Arowana, Geos and Pothos roots

[mattybecks]

Hi there,

Last week I posted about a rescue Asian Arowana I adopted, who I did a little gill curl surgery on that is doing really well now.

So my question is regarding tank set up. Ive always kept it pretty simple. sand for the geos to sift through, and some rocks for them to create territories, break line of sight, lay their eggs on (had two pairs form and lay eggs last week).

Right now the rest of the tank is open water for the arowana to swim in, apart from a PVC pipe I have right at the surface that holds my pothos roots. This is from when I kept silver dollars and other herbivorous fish that liked to munch the roots.

The Arowana loves to swim around my 3 canister filter intakes at the one end and around a pipe against the glass on the other end of the tank. Even though these are fairly close to the glass he likes to squeeze behind them and swim around them. So I was wondering if it might be a good idea to remove this pipe that holds the roots from the tank, and just allow the roots to hang directly into the tank. So he can swim around and through the roots. I feel like this is similar to the environment they might have in the wild with all the vegetation hanging in the water.

What I am concerned about is that maybe these roots actually limit his swimming space as he wont have so much open water anymore. And being a big fish, they also like open water. What do you guys think?

180gal (700L), 6ft (180cm) tank. 1 x Asian Arowana (33 -34 cm in length) and 7 x Geophagus Tapajos

 

[tlindsey]

Hi there,

Last week I posted about a rescue Asian Arowana I adopted, who I did a little gill curl surgery on that is doing really well now.

So my question is regarding tank set up. Ive always kept it pretty simple. sand for the geos to sift through, and some rocks for them to create territories, break line of sight, lay their eggs on (had two pairs form and lay eggs last week).

Right now the rest of the tank is open water for the arowana to swim in, apart from a PVC pipe I have right at the surface that holds my pothos roots. This is from when I kept silver dollars and other herbivorous fish that liked to munch the roots.

The Arowana loves to swim around my 3 canister filter intakes at the one end and around a pipe against the glass on the other end of the tank. Even though these are fairly close to the glass he likes to squeeze behind them and swim around them. So I was wondering if it might be a good idea to remove this pipe that holds the roots from the tank, and just allow the roots to hang directly into the tank. So he can swim around and through the roots. I feel like this is similar to the environment they might have in the wild with all the vegetation hanging in the water.

What I am concerned about is that maybe these roots actually limit his swimming space as he wont have so much open water anymore. And being a big fish, they also like open water. What do you guys think?

180gal (700L), 6ft (180cm) tank. 1 x Asian Arowana (33 -34 cm in length) and 7 x Geophagus Tapajos View attachment 1414088View attachment 1414089View attachment 1414090View attachment 1414091

I personally would leave it like it is more open space for the Aro.

 

[aroijuana]

my silver likes to rip the roots & vines into the tank so I personally would leave it how it is. That plant is impressive man.

 

[fishguy1978]

As tempting as it is to recommend trying it, I think I would leave it as is. The plant looks amazing.

 

[Katie_Ca]

Echoing everyone else, that's a impressive porthos.

I also think you can leave it as it is. Just to add, you can trim the roots to make it neater if they start sticking out into her swim lane...but it looks like you're already doing that.

 

[mattybecks]

Thank you everyone for the kind compliments on my pothos plant. I am rather fond it

I guess I will be leaving everything as is then. More swimming space for the aro. I think just being at home so much now has me looking for things to do haha.
Time to fiddle the marine tank.

 

[Arosal]

Beautiful setup! I’m curious about the pvc that holds the roots as I want to do a similar setup. Do you have holes drilled throughout it and a cap on one end? Also did you buy it as a full plant initially and what was the process like to get it cleaned and ready for the tank? Thanks!

 

[mattybecks]

Beautiful setup! I’m curious about the pvc that holds the roots as I want to do a similar setup. Do you have holes drilled throughout it and a cap on one end? Also did you buy it as a full plant initially and what was the process like to get it cleaned and ready for the tank? Thanks!

Thank you! So the PVC has holes drilled into the top of it, about as big as one of my smaller fingers so I can get 2 or 3 roots/stems in there and they have space to grow and widen a bit. Initially I did cap the ends/put a type of grill over them. I have since removed these and just kept the pipe open on each end with a pump blowing water down the pipe. The pipe stays suspended with cable ties (I think in the US they call them zip ties) I have attached the glass brace in the centre of the tank.

As for the pothos, I bought it has a pot plant a few years back. Took it out the soil, washed the roots and put it in the water. Some of the roots survived, but a lot of them died off (just the roots, not the plant) but quickly sprouted new roots. I believe this is because pothos grows different types of roots depending if its in soil or water.
I have also added snippings of pothos. If I was to do it again I would just cut the roots off/make clippings of the plant and stick the end on water. Roots do sprout really quickly.

 

[Arosal]

Thank you! So the PVC has holes drilled into the top of it, about as big as one of my smaller fingers so I can get 2 or 3 roots/stems in there and they have space to grow and widen a bit. Initially I did cap the ends/put a type of grill over them. I have since removed these and just kept the pipe open on each end with a pump blowing water down the pipe. The pipe stays suspended with cable ties (I think in the US they call them zip ties) I have attached the glass brace in the centre of the tank.

As for the pothos, I bought it has a pot plant a few years back. Took it out the soil, washed the roots and put it in the water. Some of the roots survived, but a lot of them died off (just the roots, not the plant) but quickly sprouted new roots. I believe this is because pothos grows different types of roots depending if its in soil or water.
I have also added snippings of pothos. If I was to do it again I would just cut the roots off/make clippings of the plant and stick the end on water. Roots do sprout really quickly.

Thank you so much!! I’m definitely going to do this and take your advice and just add clippings of my current pothos. I think this is a fantastic idea and looks great as everyone else has mentioned! Again great setup and thanks for sharing.

 

[mattybecks]

Thank you so much!! I’m definitely going to do this and take your advice and just add clippings of my current pothos. I think this is a fantastic idea and looks great as everyone else has mentioned! Again great setup and thanks for sharing.

having plants as well as fish tanks really does liven up and give such a nice energy to a room. I cannot imagine not doing this with my tanks.