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How many silver dollars do you think is ok for a 55 gal tank?

If its just dollars and nothing else, and the filter is a top notch external, around 6 or seven at average adult size. Make sure it proper silver dollars and not red hooks though. More than that and youll get territorial scuffles between the males, and they have good bite power and fin-nipping ability. Remember they they decimate plants and will occassionally fin-nip other fish. Dollars can be downright surly. They dont have a huge bioload being both efficient on oxygen and excretion, but they make a mess when they chop stuff up. They arent the best community fish if youre planning on having other fish in with them. Its probably better to put them in with moderately sized cichlids who wont tolerate fin nipping than trust them in community with average peaceful fish. They have been known to make a mess of small defenseless fish in community,mine started fin nipping at around 6 months of age, and had to be moved to a cichlid aquarium where they could not do damage. The only thing I found they wont eat in plant terms is wysteria,and one large echinoda, everything else, including java fern, gets chopped up.