Got some Argentea recently. Hoping to grow them up and get a few pairs to breed.
What are everyone's experiences with them?
What are everyone's experiences with them?
Argentea
- Thread starter myster619
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Super aggressive. Not good with other tankmates that can't hold their own. I tried raising one from a small juvie to a sub adult and he ended Judy pecking the hell out of my Melanura that went even bigger than him. Definitely raise them as a species only tank and adjust accordingly. Some will be super aggressive and will try and kill their tankmates, and some will be more relaxed. It's a bummer they're so aggressive because they're such beautiful fish. Would be an amazing center piece in a community tank if it was possible. IME that didn't work out and never does for most unless you have a huge tank
I have found argentea are fairly benign until they hit about 4-5", and then they get extremely aggressive, and territorial unless in a very large tank (more than 200 gallons)
I picked up 11 F1 juvies from Don Conkels fish farm maybe 20 years back, and at 5" the largest males killed all his brothers and sisters almost over night after he hit maturity, and then proceed to take out some parachromic in a 150 gal tank. Needless to say, he ended up in a tank all to himself.
Them I tried a smaller group about 5 years ago, where the male killed 4 except a chosen female, that he spawned with. I quickly divided the tank, but he jumped over the divider, killed the female and ate the eggs.
in the pic below female left (more prominent black spots) male right
If it were me, I'd have some kind of 300 gallon (or larger) tank at the ready for when they hit 3 to 4".
below an alpha male removed to a tank to himself (note the fin extensions, and lack of black spots}
I picked up 11 F1 juvies from Don Conkels fish farm maybe 20 years back, and at 5" the largest males killed all his brothers and sisters almost over night after he hit maturity, and then proceed to take out some parachromic in a 150 gal tank. Needless to say, he ended up in a tank all to himself.
Them I tried a smaller group about 5 years ago, where the male killed 4 except a chosen female, that he spawned with. I quickly divided the tank, but he jumped over the divider, killed the female and ate the eggs.
in the pic below female left (more prominent black spots) male right
If it were me, I'd have some kind of 300 gallon (or larger) tank at the ready for when they hit 3 to 4".
below an alpha male removed to a tank to himself (note the fin extensions, and lack of black spots}
They are beautiful fish. I ordered 6 from Jeff Rapps over a year ago, hoping to get a pair of of the 6. They looked decent but arrived with parasites. After spending nearly as much money on medication as I did the fish I was able to save 1 out of the 6. Unfortunately the one that made it was the least patterned and colored fish of the bunch. He also was one of the least dominate.
In my 180 he is the second largest fish of about 8 inches and he gets dominated but much smaller maculicauda and will usually lose to a smaller aquidens rivularis which I also got from Rapps. The fish has potential and I hope he gets better colors but seeing as he is not dominate he is just washed out white. The time that I did have the 6 there was a lot of infighting and establishing a pecking order even at 2.5-3.5 inches.
In my 180 he is the second largest fish of about 8 inches and he gets dominated but much smaller maculicauda and will usually lose to a smaller aquidens rivularis which I also got from Rapps. The fish has potential and I hope he gets better colors but seeing as he is not dominate he is just washed out white. The time that I did have the 6 there was a lot of infighting and establishing a pecking order even at 2.5-3.5 inches.
I had three in a 75 recently, little 3.5"ers. The male bullied the female pretty much to death, I separated her but it was too late, happened fast. I took the other female out to get away from him. Oddly he tolerates my festae that is much smaller than him. There are very likely scenarios but no rules written in stone.
I had a male Argentea that grew to be about 12-13". I had him in a 125 and was able to keep Cryptoheros and Thorichthys species with him without any issue. When I added some juvenile Argentea in hopes of pairing him up however, he became very aggressive. So be careful with conspecifics.
I have a 6" male in my 180 with alot of big vieja and other big central Americans and it will chase down some of the larger fish. He's a little pr_ck
Are males and females both equally aggressive from juvenile stage? Besides a few, most of mine seem to be flaring and being territorial.
In my limited experience so far the males have been much more aggressive. Just keep a really good eye on them man, give them a lot of hiding places and maybe some tough dithers too