Silver Metinnis - care and maintenance in an aquarium

Aquaria is a very extensive and interesting science in which everything is interconnected. If you want to have a beautiful, unpretentious, but large fish that gets along well with other types of fish - then you should look at the silver metinnis. The brilliant color of this amazing underwater creature found the nickname for it - the silver dollar. Indeed, the shining fish is very similar to a loud metal coin. Moreover, some experts believe that silver metinnis will certainly bring financial prosperity to its owner. And if metinnis actively gives birth to offspring, then this wealth certainly cannot be avoided. How to care for the currency with a small fish, what conditions to ensure Metinnis, and most importantly, how to breed this beautiful creature, let's try to understand this article.

Features of the appearance of silver Metinnis

Metinnis belongs to the family of haracin subfamilies piranha. The fish was first scientifically described at the beginning of the 20th century; the natural habitat is South America, Brazil. Bright silver fish can be found in Paraguay, Amazon, Gayane. The silver dollar is found in densely overgrown tributaries, in places where there is an abundance of plant food, although the fish will not give up on protein food.

The appearance of Metinnis really looks like a coin - the body is almost round, with no obvious extensions. Most often, the color is just silver, under different lighting scales may have a greenish or blue glow. The rim of the anal fin has red blotches. Under some conditions of residence, dark spots may appear on the sides of Metinnis. The silver dollar is considered a fairly large fish, its size reaches 15 cm, some individuals live 10 years or more. Experts believe that Metinnis feel best in small flocks, 6-8 individuals each. However, large fish should be kept in large aquariums, not less than 300 liters. If you are a beginner aquarist, do not rush to buy a lot of fish, start in pairs.So you can look at the new inhabitants of the underwater world.

Silver Dollar Content Conditions

In order for the fish to feel well, to multiply and to rejoice in the bright color of the owner of the aquarium, certain living conditions should be organized for it.

1. For such large fish, you need to acquire large aquariums, for one pair you will need an artificial reservoir of not less than 80 liters. Standard flocks of 6-8 individuals should be kept in an aquarium of 200-250 liters. If we are talking about common aquariums in which not only metinnis live, then these should be large volumes, at least 300 liters.
2. Metinnis are considered as clean fish that sensitively react to the state of water - its purity and oxygen saturation. In an aquarium with such inhabitants there should be a powerful compressor and a good filter for water. The presence of a lid is necessary, otherwise the fish could easily jump out of the aquarium.
3. The optimal water temperature in an aquarium with metinnis is 23-28 degrees, the water hardness is no more than 15 dH, the acidity is 6.5-7.0 pH. Change the water in an aquarium with metinnis should be quite often, one third of the total volume is drained, and then add clean distilled water. Water change should be carried out every week.
4. The choice of soil can be approached less timidly, since it does not have a special effect on the residence of metinnis. Fish almost all their time is spent in the middle layers of the aquarium, rarely sinking to the bottom. But it is better, nevertheless, to lay out a dark primer; it will perfectly shade bright and light tones of silver dollar scales.
5. Many aquarists in the cultivation of silver metinnis face the problem of lack of vegetation. The fact is that the silver dollar for the most part feeds on plant food, eats small and large plants with pleasure, leaving only bare stems. Fish eat plants, even if they are not hungry. To cope with the problem, it is necessary to plant vegetation with the most rigid leaves. In some cases, together with natural plants have to plant in the ground and decorative (artificial) plantings.
6. In addition to plants, the fish may need shelters - various grottoes, sinuous snags, rocky mounds. Silver Metinnis is a rather timid fish that will often be frightened and hiding.
7. Provide a silver dollar diffused and moderately bright lighting.
8. Metinnis get along well with other neighbors, despite the fact that they are distant relatives of piranhas. However, in some cases, the silver dollar is not averse to feast on small fodder fish - guppies, neons. Best of all, a silver dollar is cohabiting with catfish and other species of fish, about the same size as them.
9. Feeding Metinnis does not cause much trouble, most of the diet - vegetable. Fish eats chopped vegetables with pleasure - spinach, zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce. They should be pre-grated, then disinfected, scalded with boiling water, and only then thrown into the aquarium. Be sure to remove food after meals so that the water does not become cloudy later. For a variety of ration, be sure to enter protein foods in the fish menu - bloodworm, koretra, artemia, and worm. But protein foods should be no more than 20% of the total diet. If you have a large and common aquarium in which many fish live, make sure that the silver Metinnis ate well - the temper of the fish is quite timid and timid, the dollar can be left without food.
10. Dilution of metinnis is not difficult, the fish spawn well, even in the general aquarium.It is possible to distinguish a male from a female by the anal fin - in males it is longer and is colored much brighter. Before spawning, the female becomes less flat, as her belly fills with a large number of eggs. If you want to relocate the fish for the period of spawning, it needs to provide ideal conditions - the water must be very soft and warm (26-30 degrees). For breeding silver Metinnis selected young individuals that are more than one year old. Previously, a young couple is divided and within 10 days they are actively fed with vegetable food. After this, the Metinnis are transferred to a spawn, in which they line the bottom with small vegetation. Over time, the female can lay up to 1000 small transparent eggs. So that parents do not eat offspring, they are immediately relocated after spawning. Fry hatch in 4-5 days and begin to move independently, finding their own food.

Silver metinnis is considered to be unpretentious fish, the main condition for its normal life is a varied vegetable diet and sufficient purity of water.

If you have a large aquarium of large volume, a little time for regular water changes,Be sure to buy and breed silver Metinnis. These shy and shy fish shimmer with bright light, delighting the owner with an unusual color.

Video: aquarium fish silver metinnis