andycganja

Hello,I have been keeping 3 silver dollars for about a year now,they look great (about 4 inches across).I believe that I have one male(bright red anal fin) and two females(plain anal fin).For about a month now the 2 females have been chasing each other around day and night,every couple of minutes they stop and lay their bodies flat together and start wriggling like mad,then they start chasing around again.The male just stays at one end of the tank out of the way.What are these two crazy females doing Is this a prelude to breeding?Are they trying to attract the male(like a sort of rutting for fish).Or have i just got lesbian silver dollars lol .Any ideas anyone,thanks.Andy

Dino

You may have 2 different species.
What you are describing is mating behavior.

BTW, welcome to Fishlore!

Dino

andycganja

Hi there Dino,thanks for that heads up,i didnt realise that there is more than 1 species of dollar.That would explain the 2 black spots behind the gills of the 2 that i thought were both female.Do you think i should get some females of the other species for the solitary male.And is 2 enough of the spotted species or should i get a couple more.I have plenty of room left in my tank(about 40-50 spare litres of volume).Thanks for any advice you can give. Andy

Dino

saddly, there are about 15 species that are regularly imported and sold as silver dollars.
Even worse, there is very little difference between species.
It gets worse, speices change appearence and color as they age.

So my advice is enjoy what you have, don't bother with trying to get them breeding.

Dino

andycganja

Blimey 15 species!!!! Confusing little buggers aren`t they lol.Well thanks for that advice dino,i think ur right just kick back and enjoy watching them is the best idea. TTFN Andy