How do you tell if an Arowana biting another Arowana is life threatening?

[daveman12345]

I'm trying to get my Arowanas to live together peacefully. I've put a few plants in there so that they can avoid the other / do sidesteps / not get in each others way. One of my fish is SLIGHTLY bigger than the other. Every now and then, one might feel like becoming aggressive and biting the other. How do you know when is a good time to call it quits and separate them? I've seen some good tail bites and spine bites..... it doesn't look like the other Arowana is being hurt dramatically, but is it possible that an Arowana of about equal size can break the spine or instantly kill/paralyze another of it's kind?

Also, please correct me if I'm wrong but if one Aro bites the fin of another Aro, that fin will grow back and they'll be able to swim normally again right?

 

[Tongue33]

Not always be able to swim right or grow back properly...

it is life threatening when even after the fins and some scales are gone if the aggressor keeps on going.

When do the attacks happen?

 

[ctoychik]

Hmmm, i have two equally sized silver aros living together in one bare tank. At the beginning i have notice only slight fin damage. Now, they live together peacefully (recently added a non-fancy coloured asian arowana). Both are equally sized at 10" (asian one is 5").

I have heard about two aros fighting but i have never seen myself.

My other tank has 3 arapaimas, silver aro, jardini and bichir living quite peacefully. No damage on anyone (well ... initially on jardini's tail and fins when it was first added but i suspect it is because of its own initial jumpiness).

I think, you should call it quits if one stops eating and starts sitting in the bottom corner... keep an eye out on scale damage.

Good luck

 

[daveman12345]

The attacks happen sparingly, while most times they seem to be swimming together. I get really scared when I see one of there jaws open really wide and then snatching the other one's body. I'm a new Aro owner, so this might be usual to some I guess? To me, it's a little frightening because I don't want anything to happen to them.

So basically, as long as they swim fine and occasionally nip at each other it's fine? As long as one does not surrender and stay in one corner, it's OK? Lastly, there's no such thing as a one-bite kill, where eventually one can simply snap the others body to cause a permanent damage/paralyze him?

 

[Dovii dude]

Not if they are the same size,Was 1 in the tank before the other???If so the original Aro will be the aggressor usually.I suspect if it gets bad enough one of your Aro's will leap to his death.