Who Keeps Monos?

[IFbettas]

I was staying at a hotel in Miami and they had a large reef tank in the lobby. In this tank they had all of the "standard" fish (clownfish, tangs, angels, etc.) but they also had a school of about 10 Monodactylus argenatus. I thought that the school of monos was quite interesting, and am now contemplating getting a group for my 375.

Has anyone kept monos in their reef tank? If so how did they behave? I understand that most species require brackish water when young, but live in full saltwater once they mature. I think it would be kind of cool to keep such a seldom seen (in reef tanks) fish in my reef.

 

[SMOOTHIE]

Ah there is someone on ehere that has them. I remember asking them about them.
They are like having tuna in the tank. Very active swimmers that eat anything you offer.
They do get some size and will nip from what I looked at. My lfs tried it. Still thinking about doing it myself in a 180. Only one though because of the size they grow to

 

[zayn]

I had a mono for about 1.5 year before I gave him to friend. They are very quick and active swimmers...he was scoop up all the food in the tank. Never nipped on the corals...VERY HARDY...went through all water conditions. I kept him in my mixed reef tank (lps/sps) with tangs, clowns, wrasses in my 110g and no problems. They are relatively cheap to get and I think they adopt very quickly. I didn't think of them as a school fish though?

 

[KafudaFish]

I had a pair several years ago. I thought they were interesting to watch and they looked like arrow heads swimming through the water.

They were cruisers and think that they would use every inch of your 375.

 

[ricde]

I used to have a 180 gallon brackish tank years ago with 5 argentus and 3 sabaes. Not sure if they are nippy with corals or not but they are very active eaters and will quickly consume any food given. I wouldn't try to keep any other slow feeders with them.

When first introduced, you'll have some aggression (till they work out a pecking order) With 10 the aggression should be a lot less though.

As stated earlier, these jokers are fast!!! Make sure they're what you want because they can be a real bear to catch

 

[IFbettas]

Thanks for all the advice!

I'm starting to think they might be too messy for an sps reef, but I might try them in a different tank.

 

[theaccordmaniac]

I have 7 Mono Argentus in my tank. Peaceful and nice to watch... highly recommended schooling fish

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m179/theaccordmaniac/070920101346.jpg

 

[username in use]

There's a bunch in here. They are fast, and cover a lot of ground all the time. I would say your 375 is almost a minimum for a full grown.

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[Baldwin]

awesome fish, monodactylus argenteus* if I remeber correctly. I used to have 3 in a 150. They outgrew it quickly. I def. also recommend more than 5 to keep the bickering down once they are larger.