Mono Argenteus

[jiggerpolebill]

Mono Argenteus
about 3 or 4 weeks ago, the local Meijer store got a couple of these in for sale. needless to say, theyre still there. i dont think the people that regularly buy the fish at this store feel $8.97 is a reasonable price for a fish. of course, the betta in a vase display above them is a really big hit. ive been there on more than one occasion when theyre selling the kit and never even mention dechlorinator. cant fault them for what they dont know, but thats another post.

so after seeing them still there tonight, i decided to come home and do a little research on them online. i may be coming into a 65g tommorrow and was thinking about picking them up.

what ive found so far is pretty conflicting. this fish, depending on what site youre on, runs the whole field. its brackish. its freshwater when young and progressively becomes brackish. its doesnt have to be brackish at all. salinity increases greatly with age(to the point of SW). theyve never been bred in the aquarium. they have been bred in the aquarium. max size 4". max size 10". max size 23cm. theyre aggressive. theyre peaceful. etc.

has anybody here had any experience with them? theyre quite small. about an inch, and i know theyre not in a brackish tank there(im pretty sure they dont have one). id hate to see them go home with some of the people ive seen buying fish at this store(not that they would ever pay the money for it.... the '2 for 2.99' crowd). theyre really nice lookin fish. thanks for any info on them.

 

[cdawson]

I just got two and they're pussycats, I couldn't even think of them attacking anyone else in the tank. They do get to be about 7-8 inches in diameter. 10 is kind of pushing it. Just make sure you have a salinity of about 1.014, and every six months you need to increase the salinity till in about 3 years they are full marine. If this stresses you, by the time they are full marine you'll be so used to measuring and testing salt levels that marine won't even be a chore (the words of my dads friend, who has 4 8 inch adult green scats...you use the same method).

 

[MonoSebaelover]

Monos in general can be very aggressive if not kept in a school. That is where the aggressive side of the story comes from. If they are kept in schools they are generally very peaceful and only beat up on each other if at all. I have kept few Argenteus mainly because I love the Sebaes more. BTW, 8.97 is a great price for them. The store I work at sells them for 9.99 while another store across town sells them for 21.99 ! Their life process is the parents migrate to freshwater from saltwater, breed in freshwater and return to saltwater. The young are left unattended and hang in freshwater for awhile. Then they start making their way to brackish waters and live most of their adolescent years there. Then as adults they move out to saltwater. It is recommend to move Monos to saltwater when they are about 3-4 inches. They need a minimum of a 55 gallon due to the schooling issues. Hope this helps and feel free to post more questions.

 

[rjl420]

I have sebaes as well and I agree with everything that has been said. as long as you have a group of about 5 the monos will spend most of their time with each other. I started mine out in FW because that is what they were acclimated to at the time. added 2 archers as tank mates and after a few weeks began adding salt during water changes. I've been hovering around 1.016 for a while now and the tank is doing great. like most fish, monos will eat small fish (if they fit in its mouth) so choose tankmates accordingly. I seem to have good luck with the 5 bumble bee gobies I added when I condensed some tanks down, the monos don't even take a second look at the BB's but YMMV.

Good Luck if you decide to get them, they are really cool fish and brackish offers some really cool choices.

edit: btw, I payed $9.99 for my monos as well, that seems like a great price.

 

[jiggerpolebill]

well, i havent found out aout the 65 yet and its looking like i wont be getting it, so im going to rethink the whole thing. id still like to get them, but, i dont think i have room for them in my 55 right now. its already on the heavy side. and there's only 2 of them. the funny thing is, Meijer is the only place ive ever even seen them and i wonder if theyll get more. i also dont have a brackish set up, and im not real sure id like to set one up at this time. the bad part about this statement is, i already have mollies. alot of mollies now. these were purchased for my daughters tank and they started spawning like rabbits.

i know the monos would do fine in freshwater at the size they are at, but how long would it be before they start to need brackish water?