two Raphaels, one featherfin catfish and three angelfish. They learned to eat from the angels that always go to the front glass during feeding time. After a week they imitated the angels and learned to eat from the top of the tank and became a little bit less skittish. I just love them so much and hope they grow bigger in a short time. Calvin 2008-09-12
I have 10 silverdollars and they are my favorite fishes. They are quite easily scared, so put the tank in a quiet corner of the room. Keep them in groups of six or more in a big tank. Feed them a lot with lettuce, bloodworms, vegetable flakefood. Change 1/3 of the water every week and you won´t get any problems with them. They are peaceful, but nervous and fast swimmers, so keep them with other lively fishes like livebearers and medium sized cichlids (not discus or angels). The only disadvantage these fishes have are they will for sure eat any plant you put in your tank. Preben Joost 2005-03-22

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Author: David Brough. CFS.