Pairing Argentea

[jaws7777]

Just thinking about getting my argentea a girlfriend. Im not 100 percent sure hes a male but think it is becasue once a while back i over fed him and it looked like his tube dropped and it was pointy like an upside down triangle.

Do they pair up for life ?

Do the males typically kill the females ?

Would it work in a 6ft 125 gal ?

If they paired would they gang up on an L600 pleco ?

 

[duanes]

I'll give you my experience, doesn't necessarily mean it'll be yours.
The first time I had them in the 90s I grew out 10 and the male killed all others.
The 2nd time I grew out 4, and the male killed the others.
I then found a similar sized female, they spawned, and he killed her.
I believe it'd be best to try and get a number of females, figure he'll kill all but 1, and you could end up with a compatible pair.
Or you could be lucky, find a female and they get along, but these are high strung fish, and not easy to pair up.

 

[jaws7777]

Do you think they would leave the L600 alone ? Or if he was by himself ?

In his 75 he even terrorized non cichlid tank mates

 

[duanes]

Because my emphasis is on having my cichlids spawn, I never put plecos in any of my mature cichlid tanks (they eat cichlid eggs and wrigglers), so I have no experience.

 

[jaws7777]

What if i decided not to pair the argentea ? Any cichlid tankmates tou think would work with him in a 125 ? Im thinking not many

 

[jaws7777]

Also if i did try to pair him im thinking i should add the new argentea before adding him

 

[duanes]

I would agree adding females to the tank first would seem a good idea.
The only success I've had with argentea and other cichlids, was keeping juvie cichlids of a much smaller size with them, probably because they didn't seem to pose a threat, and these only temporarily.
I have seen tanks where argentea (and their sister species regani) are successfully kept with other species of cichlids, but only in tanks of 300 gallons or more.
They just seem to be a lone wolf type.
It's funny some species only work well in very social situations, some just won't.
My haitiensus was another that could only be kept alone, or as a compatible pair.
(of course in their natural habitat they are the only endemic cichlid)
Yet I have a 55 gal (although connected to another 300 gallons of sump and other tanks) that is crammed with 10 Astatheros rostratum, with no aggression at all.

 

[jaws7777]

Good food for thought thanks duanes

 

[jaws7777]

Anyone else try and pair argentea in something less than a monster tank ?

 

[ahud]

A 125g is fairly small when it comes to breeding the big boys. Even smaller fish (Thorichthys, Cryptoheros, etc) claim half the tank when spawning. I would not try pairing your argentea unless I planned on implementing a divider method.