Kismet, my argenteus

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Sinister-Kisses

Sinister-Kisses

Aimara
MFK Member
Jan 19, 2022
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BC, Canada
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Argentea, argenteus, whatever the heck they are going by these days - I can't keep up lol. Kismet here is one of those bucket list fish for me...in all my years of fish keeping, this species has always been on top of my want to keep list. But until a few years ago thanks to one supplier, they were impossible to get here in my small town west coast Canada. I bought a group of 3 small juvies a year and a half ago, at about 2" in size, with the intention of picking one to keep solo. Kismet has lived solo for about the last year now and just gets prettier and prettier. But my god - do these things ever actually GROW?! I know they're notorious for being slow growers but jesus, lol. He's now about 6" in size. Has anyone actually taken the time to grow one out to full adult size? I'm so used to my monster CA cichlids growing like crazy - my midas, other Vieja/Theraps/Paratheraps species, etc. - so THIS growth rate (lack thereof) is killing me 😂
 
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I had a male grow to about a foot TL in a year, from 2"F1 juvies from Don Conkel a while back, and it continued to grow after that, until about 15".
They are rheophillic so I was doing 40% water changes every other day with nitrate undetectable, and the current in the tank was quite strong.
The markings, on yours, look like it "may" be a female to me, which means it gets about 1/3 smaller than males.
Males are usually devoid of dark markings on the body, except the 2 blotches (the caudal, and shoulder) above.
1688671650615.png

Below is a female, note the smaller blotchess running horizontally along the body, below the large shoulder spot (similar to yours).
1688671763846.png
Also note the less steep head profile.
But if yours is alone, it may exhibit a sort of male profile, because it dominates the tank
 
Could very well be, I haven't made any effort to vent it at all, just call it "him" out of assumption as it was the largest and most dominant of the original 3 juvies. I don't much care either way, but if a she and she's going to stay "small" I may have to rethink the tank plan and move it to a slightly smaller tank. I've kept this tank as the argentea tank specially based on assuming it would eventually reach male full grown size...
 
Since they're maskaheros now, which is of masculine origin or connotation or whatever, it would be argenteus
 
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Yeah, I know. Forever in my head as argentea though :p
 
Sinister-Kisses said:
Could very well be, I haven't made any effort to vent it at all, just call it "him" out of assumption as it was the largest and most dominant of the original 3 juvies. I don't much care either way, but if a she and she's going to stay "small" I may have to rethink the tank plan and move it to a slightly smaller tank. I've kept this tank as the argentea tank specially based on assuming it would eventually reach male full grown size...
Click to expand...

Gorgeous fins on that one! (looks like trouble, lol)

Wonder if high current/oxygenation induces more growth?
 
Tank has got pretty decent flow/oxygenation...maybe not HIGH, but it's definitely not a low movement water situation. It's only a 6ft, 135gal tank with an FX6 - which has pretty solid flow on it's own - and a Cascade 1200 running. I suppose I COULD see about adding a pump to one end, or both, to increase the water movement?
 
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Sinister-Kisses said:
Tank has got pretty decent flow/oxygenation...maybe not HIGH, but it's definitely not a low movement water situation. It's only a 6ft, 135gal tank with an FX6 - which has pretty solid flow on it's own - and a Cascade 1200 running. I suppose I COULD see about adding a pump to one end, or both, to increase the water movement?
Click to expand...

Might be interesting to see if growth results. I've read excerpts online (kinda techno babble stuff) connecting oxygenation to growth process in some fish. Someone posted here a fish that totally changed shape after adding high current. Might be anecdotal but my fish tend to grow big across the board and all the tanks have high flow.
 
Maybe I'll pick up a powerhead then to add some more water movement. Any recommendations for one?
 
These are the ones I have in the 125. I've been really happy with them. I went with 2 of the 2100 gph. I also have 4 large cylinder airstones 2 on each side.

1688698374554.png
 
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