Silver Arrowana

[GeneralTso]

hey all. I just got a 30 gal tank and all the stuff to run it last week. 3 days ago i went and got a 7 inch Silver arrowana. I'm basicly looking for any advise people can give me on this fish. my bigest question is can i keep feeder fish in the tank with him and allow him to eat whenever he feels like it, or will he over eat and get sick and die? Any info on owning this fish is welcome.

 

[astroboy]

hmm... This is a loaded question..

30g is too small, i hope you have plans for a big upgrade (somewhere in the range of a 6' X 2.5' X 2' , the bigger the better). These guys can hit 3 feet easy.

Make sure you quarantine all feeders. And try to get your aro off a feeders only diet. Try other foods such as krill, shrimp, earthworms, crickets, pellets squid, fish anything.

tank is cycled?

 

[Mr Miagi]

Its good to see you starting your tank and getting into the fish hobby, and some one will be along shortly to help u with your Silver arowana, but i have to ask, is your tank fully cycled yet? Having only a week isnt long? Are you testing your water? Do you understand what 'cycling' your tank means?

 

[GeneralTso]

OK. thanks for the replies. yes i know the talk is too small. i plan to get a larger tank as soon as i can. how do i quarantine the feeders? i realy know nothing about cycling. the person at the store sold me something called bio-spira. she said it would put good bactiria in the tank so i wouldnt have to cycle, but i dont know how to cycle. so will the fish over eat, or can i keep feeders in there. by the way, he has eaten everything i fed him so far: Flyes, spiders, and gold fish.

 

[astroboy]

the person at the store sold me something called bio-spira. she said it would put good bactiria in the tank so i wouldnt have to cycle, but i dont know how to cycle

Right on! Thats supposedly the only stuff that works!

as for the feeders, ideally they should be q-ing for one month, but not everyone has the patience or space for that. I highly suggest other foods, not only for your fishes health, but to save you $$$ and time.

They won't over eat and kill themselves. Its common practice in a lot of places to throw a bunch of feeders in and let the fish eat when they want to.

 

[GeneralTso]

OK. Thank you Astro. i will look into other foods and getting another tank for q-ing. i saw some 10 gal tanks for $9 at wal-mart yesterday. will i need a filter for the feeder tank?

 

[LoachLover]

Yeah DEFINATELY plan on getting a much larger tank pretty quick.

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

arowannas get massive one at my local zoo was at least four foot, and the tank siz suggested at the top is worng, if it get 3 ft lon how can it swim in a tank only 2.5 ft wide it owuldn't be able to turn

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

great looking fish tho i see the attraction

 

[astroboy]

if it get 3 ft lon how can it swim in a tank only 2.5 ft wide it owuldn't be able to turn

You think these guys are as stiff as a 2X4?
They are damn flexible and can turn on a dime.

 

[LoachLover]

Yeah I saw a Arowana at my LFS that was probably 3 feet long, they are pretty cool.

 

[CFC]

A silver arowana will need a tank far larger than a 6x2.5x2' when full grown, something in the region of a 10x3x3 would be more suitable for a adult fish but until the fish grows past 2 feet a 6x2x2' (180g) will be ok.

Arowanas have extreemly fast growth rates and will easily grow a inch per month which gives you about 4 months to install a much larger tank.

The use of feeders can result in your arowana growing deformaties in the shape of developing "spoon head" where a hump grows at the back of the fishes skull giving the impression of a spoon shaped head and "droopy eye" where fatty deposits form behind the eyes which force the eyes out of the eye sockets and leaving the fish only able to look downwards. The best food for arowanas are crickets, locusts and floating carnivor sticks.

 

[Earthgirl]

I almost bought one the other day, but they get really large.

Beautiful fish!!

I still want a red Asian, but yeah, no made of money......

 

[troutfly]

General Tso

- To answer you question about the feeder tank needing a filter, yes it does. It will keep you fish alive longer and healtier for feeding to you fish. About using Feeders as the only food source, you will be robbing your fish of vital nutrients supplied by a variety in it's diet. I suggest quarenteening your feeders for atleast 3 weeks before introducing them into your main tank. If it is equiped with a filter, that will allow you to buy a large quantity at one time (saving money) and then you can scoop out small amounts to give to your fish as "treats" every now and then. I know setting up a smaller tank isn't always feasable, but it is te best thing for your fish in the long run. I think you should invest in a 250gal. (US) tank for your Arawana, that should give him enough room to roam. AND- I want you to know, these fish are very strong and will jump, so I would weight down the hood on the tank to prevent this. I would jump right from the 30 to the 250 so you do not end up spending "un-nessasary" money on an intermediate sized tank only to have the Arawana out grow it too. I hope this helps you out in your quest for the perfect living conditions for your fish.

By the way, if you want to feed it crickets, you local pet store should have a "mini" sized plastic critter keeper to house them in and get a jar of Fluker's Cubes for the crickets to feed on. I do this for my Leopard Gecko, and I can purchase 4 doz. at a time and they last about 2 weeks like that.

 

[GeneralTso]

thank you all very much for the great info. im glad i found this site, or i wouldnt have a clue as to what i was doing( i still dont have a clue, but im getting it) lol