how long do arowana live?

Nemesis12

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 24, 2013
20
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1
Indiana
With proper care I've read they can live to be up to 20. Which is hard to believe for something raised in captivity. lol
 

fishyman

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 19, 2011
360
5
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Singapore
I lost 3 arowanas due to improper safety measures. all three of them (at different times) jumped out of the tank overnight. In one case the light was broken, contaminating the tank with fluorescent tube residue and glass. in another instance my present arowana, 18 inches long, has twice broken the glass cover. Now I have a 1/2 inch acrylic lid with small hinged sections for access and tightly fitted cut outs for filters, wires, etc. so that when he jumps he hits a fairly flat surface that will not break. I had it custom made at a glass shop. It cost around $150 but my arowana now is worth over $500 so it is a good investment.
Also I had to isolate him as he was trying to eat the 6 inch pleko I had in the tank with him. They are very neurotic fish but if you manage the traffic in front of the tank, they are amazing to watch. I have to scrape the algae from the glass walls of the tank by hand since there is no pleko to do the work. This is really tricky as I have to move very slowly and wait for him to be at the other side of the tank. What should take around 5 minutes takes around 40 minutes. Anyone have any suggestions how to keep the algae down? the tank is illuminated only by indirect daylight so I cannot reduce the light any more.
Have you tried using a UV filter after cleaning all that algae?
 

T1KARMANN

Giant Snakehead
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2005
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With proper care I've read they can live to be up to 20. Which is hard to believe for something raised in captivity. lol
I think 20 years max is about right

No chance of 50 they are not turtles

I also think with the right conditions they can live longer in captivity that the wild as they have less risk of getting killed

My chilli red is now 7 years old well that's the cert date which they are normally chipped and certed at 4-6 inch
So my red is 28" long and 7 years old


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 

Bderick67

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Aug 18, 2006
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Colorado
I think this thread is probably older then most of the arowana on the forum.
 

David R

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2005
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That is a sad but true observation. Still can't believe we regularly see threads about aros jumping out of inadequately covered tanks....
 

T1KARMANN

Giant Snakehead
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2005
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London UK
That is a sad but true observation. Still can't believe we regularly see threads about aros jumping out of inadequately covered tanks....
just goes to show how important MFK is someone just done a google seach and this thread popped up
 
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