# Silver Dollars



## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

How big do silver dollar fish get? I think they're so cool. I've seen them relatively small but I don't know if all the ones in the pet stores and LFS are young ones. Wikipedia said they're calm fish and mainly vegetarians, but not to put them with fish that would fit in their mouths, like tetras... Also, it said they may eat all the plants in the tank...
So I may be answering my own question here, but I think it would be cool to have some in my future sorority tank... full-grown female bettas are bigger than tetras, right? So they won't get eaten by silver dollars? Also, if I threw in some blanched veggies for the Otos I will also have, will the silver dollars eat that instead of the plants?
I think I am going to have a 50 gal sorority (I went to an LFS a few days ago and I saw a 50 gal. long that didn't look gigantic. So then I could have 8 female bettas plus 2 Otos, a nerite snail, silver dollars (?), and other community fish. If I have a silver dollars I can't get tetras, tho...

ALSO, What about rainbow sharks??

These may be really stupid questions. lol I apologize if they are.


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

I'm not exactly sure about the min. tank size, but my dad had a pair in a 75 gal and they were BIG. I think they were around 18 cm...They also ate whatever plants my dad had in the tank even when he gave them veggies, so you might want to consider that too.

I believe rainbow sharks can be very territorial, so they don't do very well in community tanks.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

Jupiter said:


> I'm not exactly sure about the min. tank size, but my dad had a pair in a 75 gal and they were BIG. I think they were around 18 cm...They also ate whatever plants my dad had in the tank even when he gave them veggies, so you might want to consider that too.
> 
> I believe rainbow sharks can be very territorial, so they don't do very well in community tanks.


Ok, thanks a lot. I guess no silver dollars or rainbow sharks.
How does anyone keep silver dollars then, if they eat all the plants? lol


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## Pilot00 (Jul 24, 2012)

I had silver dollars for all my life. They are starting pretty small but over the years they will turn as large as a mans outstretched palm. They are schooling fish (4+, though i had a survivor for years) and will eradicate the plants in an aquarium. There are only a couple that they dont touch because the taste is bitter but i cant remember which ones on the top of my head. Generally they are peacefull but mine were always prone to finrot for some reason, till... my father gave them an operation lets just say.

Generally they are peaceful and can be kept with a large variety of fish. I had one rainbow shark in the tank with them and i faced no problems.

In disposition rainbow sharks are almost a clone of bettas. They need space to claim their own, wont like most members of the other shark family (including their own unless you have a very big tank) and they jump too. I had one in the comunity tank and just like with betta, its a hit or miss. Depending on their personality. They tend to get big too. Provide them with space and they will only chase away what stray fish will enter their territory.

Thats whats i remember now, for more specifics please ask, i feel i might forget something.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

Ok, thanks, Pilot.
So actually a rainbow shark might work if I get a 50 gal tank for a sorority.? There will be enough space for it to have its own territory, just like the bettas will. I read that they can reach about 7 inches, though. That means their territory will have to grow along with them, right? Hmm...


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## Pilot00 (Jul 24, 2012)

OrangeAugust said:


> Ok, thanks, Pilot.
> So actually a rainbow shark might work if I get a 50 gal tank for a sorority.? There will be enough space for it to have its own territory, just like the bettas will. I read that they can reach about 7 inches, though. That means their territory will have to grow along with them, right? Hmm...


I never tried one in a sorority (in fact i never had a sorority, just one male VT betta i am new to them), but I wouldnt advice it just to be on the side of caution. Betta females are... grumpy as are rainbow sharks. The rainbow wont cause much of a problem IMHO but the girls probably will gang it.



OrangeAugust said:


> I read that they can reach about 7 inches, though. That means their territory will have to grow along with them, right?


Thats a yes, though it takes them some years to grow.


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