Well I finally got my Argentea and he was an expensive wild caught variety. He seems to be acting like any other fish I've owned, but just seems a bit more shy at times. He is about 3.5" to 4" and I know he was in the store tank at least 2 months. Is this something more typical of W/C or in Argentea in general?

Have you ever noticed a difference in wild caught fish behavior vs the tank raised?

I've noticed that my WC mbuna are far more difficult to keep in the hand than my tank raised. They also seem slightly more erratic in the tank.

At first, they are more skiddish. But over time they will worm up to you. I find that the WC fish are far more aggressive when put into an aquarium, and more territorial. My WC Dovi are awesome now and very personable. Your Argentea will be out more as it gets comfortable. Maybe as you add more stock, it will help pull it out.

Maybe it needs a friend.

I know that WC fish have far better coloring, thats what makes them in such demand.

I will buy F1 fry! Maybe just 2 or 3....... don't know what you would do with the other few hundred, but I would purchase a few.

I would get wildcaught frontosa or any other that takes too long from fry to maturity. I would not invest in wilds to breed that local petstore already stocks or if there's other local breeders carry the same species.

Wild do get spooked easier, however it's much faster to breed now than grow out fry to get your return in investments you made. I get better quality fishes if I breed wilds or F1.

dont you wish angels and rams were crossed back with wild fish more....to much captive in breeding with these fish makes weak fish available most of time @ shops....best two exaples off top of my head. My wild fish are always shy longer than captive fish. Sometimes slow to eat prepared foods too...wild female discus are tough cookies to get to breed....but wild males are sluts....wonder if true with other shy wild fish...? Also my wild fish (cichlids anyway....dwarfs and big fish....and any wild cory) always seem to need a dose of metronidizole
Lilydog

Since this got restarted...

Ive had my WC Argentea now for a month. Pretty sure "he" is actually a "she" since I saw her tube drop and it looked like a larger egg lying type as opposed to the pointed male type. I think she was bigger than the 4" that I said I thought she was when I bought her, since when she got put into the 210g she measured in at 6".

She eats everything including pellets. She is not as shy as I thought she would be, in fact she has been trouble (another reason I think she is female ) trying to mate with my 11" male midas(tank raised so it had standards and said "NO"). There is nothing about the way it acts that would make me think that it was not a tank raised fish. Its found its place in my tank. Though I am feeling like I should breed her since she is a WC.

In the meantime I have also added a WC pearsei to my tank. This one was part of a group buy from the cichlid connection. Having seen fish_n_vw's pearsei and comparing it to mine I am not seeing a difference in the fact it is WC as opposed to tank raised.

So with the two WC fish I am currently raising I really dont see a major difference in their general behavior compared to tank raised. But I kind of feel like they should be bred to mix up the gene pool a little.

Most of my fish are F1's, and I also have quite a few WC. I have not noticed much of a difference in personality, and/or temperament, but there are some exceptions. My WC Dovii pair are very personable, and very nasty(But aren't all Dovii?). But I have seen a lot of Dovii, including a local one called Ike at a LFS. But not because they are mine, but I honestly believe that my Dovii are exceptional in appearance compared to tank raised. Same goes for some of my other WC species. But not all of them. My Zonatus male is a F1 and my female is WC, and she took to him very well. I also had a WC female Devil that literally ripped apart a male tank raised Devil almost twice her size. I swear they can since it, cause when I put her with a WC male, they would still fight, she did her best to conquer but did not succeed. They eventually spawned. My male then killed her. Go figure. All of my Amphs have been great parents, but not him. He has had 2 spawns now and as soon as the female tries to do her motherly good, he attacks her and keeps her away.

Point to my story is, from my experience, WC fish definitely have different personality's and can be more mental. But when you are able to get them to coexist with their mate or with their tank mates, IMO there is nothing better.

It is definitely easier when the fish are at younger age. Getting an adult WC fish, is like adopting a teenager. They are both set in their ways, and no matter what you want, they wont cooperate.

If I had a choice between a WC fish and a tank raised one, and the price was not a drastic difference, I would pay a bit more for the WC. Or even an F1 over tank raised.

I personally, will buy any fish as long as I can see that they are of great health and beauty. Yes, I would prefer a more pure fish, but to me its not a big deal breaker.

But I am sure I will change my mind once I get a feel of the real differences between them all.