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Mono (Monodactylus argenteus)


HummingBird

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Hey Hummingbird. You lucky rascal. I soo want Monos again, but they're $$ here in WGTN and I don't have a proper setup. I used to have 2 back in the day. They were in a 60Gallon comm tank with scats and other brackish fish.

Have you ever had scats? Same conditions and everything. You'll need brackish water with 1 teaspoon of sea salt per 5 liters for juveniles, doubling this as they grow. When adults, these fish are practically saltwater (saline). Oh, and java fern can be toxic, though they might be okay with Monos.

So.... see why I haven't bothered getting them here? Good luck with yours and let us know how it works out!

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I went through all this back in my early days of fishkeeping when I instantly fell in love with the Mono, Scats and Archers.

I too was under the impession that they "might" be fine in FW.. but although they survived, they never did "really" well and constantly looked like they were covered in a very fine dull slime.

On advise from a good friend I converted the tank to slightly brackish, and shortly after there was a vast inprovement in activity, appearance, and feeding.

The Scats almost looked like different fish, as their colours were far superior, and the Monos regained that silvery sheen that looks so great.

Live foods were high on the menu, with white worm and (in those days) live tubifex.

Mollies will also go brackish, and will add a bit of variation.

Great fish.. if you can cater for their needs.

Bill.

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Got this from http://www.fishinthe.net/html/section-v ... .%20Monos-

I’ve heard so many conflicting reports about how to keep this fish that I’d decided I should wait until somebody had a better idea about how to do so before I bought more. Thankfully, that someone was close by. Bob Allen a well-known aquarist and friend began breeding Monos last summer. Here is the real kicker; he breeds them in Fresh water.
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Good to know that "someone" has bred them Eric.. (Not a Kiwi by chance is he) :)

Obviously his fish have been acclimatized to FW over an extended period.

The thing I did wrong at the time was to get these fish from a brackish setup and put them into a FW one without converting them gradually... which should have been done.

Bill.

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Man oh man, I wish I was in Auckland and had a brackish tank ready to go. A person on TradeMe has just listed 2x Monos, 2x Silver Scats, 2x Red Scats and 2x Spotted Puffers. At only $10 each ($20 a pair) that's a great deal and I strongly recommend it to anyone that has a setup ready for these wicked little fishies!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/show ... ber=221816

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