I was thinking of getting a Argentea and putting him with my Oscar, Blood Parrot, Bocourti and Green Terror. Are they too aggressive or would this be able to work.
Is the Vieja Argentea aggressive.
- Thread starter Kyel
- Start date
I have them in a 125 right now. I used to have a 220 but it started to leak at the seams. So I got rid of it. But I am getting ready to buy a new 220.
From personal experience keeping them, they can be very aggressive. Depends on the fish, tank size, tank mates, etc. You could always try it and rearrange stock if it doesn't work out. Good luck. 
Ive got both sides of the story with Argentea.
I have watched two at my LFS for quite a while and they did not seem to be the worst fish in terms of aggression, in fact not aggressive at all in the overcrowded tanks they were kept in. One is a wild caught that is 4" in an overcrowded tank (20g long?) with tons of other types of vieja at 2" and less. I saw no issue with it chasing or even flaring since it was the dominant fish in the tank. The other Argentea I watched was 9" in an overcrowded tank (180g?) with some big bruisers including other large vieja and at least two Ocsars at the 12+ inch mark and it kind of kept to itself. both fish seemed to keep to themselves and did not even seem to interact in any way with the other fish in the tanks.
I am looking to possibly get an Argentea myself. I have a new 210g (72x24x29) that is set up and waiting for the transfer of fish from my 120g (60x18x26) which includes a 10" Midas who is pretty tolerant of smaller tankmates but who has never had to deal with fish his size yet. The other fish would be a Pearsei close to the size of the Midas from a local MFK member in my town. Then the third occupant would be a Argentea. The three guys would have some silver dollars as target fish to lessen aggression and they would all be introduced into the 210g at the same time. I hope for the best but each fish has its own personality so who knows.
I have watched two at my LFS for quite a while and they did not seem to be the worst fish in terms of aggression, in fact not aggressive at all in the overcrowded tanks they were kept in. One is a wild caught that is 4" in an overcrowded tank (20g long?) with tons of other types of vieja at 2" and less. I saw no issue with it chasing or even flaring since it was the dominant fish in the tank. The other Argentea I watched was 9" in an overcrowded tank (180g?) with some big bruisers including other large vieja and at least two Ocsars at the 12+ inch mark and it kind of kept to itself. both fish seemed to keep to themselves and did not even seem to interact in any way with the other fish in the tanks.
I am looking to possibly get an Argentea myself. I have a new 210g (72x24x29) that is set up and waiting for the transfer of fish from my 120g (60x18x26) which includes a 10" Midas who is pretty tolerant of smaller tankmates but who has never had to deal with fish his size yet. The other fish would be a Pearsei close to the size of the Midas from a local MFK member in my town. Then the third occupant would be a Argentea. The three guys would have some silver dollars as target fish to lessen aggression and they would all be introduced into the 210g at the same time. I hope for the best but each fish has its own personality so who knows.
short answer is yes they are quite aggressive when larger, most people find that once they hit 6-8in they dont get along with very many tankmates anymore and can be persistant with picking on fish they dont like. that being said my argentea that I had was almost 8in when he died and never had any issues with being overly aggressive, he could hold his own just fine but never started fights with anyone, but from previous threads i have started and others i have read through this is the exception and not the rule for when they hit this size, some people have luck with keeping them with smaller fish that dont pose a threat but most people find they dont work successfully with other larger cichlids in the long run, I am not saying it is impossible by any means just that it may take a turn for the worse once the arg gets larger
From my experience with them they are quite aggressive, especially toward fellow Vieja/Paratheraps. To keep the stock you have listed there, I'd recommend no smaller than a 180 gal.