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Encyclopedia / Tetras / Red hook silver dollar
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Variations

1 kinds · tap one for a closer look

Red hook silver dollar

Myloplus rubripinnis · Redhook metynnis, Redhook myleus, Red hook

Peaceful but big and skittish; needs a large, tall tank and a school.

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41.5 cmAdult size ✓
23–27 °CTemperature ✓
6–7pH ✓
260 LSmallest tank ✓
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Tank mates
Check your own mix →
Not recommended
  • Red hook silver dollar eats animals up to about 3 cm. Neon tetra only grows to 2.5 cm.
Not recommended
  • Red hook silver dollar eats animals up to about 3 cm. Cardinal tetra only grows to 3 cm.
Not recommended
  • Red hook silver dollar eats animals up to about 3 cm. Ember tetra only grows to 2 cm.
With conditions
  • Only a narrow temperature range suits both: 23–24 °C.
With conditions
  • Only a narrow temperature range suits both: 23–24 °C.
Compatible
Compatible
Compatible
Compatible
Compatible

327 species in our list are a good match.

Facts checked against sources on 16 Oct 2026. ✓ means a source backs it; ? means no reliable source yet. See sources

Care and water

Hardness ✓0–10 dGH
Group size ✓5 or more
Temperament ✓Peaceful
Swims at ?Middle
Care level ✓Hard
Diet Herbivore
Lifespan ?Unknown
Size in shops 4–8 cm
Growth Fast

Behavior

Peaceful but big and skittish; needs a large, tall tank and a school. Destroys plants.

Food

Vegetable pellets and plenty of greens such as lettuce, spinach and peas; occasional shrimp.

Tap a food to see what it is.

Male or female

Uncertain. Seriously Fish says sexing is not known (males may have a longer anal fin). FishBase says the red hooked anal fin belongs to the female and males have a two-lobed anal fin.

Health

Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.

Breeding

Egg-scatterer (rarely bred) ·

Not bred in the hobby. FishBase cites one account of spawning: the female ploughs a furrow in gravel with her hooked anal fin while the male, his two-lobed anal fin wrapped round it, fertilises the eggs.

Pairing

Needs a large group in mature, stable conditions; pairing is hard to control.

Setup

Roomy, planted tank with very soft acidic water (pH 5-6.5), subdued light and fine-leaved plants or a spawning mat.

What starts it

Rain-season style changes: soft cool water changes, a small temperature rise and heavy live feeding.

Eggs

1,000+ eggs

Raising the fry

Infusoria then brine shrimp nauplii; survival is poor without very clean water.

Common mistakes
  • Hard tap water
  • Overcrowding the breeding tank
  • Poor water quality
Full breeding guide, day-by-day plan and simulator →

Where it lives in the wild

RegionSouth America – Amazon & Orinoco basins and the Guianas
Rivers and lakesAmazon, Orinoco and Guiana rivers
HabitatRivers with rapids and riverside vegetation
Native rangeAbout 1,500 km across
See it on the world map

The story of the red hook silver dollar

A large relative of the silver dollars from the Amazon, Orinoco and Guiana rivers, often sold as a silver dollar. It has a black-edged red anal fin, grows much bigger than Metynnis species (25 cm or more), and eats plants.

Johannes Müller and Franz Troschel described this fish in 1844 from the Guianas. Adult males develop a red, hook-shaped front lobe on the anal fin, which gives the fish its common name. It is one of the larger silver dollars and a classic for big planted-free community tanks.

First described by Johannes Müller & Franz H. Troschel in 1844. Named for 'rubripinnis' means red-finned.

  • Males grow a red, hook-shaped lobe on the anal fin.
  • It is a plant-eating relative of piranhas and pacus.
  • It can reach around 25 cm in a large tank.

Sources

14 facts checked with sources