Quick Arro Question

[markandhisfish]

seeing all theese arrowana lately has got me drooling so just out of curiosity whats the smallest species of arro and its minimum tank requirements?

 

[forby3]

Everybody loves to have a odd or "cool" looking fish in their tank, something that visitors look at and say "what the hell is that?" so more and more shops are starting to stock oddball fish to deal with this demand, unfortunately many pet stores and fish shops have little to no information about the fish they are selling whch can lead to disasterous consequences for you the buyer. This guide while no means complete is intended to help the newly interested oddball enthusiast to make the right choices when choosing their fish and not end up with a 4 foot monster on their hands. Species with a profile in the fish index have a link provided in the name.

Arowana's

There are 6 known species of arowana and all 6 species have one thing in common, they get BIG. These fish should only be bought by those with tanks that have volumes in the multiples of hundreds of gallons.

Osteoglossum bircirrhosum, Silver arowana; The most commonly seen arowana species and unfortunately the largest, silver arowanas are generally peacefull to tankmates that cant be eaten but can grow to nearly 4 feet with 30 inch captive specimins not being uncommon. They will require a tank of at least 300 gallons and should only be kept with fish over 12 inches.

Scleropages jardini, Pearl arowana; As one of the smallest species and in joint place as the second most commonly seen arowana species but at a more affordable price than its cousin the Asian arowana the pearl arowana seems a logical choice for the arowana keeper without a tank the size of a truck, unfortunately despite only usually reaching around 20 inches in captivity S.jardini is by far the most aggressive species and will happily kill any weaker tankmates, keep only with bottom dwelling fish and those that can take a good beating. Minimum tank size 180 gallons

Scleropages formosus, Asian arowana, Usually only seen in truely specialist fish shops Asian arowanas used to comand prices in the thousands making them inaccessable to the average fish keeper, however captive breeding programs have bought the prices of these fish down to levels that while still high are affordable to those who are prepared to care for them properly. With a maximum captive size of around 24 inches and a much more even temper than the jardini the Asian arowana is probably the most suited to aquarium life of all the species. Minimum recomended tank size 180 gallons

Osteoglossom ferreirai, Black arowana; The least seen of the available arowana species the black arowana doesnt grow as big as the other South American arowana O.bircirrhosum but will still attain a captive size of at least 2 feet so still requires a minimum of a 180 gallon tank, this species is very delicate and needs perfect water quality at all times.

The other two arowana's are Scleropages leichardtii (spotted baramundi) and Heterotis niloticus (African arowana) but these are rare and hardly seen in the hobby if at all.



got that of here mate

 

[markandhisfish]

cheers mate pretty much as i thought , too big for my tank

 

[nmonks]

I wrote a piece about these fish last year, and it's now up on Tropical Fish Finder. You might find it useful. Most people do not have either the space or the funds to keep arowanas, and the majority of specimens end up cooped up in tiny tanks and eventually succumb to one problem or another. For the common silver arowana, I'd argue that an aquarium around 2500 litre/550 Imperial gallons is about the minimum for an adult. The slightly smaller Scleropages species might be kept in tanks perhaps 10-15% smaller than that, but realistically, these are big, riverine fish that need far more space than most of us will ever be able to provide.

In other words, unless you're a very rich person with a very big house able to install a custom-built aquarium, don't even think about arowanas. They're among the most abused fish in the hobby.

Cheers, Neale

seeing all theese arrowana lately has got me drooling so just out of curiosity whats the smallest species of arro and its minimum tank requirements?

 

[MBOU]

People are terrible for buying arrowanas on a whim, thinking 'oh i will just get a bigger tank as it grows' not apreciating A/ how big they grow, its still hard to imagine when the measurements are written down... and B/ Just how quickly they can grow!!

I used to have a Pearl Arrowana which we lost in a terrible accident involving upgrading tanks and an angry stingray that didnt apreciate being poked by the arrowana... gutting...

We have now (year later to mourn!!) got a baby Pearl Arrowana, We went for pearls because we love their attitude and personally, i think they are far better looking, the pink edging toeach scale is beautiful! We only got the arrowana because we will house him for life, he is currently looking lost in 130L! (He is 5cm and growing fast!) but we already have a 5ft 340L waiting and then a 6 x 2 x 2.5 (forget how many litres) and will eventually have a custom build. We will definately have a custom build as we have a tiny rescue Red Tail Cat, lost our first one (mental note, catfish love dark holes, dont use pond hose to do waterchange!) and we have found some other muppet with one thats eating their guppies! (not difficult, they sell them down the road...).

But I wish shops didnt sell arros, only got them in to order, less impulse buys then!