Silver Arowana Tips

[Bryan Crownover]

I'm sorry...did you say you bought this fish at an ace hardware? lol.

In my honest opinion you'll need a 4 ft wide tank and at least 7 feet long...aros swim ALOT and can easily hit 2.5 feet in an aquarium setting with good care.

Yes I did lol, my local ACE carries a better selection of healty fish than I can find for at least 3 hours any direction, including south american stingrays and peacock bass. The largest tank they carry is a 220 with a stand for $1,100 so that's why we were planning on using that in a year to move the Arowana into, as ACE has another Silver approximately 3 feet long in a 220. I agree bigger is better and I would like to build a tank into a wall in my basement with dimensions of at least 10'x6'x5' but that is a ways in the future. If I can manage to fit a tank larger than 220 down my basement stairs I'll get that instead of the 220, but until I can build my own I want a good sized tank for probably the first 3 years of an Aros life.

 

[Bryan Crownover]

Also make sure you cover all openings and will need weight or clamps on lids they are natural leapers. I suggest no agressive tankmates. Feed floating foods.

At the moment he is housed with 15 cories, 2 striped raphaels, 2 farowellas, 2 whiptail catfish, and 2 plecos. I'd like to add a few angelfish too since everything else hides most of the time. He's been taking some cichlid floating pellets and some flakes, not much but he looks very healthy and no signs of hunger so far. I'm planning on getting him some waxworms to try as they don't have a shell that will be hard on his digestive tract until he's a couple inches longer. Once he's grown a bit I will feed some meal worms and crickets and start broadening the rest of his diet.

Edit: we made sure to seal all openings firmly before even transferring him from the bag to the tank. After reading about wild ones grabbing birds from branches I'm not going to take any chances on him jumping out.

 

[Bryan Crownover]

 

[Jrp0405]

Silvers are very fragile at that size, looks like you are doing the due diligence to give him a good home. Mine was over a foot at under a year old, so plan accordingly for tank mates. Watch out for drop eye as well, it's hard to prevent...maybe check the forums a bit, I think I remember something about using a floating ball to keep them looking up

 

[Bryan Crownover]

Silvers are very fragile at that size, looks like you are doing the due diligence to give him a good home. Mine was over a foot at under a year old, so plan accordingly for tank mates. Watch out for drop eye as well, it's hard to prevent...maybe check the forums a bit, I think I remember something about using a floating ball to keep them looking up

I always do everything I can to ensure health of my fish when I buy them. I like to keep only fish from similar systems such as the Amazon, or my Lake Malawi cichlid/synodontis 125 gallon. I took measurements before adding the Aro of my tank, pH was 6.4 and ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites were at zero. For his tank mates, I don't really have any set ideas right now but when he starts getting over 12 to 14 inches is when I want to move him to a larger tank. Any suggestions on Amazonian tank mates for him?

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Yes I did lol, my local ACE carries a better selection of healty fish than I can find for at least 3 hours any direction, including south american stingrays and peacock bass. The largest tank they carry is a 220 with a stand for $1,100 so that's why we were planning on using that in a year to move the Arowana into, as ACE has another Silver approximately 3 feet long in a 220. I agree bigger is better and I would like to build a tank into a wall in my basement with dimensions of at least 10'x6'x5' but that is a ways in the future. If I can manage to fit a tank larger than 220 down my basement stairs I'll get that instead of the 220, but until I can build my own I want a good sized tank for probably the first 3 years of an Aros life.

is that a 2 foot wide tank? you see the issue with that right? a 220 won't last a silver aro 3 years IMO. they may be flexible but to cramp such a large fish in a smaller tank is a no go in my book. He'll be fine for like 1.5 yearsish I'd say. That's my guess.

 

[Bryan Crownover]

is that a 2 foot wide tank? you see the issue with that right? a 220 won't last a silver aro 3 years IMO. they may be flexible but to cramp such a large fish in a smaller tank is a no go in my book. He'll be fine for like 1.5 yearsish I'd say. That's my guess.

I'm looking for larger tanks and looking into ordering materials to build my own so I don't have to try to move a 300 down my basement stairs. If I do the 220 I'll still be looking for a larger tank as soon as I can manage it.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

I'm looking for larger tanks and looking into ordering materials to build my own so I don't have to try to move a 300 down my basement stairs. If I do the 220 I'll still be looking for a larger tank as soon as I can manage it.

right on, don't take my posts as being a jerk to you, I just prefer to let people know what most of us in the hobby consider to be the decent thing to do for the monster fish we keep.

I still find it hilarious your local ACE carries fish...I've literally NEVER seen an ACE hardware with livestock...

 

[Bryan Crownover]

right on, don't take my posts as being a jerk to you, I just prefer to let people know what most of us in the hobby consider to be the decent thing to do for the monster fish we keep.

I still find it hilarious your local ACE carries fish...I've literally NEVER seen an ACE hardware with livestock...

I didn't think anyone here was being a jerk, I want to go as big as I possibly can financially if it will be better for the fish. If I build a 300 or 350 and make it around 6 to 7 feet long and 3 to 4 feet wide, and 2 feet tall how long would that last my Aro?

That ACE is funny to me too, someone told me about it and said they stock up alligator and florida gar sometimes and I thought they were pulling my leg until I went in and my jaw dropped. I go in there weekly or more now, it's like having a local free aquarium to visit that changes out its stock all the time.

 

[Beetlebug515]

For some perspective, my silver went from 6 inches to 22 inches in about 8 months before he died. Tank needs to be 3 feet front to back minimum. Anyone who believes they can be kept in a 6ft tank needs to give up keeping fish.