Silver Dollars expensive to feed

Darren

New Fish
Oct 22, 2002
2
0
0
#1
;D

I have a 50 US gallon 48" tank. The only problem I have is my 2 Silver Dollars. I know they like plants but they ate £10 worth of plants in 1 week. My dogs are cheaper to feed than these 2 fish. I thought if I put enough plants in the tank then they would at least leave some, but I was wrong. At present I have about 10 potted plants left with the rest just little stubs left. Does anyone recommend plants that Silver Dollars dont like. I know the obvious answer is to take the back to the lfs, its just I like having them in the tank. Its quite amusing when I put algae tablets in the tank and the pair squabble over the tablets racing round the tank.

Also why am I having sucess with this number of fish, surely I am over stocked.

10 glowlight tetras
2 Large silver dollars
4 Black balloon mollies
2 Large white sailfin mollies
1 Neon tetras
2 Cardinal tetras
6 Platies
4 Red balloon plaities
2 Flying foxes
2 Clown loaches
1 Phanton tetra
1 hatchet fish
mollie fry and platy fry

I use a 404 external filter with salt added to tank and tank temp at 79 deg with 2 airstones. 30% water change every week. Tank has been established for 2 years now.

The only thing I have learned is to be very careful about changing water temperature, You read in the books to raise the temperature a few degrees to encourage breeding but this in the past immedialtely brings on an outbreak of whitespot. For sometime now I have kept the tank exactly 79 deg and with a tablespoon of salt for every 5 gallons and that seems to work keeping disease away.

Regards

Darren
 

colesea

Superstar Fish
Oct 22, 2002
1,612
0
0
NY USA
#2
You sure you have silver dollars and not pacu<G>?

If your fish are eating live plants, the best thing you could possibly do is use fake plants instead. Fish that raze plants to the ground like that aren't picky and will usually eat everything. I had a friend once purchas a pacu for her 90 gallon tank. It mowed her plants down in less than 24hrs, and it wasn't even that big. She got rid of the pacu.
~~Colesea