Argonectes longiceps

[Chet E.]

A freshwater mullet. Nice! Good color too.
I'm not familiar with them, are they schooling? Their mouth indicates they might feed off the bottom. The Argonectes strike downwards at their food which makes it awkward for them to eat off the surface. Only one of the eight will take flake food from the surface.
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I keep A. myrnae and A. lyonsi. Their range isn't too far from your home.
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Thanks for the pictures (especially of the stream). Sometimes I'm a little jealous of the natives you get to collect. Here, the natives are all under a thick layer of ice for a third of the year and many really don't prosper above 16°C.

 

[duanes]

I see them in loose shoals in the stream, sometime in only inches of water, along with the local shrimp.
They seem to eat anything from small shrimp, to mosquito larvae, and maybe even algae, because
they come to the side if I scrape, and readily take flake.

 

[Chet E.]

Taking pictures of fish is challenging. My camera is frustrating sometimes, it's an Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5. Color is usually pretty true but the reds are often too strong, focus is automatic so I must prefocus and take the shot within a few seconds, and the shutter is slow taking the shot an annoyingly long fraction of a second later. However, sometimes the image it gives is interesting. If you see some red along the back of one fish... yes, it really exists, but it's not like that in real life. Along the top of the fish, at the center line, there's a narrow strip of reflective color. Some individuals have green, some red, some in-between. I was sorry to miss the focus on this one!

 

[Chet E.]

Here's a couple videos to show the aquarium and the hovering behavior mentioned in an earlier post. The H. orthonops have filled out well and seem to have grown since a month ago. They seem to school together too. Maybe you'll notice how they are always in motion as compared to the Argonectes.
The plants have grown since the last video too. I believe it's a response to the added biology of having the fish in the aquarium.

Argonectes longiceps - Hovering Around the Aquarium
Argonectes longiceps - Feeding Mysis Shrimp.

 

[deeda]

Great videos, thanks for sharing! That one fish knew there was still a chunk of mysis shrimp still up there and finally found it.

 

[Chet E.]

It has been six months now since the Argonectes enjoined my care, and I'm still glad to care for them. I recently added another species to the aquarium which has long been a favorite: Nannostomus unifasciatus, the One-lined pencil-fish. This one action definitely confirms the Argonectes is no monster fish however large an aquarium they might command. The pencil-fish spend their time pecking at microscopic bits on every surface and generally out of the way of the larger fish lest they get bumped into. At first they were wary of the larger fish but now they seem to know there is no real threat.

 

[Chet E.]

In a dream I arrived in the court of Heaven
And found myself there alone.
Before the Judgement Seat a short row of chairs
I took my seat before His throne.

Then to my left sat Forty-three,
His many murders in his hands.
Then to my right sat Forty-two,
Sins, yes, much sins too, in his hands.

Then, when blood begins to boil, I could take no more!
I turn to make my complaint.
Then, I see the Christ, and with Him President Trump.
It will be awhile. And, so I wait.

When I consider my own estate, who am I?
In my hands… Argonectes.
What have I to brag? What have I done? Yea, not much.
But to declare, “My Lord I…”

Yes, what?!
Well, one jumped, two nearly starved and the rest have remained in their small 55 gallon aquarium.
But after 14 months?!
Thank goodness, my position before God is not based on my works.

The two thin ones, which never have adapted to prepared foods, have spent the last half year in separate quarantine eating unlimited frozen food and are now perhaps healthiest of all, though undersized. The other five are growing but also not as fast as I’d like. The largest is about 5” TL. They’ve grown about 1.25” in the past year. They have gained much weight too, but are probably still less than an ounce.
I’m hoping for 8-10” and 1/4 lb. So, I’m disappointed.
Building them a larger home is the best answer to growth. It’s a planned project. It may happen in the upcoming year. Not for accolades to please God, just for the fun of the project, and to bring a better environment for the fish.

Here is a current video of the aquarium. I notice not much change in scenery, sorry. Guess I resist change.
The daylight bulb burned out and now there's two "Gro-lux" bulbs. I didn't know how to edit out the pink in the video. Hope you all like pink. Ha, ha.
Argonectes longiceps eating brunch.


The Argonectes are still sharing the space with three H. orthonops. This one's about 6" TL.

 

[Chet E.]

The above photo is from December.
The fish in the bottom center in front was the smallest of the five. It had been struggling with some infection on its upper lip for some time. The infection moved into its head and though I made an attempt to treat it in quarantine, after some days it died. It's a bummer to lose this fish. Now the group is down to six. Four in the main aquarium and two others besides.

It was just over 1/2 ounce.
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Recently, I was considering the thread, Sometimes, I'm going backwards , and I commented that the plants always win if left unchecked. Thinking on how the plants in this aquarium have been growing, and the fish too, I wonder if part of the cause for my fish's demise was the plants gradually causing increased contact with the fish. Looking back I see there is a crisis point where the fish are slowly defeated by the plants through loss of swimming space.
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In the above photos you'll see there is a new Cryptocoryne emerging not present last December.
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With this in mind, I decided to do some trimming of the sword and crypts to restore the main feeding space so the fish have more room. The new small crypt was removed to try growing it in an immersed environment. Just for fun. I tried this with some java fern and hygrophila recently with some success too.

 

[Chet E.]

This aquarium has been a frustration lately. The illness which has given me trouble has bothered another fish which has led me to treat the aquarium with medicine. A round of SulfaPlex followed by a round of KanaPlex. Both administered through the food in quantities to treat the entire aquarium. Reduction of the temperature and increased mineral content through water changes with my hard tap water. This as per an article, "Columnaris Symptoms and Treatment: What Is It?", via CindiL at Fishlore . com.
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A bushy-nosed pleco may have been the original source of the spread of the illness and has been removed. It was ulcerative, had deteriorating fins, old and probably unable to resist the illness.
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The problems are vacillating in severity. The latest victim is suffering but holding on. It's lips are red and the redness goes internally into the nose area:

This illness has proven to be fatal thus far. I'm hoping to be successful this time as I cannot afford to lose any more of these fish.
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The SulfaPlex caused an interesting side effect; the Argonectes, in particular, have lightened in color. Taking these photos I noticed that their eyes reflect more light back to the camera. The eyes seem to glow. I suspect that the medicine has dilated the eyes and thus implied to the rest of the body a nighttime scenario causing the lightened color. This color is typical nighttime coloration. Also, the behavior of the fish has been calmer. At first, I believed these changes to be indicative of healing. Now, I'm not so sure.

 

[Chet E.]

This is an emotive species. Both their behavior and color patterns reflect their moods. I’ve learned they do not like the color red. If I wear a red shirt they get very nervous and will not calm down. I’ve learned to enter the room and approach the aquarium slowly and in patterns which are familiar to them. There are continually more pictures being posted of this species and it seems the ones with the most striking color patterns are posted more frequently. This pattern I know to be an indication of stress. Yet, it is the one chosen by most to represent the species…
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Looking at the color of the tail fin in particular:

Above is an individual in a stressed anxious color pattern, note the strong dark and light.

Above is same individual in an aggressive color pattern, note the dark lines at the bottom, middle and top.

Above is an individual in a calm relaxed color pattern, note the smooth even color.