I have kept and bred both Umbies and Argentea. The Umbie has a reputation as being a bad ass fish because of it's size but in reality it's not. I've kept my male and his mate in tanks ranging from a 120 to a 265. The good thing about the Umbies is you can count on the male growing almost twice as large as the female, especially if they continue to spawn. It's easy to provide pots and hiding places for her to get away when the male gets too rough.
Vieja Argentea is a very tough fish to breed and the males are very hard on the females when courting and even during spawning. The trouble I've always had with them is the females and males are pretty close in size as they mature. I have spawned them twice and both times the only way was with a complete divider.
Both are beautiful fish. The Argentea male with its high dorsal and long trailers is a true stunner when adult but it's tough to beat a huge Umbie and his color and freckling in his fins especially during spawning.
Love them both but go with the Umbie. I have them both in my fishroom and every time someone comes down to see the fish for the first time their reaction is the same when they see my big male......"HOLYT.......! You already have a beautiful male, that's the hard part.
