Spotted silver dollar

Care at a glance

Overview

Silver dollars are nervous unless kept in a shoal of at least 5, and a larger group settles them noticeably. They are peaceful and get along with most medium sized community fish, but they will strip live plants down to the stems, so plan on plastic or very tough plants. Give them a tall, roomy tank with open swimming space and a secure lid.

In the wild

Lives in slow stretches of Amazonian rivers and floodplain lakes, often among submerged branches and marginal plants. The fish forage through flooded vegetation for leaves, fruit, and soft plant matter. They move in shoals through the middle water.

Good to know

Metynnis lippincottianus is a disc shaped, silver bodied relative of the piranhas, but it is almost entirely vegetarian. It is scattered with small dark spots and shows a faint bar behind the gill cover. Adults reach around 14 cm.

Did you know

Despite being cousins of the piranha, these disc shaped fish are dedicated plant eaters that can demolish an aquascape in a night.

Related species

• Spotted metynnis

  Metynnis maculatus

  7.1 in (18 cm)92 gal (350 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Wimple piranha

  Catoprion mento

  5.9 in (15 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Tiger pacu

  Acnodon normani

  5.1 in (13 cm)46 gal (175 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Redhook

  Myloplus rubripinnis

  9.8 in (25 cm)70 gal (265 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Disk tetra

  Myleus schomburgkii

  15.7 in (40 cm)170 gal (645 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Red-bellied Piranha

  Pygocentrus nattereri

  12.6 in (32 cm)160 gal (605 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)