My Silver Arowana floating vertically (Head up tail down)

[Kryostar]

he is floating head up in the corner. at first he went crazy and was all over the tank, swift and random spiral motions.
I feed him pellets, not shrimps. but sometime he eats pellets of my parrot fishes too.
overfeeding?
he's about 6.5 inches, in a 100-120 ltrs tank.
unfortunately about 2 weeks ago he ate 2 plecos, each 2 inches long. (They were in the same tank with him for a long time and also i made sure they were bigger than his mouth, regardless he ate em both [i didnt see it happening tho])
i've put him in a bucket now with water from the tank and two bubblers, for air.
he didnt eat much lately.
no marks on his body, no spots too.
breathing kinda slow.
this is the second time this kinda issue had happened.
the last time he survived, after we left him in care.
can anyone tell me why this is happening.
Any remedies? need help ASAP.


tank: 100-120 litres
stock: Silver arowana 6.5 to 7 inches
4 parrots
air stones
2 bubblers

 

[kno4te]

Sounds like a injury from hitting glass or lid. Just my best guess. Seen similar of what’s described after trauma.

Would post ur water parameters as well. Could be bad water doing it. Especially if this happened prior.

Would keep it in the bucket with enough water to keep the fish upright. Keep lights dim and add salt 1tsp per gallon. Make sure the water is pristine.

 

[kno4te]

I forgot to mention. If it survives then look into a bigger tank.

 

[Kryostar]

He survived, his movement is better now. kinda wobbling around but better from last night. i left him in the the aquarium we bought him from (temporarily, cuz i dont have a bigger tank n the apparatus to check on him). Also yeah, he might be in post trauma, the service hatch on the tank had a small plastic coaster lodging it partially open for fresh air rotation but last night i found it inside the tank. He may have hit his head or back against it (i was worried if he ruptured his swim bladder because he was not able to balance).

Can you leave a link for necessary equipment to maintain water conditions?
He's my first arow. i HAD flowerhorn cichlids before in a much smaller tank.
the first one swallowed a stone and somehow managed to survive for about 3 months after.
the second was a knockoff, he died from illness


the tank i have now is new (less than 6 months from purchase).when we bought the tank and the fishes, they said we wont need anything other than the filter and the aerator.
I am considering a change in the tank setup tho. right now it has about 4-5 air stones and a bog. might remove the bog cuz it contaminates the water (since plecos are not there anymore) and also reduces the room for my parrot cichlids.
do you really think he needs a bigger tank? i dont have the space to accommodate a bigger one.
The water was changed recently and the tank was cleaned (less than a week ago).
Thank you

 

[kno4te]

Water parameters need to be done with a liquid test kit. It’s accurate. Strips and stick on meters aren’t accurate. Looking for ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate <50ppm. This from a cycled tank with enough filtration/media for bacteria to process all the waste. The nitrates are reduced by water changes.

Arowana grow at 1 to 1.5 inch per month. Some have recorded 3 inch per month when fed well, have clean and tank space.

Yes you will need to have a bigger tank. Either the same thing will happen again and it won’t recover. It’ll die early due to poor space and maybe even water quality ( I’m guessing). It may bust the tank just from the size of the fish getting so big. If you can’t upgrade the tank then give it to someone who can to avoid all this. Not discourage you but you’ve have problems already. Need to research prior to getting future fish as it seems you haven’t. This is a good chance to learn from this event. Best of luck.

 

[tlindsey]

The Silver Aro Is in a extremely critical situation you only have a couple of months before the Silver Aro will have outgrown that 31 gallon aquarium. I absolutely agree with kno4te about Aro possibly injuring itself again and won't keep being so lucky with surviving . If you can't provide proper housing for the Silver Aro asap take back and trade in for something else .

 

[Boomer1224]

the LFS told you a 31 gal tank was big enough for a silver aro wow