Vieja Argentea Eating Behaviour

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headbanger_jib

headbanger_jib

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Nov 12, 2007
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hi
i have been keeping a vieja Argentea for almost an year now\

what i notice with this fish is he eats very sparingly, unlike the other cichlids who gorge on food, such as my reganis and the synspillums.

the argentea is something i am keeping for the first time and i am not sure of this fish's behavior

he recognises me not as a threat, i mean when i sit to photograph him he is alright and also attacks the siphon while tank maintainance, but when it comes to eating he is not interested at all

current size is 6"
lives in a 50 gallon tank
water condition is kept pristine with water changes every week
there is some amount of decor, driftwood and pebbles, which he does reorganise every now and then
growth rate is super slow

i try to feed him hikari cichlid gold sinking as well as floating, he is not even interested in live food, such as fish or ghost shrimp

any info would be greatly appreciated

Thank you
 
I just got an Argentea who is about 3.5 to 4", he is a wild caught from rio tulija. He has not taken well to pellets yet but so far I found he likes frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. Also has taken a liking to live grasshoppers, so I will try some crickets out on him. The appetite has just kicked in (have only had him 2 weeks now) but I have to agree he does not seem as greedy about his food like my Midas. At least yours is eating pellets, I'm still working with mine.
 
I've had mine for a while now (6 months or more?) and they've always attacked NLS. Mine are not WC though, but I've honestly never had any problems pellet training a cichlid (some just take a bit longer).

How often do you feed? How much? Do you skip day(s) ever?
 
aclockworkorange said:
How often do you feed? How much? Do you skip day(s) ever?
Click to expand...

My fish get pellets in the morning before I go to work and again when I get home. Later in the evening I give a "treat" of a frozen food item like bloodworms or brine shrimp, I also use earthworms and nightcrawlers. I do not fast the fish at this point and my feedings are usually smaller and more frequent type.

The Argentea is small and is housed with a 10" Midas, who is really easygoing and tolerant of other small cichlids. I could tell the Argentea was very nervous when first introduced with the larger fish. It now swims right up along side it and has even began to dart in front of him to steal food. The Argentea shows interest in the pellets when they hit the water but just does not eat them. I am using Omega One cichlid pellets. I used mixed sizes from small, medium, and large floating and also a small sinking. I have only had this fish now for two weeks and he is very interested in what is going on outside the tank and is very owner responsive just stubborn about pellets. I was going to call the store where I purchased him and ask them what they had fed him. I ordered some of the Garlic Guard to try and soak the pellets in and was thinking about trying out the NLS finicky pellet. Any other suggestions?
 
my argentea was a huge eater, you also have to keep in mind these guys do best with a lot of veggie in their diet as well. mine would go nuts for broken up bits of algae wafer he loved the algae wafer more than the regular pellets, he did prefer to eat from the water column and was not a big top level eater so he only picked at floating stuff but attacked sinking pellets, what size pellets are you feeding? that could have something to do with it, they have smaller mouths than most other fish their size so a smaller pellet is better
 
Well, personally I'd fast him for a day and then completely stop offering frozen food for a while. NLS is great, but I'd still do those two things.
 
I have broken up Omega One algae wafers into little bits but he ignores those right now.

:duh: One other little bit I forgot to mention. When he first got put into the tank he ate everything including the pellets for the first two days. But I think it was because there was a Salvini in the tank his size. This Salvini mysteriously :irked: got beat up one night (Argentea did it pretty sure/have had tons of small fish with the Midas and no issues) and had to be put down because it was hurt so badly. Then the Argentea went on a hunger strike for over a week and started getting skittish around the big Midas. I will get it pellet trained now that it is more comfortable with its tankmates and surroundings.

I also keep my temp between 80-81.
 
Happy to report I got home last night and the little guy started eating pellets out of the blue. Fed him again this morning and again ate pellets and stole some broken up algae wafers meant for the silver dollars. I think he just needed time to settle in. He is turning out to be very responsive and is very comfortable in his tank 120g (60x18x26). Wait till he gets into his new home a 210g (72x24x29) he will be thrilled.
 
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