Disk tetras (
Myleus schomburgkii), known in the pet trade as black-barred silver dollars and by ichthyologists as
Myleus schomburgkii, are larger than most aquarium fish but possess a fear of being alone. This is so pronounced that even if two or three are kept together, they may attack any other fish in the tank, including each other. Only by keeping them in small schools of at least five fish do they relax.
Why So Paranoid?
Although disk tetras are large in comparison to most tropical fish sold in the pet trade, they make tasty mouthfuls for predators in their native South America. They are eaten by numerous birds, reptiles, fish like the
giant arapaima and the incredibly rare
Amazonian River dolphin. The only defense against this constant bombardment of predators was to stay in large schools. That way, the individual fish has less of a chance of being eaten. Large schools can also stick close together to give the illusion that they are one very large fish instead of several smaller fish.
That’s a Big Fish
Tetras are usually less than an inch or 2.5 centimeters long, but not the disk tetra. They are one of the largest species of tetra known in the freshwater pet fish trade. Because they have a round body, they look more like silver dollars or Metynnis hypsauchen. Disk tetras can grow to a whopping 8.5 inches or 21.6 centimeters in length. Because of their size and that at least five are needed, disk tetras need to be kept in tanks that are at least 50 gallons or 189 liters large.
Diet
Disk Tetras are omnivores that can eat a wide variety of commercial fish foods. In the wild, they would eat small insects, zooplankton, corpses of other fish and river plants. In captivity, they can eat meat-based fish flakes and pellets. This can be the main diet, but they also need some variety in their meals. This can be from dehydrated or frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms or tubifex worms. They also enjoy grapes or spinach chopped into small pieces. Make sure the grapes and spinach are washed before chopping to remove any traces of pesticides.
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