African Aro

[T1KARMANN]

i have been looking for a african aro for years and tommorow i should be getting one

i dont know to much about them as any info would be great

all i know is they are near impossable to take care of at a small size but the one im getting is 12inch and at that size they are ment to be easyer to feed so we will see what happens tommorow

 

[nmonks]

There's lots about Heterotis niloticus in 'Jurassic Fishes' if you can get a hold of a copy. They aren't traded much because they're rather drab animals that get big (~90 cm in captivity) but don't have any of the colours sported by their South American and Southeast Asian relatives. They are also notorious jumpers, though if you've kept other arowanas that won't phase you! In any case, you won't find much else about them in the literature.

The main problem for maintenance is that they're filter feeders, taking both floating algae and small organisms sifted out from mouthfuls of mud. So a sandy substrate plus small invertebrate foods (like bloodworms) is recommended.

Cheers, Neale

 

[T1KARMANN]

im just going to give it ago as they look like small arapima gigas which i will never be able to house

its a gift anyway so no loss if it goes wrong

i was also told that 24inch would be a good size in captivaty

 

[cane76]

at 12" your asians will kick the crap out of it i reckon
i know a guy who has had one for years and he reckons it eats like any other aro

 

[T1KARMANN]

we will see what happens

 

[nmonks]

Heterotis is known to be aggressive and territorial towards its own kind once mature, but it is not otherwise an aggressive fish, and shouldn't be mixed with rough tankmates. There's no discussion that osteoglossids vary in their aggression levels.

But just to clear something up: Heterotis isn't an arowana. It's more closely related to the arapaima (family Arapaimidae). So whilst superficially similar to the arowanas in shape, fishkeepers must understand that it is a different fish and treat accordingly. For example, it isn't a mouthbrooder but a nest-builder. Like arapaimas, it works well with anything too large to be eaten. Indeed, the fish is said to be almost completely non-predatory, but I wouldn't take the chance within an aquarium.

Keeping it like an arowana would be a waste of time really. The fish has no bright colours to speak of, and looks rather ugly compared with arowanas. What makes it worthwhile are its interesting feeding modes. Watching these fish dig into the sand like demented ploughs would be a lot of fun! You'd also have the satisfaction of knowing you're keeping the fish *properly*, satisfying its behavioural need to dig and root about for food. Likewise throwing in a bag of daphnia and watching it "filter" them out of the water would also be very entertaining.

Cheers, Neale

PS: there are some neat YouTube videos of these fish feeding, for example here.

at 12" your asians will kick the crap out of it i reckon
i know a guy who has had one for years and he reckons it eats like any other aro

 

[T1KARMANN]

i have seen all the videos

just thought it would be a cool fish to own and try

it being closely related to the arapima is the main reason i want to try this fish as i would never be able to house a arapima this is the next best thing

 

[T1KARMANN]

its in so far so good the only thing that showed intrested was my big tiger

 

[simonas]

never seen them before and I like the one on the you tube vid!! keep us all updated on this fish please and good luck with him!!

 

[severum boy]

Can I reccomend giving Bristol Zoo a ring? They had one in their large Asian species tank (if I remember correctly), but why they had an African species in with some Asians I can't answer. Theirs was about 2.5' and was living with Asian arrowanas and other large peaceful fish.

 

[invader]

Any pics? They're one of my favorite fish.

 

[T1KARMANN]

i try not to take pics until i get a new fish feeding

but so far i cant forsee any problems if anything its carmed my asian aros down abit

 

[invader]

i try not to take pics until i get a new fish feeding

but so far i cant forsee any problems if anything its carmed my asian aros down abit

Superstition or just trying not to freak out the fish?

Can't wait to see them.

 

[T1KARMANN]

Superstition

 

[DarkEntity]

its a gift anyway so no loss if it goes wrong

thats a worrying answer imo...surely you should have a backup plan should things start to go wrong rather than "no loss as it was a gift"