My silver arowana in 4500 gal

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Dec 31, 2009
16,324
14,516
3,910
Naples, FL, USA
Yearly update.

The 4 arowana have been doing well. Two of them, Alf and Fre, have reached 3' for sure, perhaps exceeded a bit. Flap and Delray lag behind a bit at around 32"-33". No female between them, so no babies ever since Kinky was killed in the aggressive 4500 gal a while back. They still settle their differences every now and then, especially during their usual courtship times.

Alf we raised ourselves from a 3" baby back in 2013.
Fre was donated by Freddy Kinkel of Miami, FL in 2014.
Flap was donated by Sean and Carmen of Ft. Myers, FL in 2016.
Delray was rescued from Delray Beach, FL in 2016.

Regrettably, they all have one bad DE, the fish are still quite functional overall, but it looks bad and they can miss or mishit their food every now and then.

We got a new rescue from Orlando and Sabrina of Ft. Myers, FL last summer 2019, it was about 20" then, looked like a female (longer pelvic fin extensions). Orlando thought it was a male, called it Falcor, so we call it now Falcorina. Today it has exceeded 24" and doing great but mostly keeps away from the larger aros and in the back of the tank.

Underwater, 7:10-8:10 minutes:




0:00-5:50 minutes:

 

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Dec 31, 2009
16,324
14,516
3,910
Naples, FL, USA
Unexpectedly, Delray passed away last week. IDK why. It couldn't have been more than 5-6 years old. All the damage on it is post-mortem and has nothing with the cause of death; vultures in particular removed some flesh off the bottom jaw. In 1-2 days before dying, it developed a bad bloat, it seemed... it couldn't stay up right and floated at the surface.

Final measure 33"-34".

100_9403.JPG100_9404.JPG100_9405.JPG100_9406.JPG
 

andyroo

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Apr 17, 2011
1,167
486
122
MoBay, Jamaica
www.seascapecarib.com
Q: what's the usual ratio of male : female?
I ask as 4:1 seems lopsided, so I wonder if this is i) a/the natural state or ii) if the breeder hormone-forces them or if iii) it's just luck?
Do you have comparative photos of the pelvic fin extensions, male -vs- female? Oh, can see in your video: hers extend quite a bit more, beyond the vent.
At what age/size do you start seeing this?
I'd been under the impression that lower-jaw extension/overlap is an indictor for male related to mouth-brooding, but your pics/animals don't support this.
 
Last edited:

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Dec 31, 2009
16,324
14,516
3,910
Naples, FL, USA
I have never looked into this topic in depth, so if you are looking for an authoritative answer, regrettably i can't give one. I can't even give a good answer. Some superficial reading told me there are no reliable or known differences in gender appearances. I too have come across the jaw claim, yet i have never seen it confirmed or developed into something solid, so i treat it as an unconfirmed hearsay, a persistent hobby gossip. Anyone, correct me, if i am wrong.

My observation is too just my own and I've not had anyone confirm or refute it, which is why I am interested in collecting more data from other keepers... but so far no one has said anything haha... For all I know, this may be nothing reliable, just like the jaw claim. I've only seen this with our female Kinky for sure versus all other our males and with two recent newcomers, who haven't proven themselves to be really females yet.

IDK what the natural ratio is. My best guess is the combo is random.
I don't have photos, only vids and I am happy you weren't lazy to look and spot the difference. Thank you.
I suppose I see the difference at 1'-2' but again until the fish participates in the courtship and actual breeding, I can't be sure it means anything. Too few data points.
 

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Dec 31, 2009
16,324
14,516
3,910
Naples, FL, USA
andyroo andyroo IME of keeping arowana in dim light 99.9% of the time, the females also feature clearly darker colored dorsal side vs males, which I see on yours too. So according to my two strawman proposed female traits, yours is a girl indeed. Nice long pelvic fin extensions.

I don't pay attention to overbite as I failed to see a consistent trait among my silvers... but I am talking about an obvious overbite because I've not looked close. Probably should. Ok, will :)

People fail to stop SDs from biting and biting through rubber EDPM 45 mil liner, so plants IMhumbleO stand no chance. They are incompatible I'd say. But I am not a plant keeper whatsoever barring the pesky unwanted algae haha...

...

On your signature: are we talking fish eggs aka caviar? If so, I can eat 5000 eggs. :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: andyroo and Tony A.
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store