community tank questions

[cheon]

hey guyz chris here.i have had my aro almost a month now and i rlly enjoy the fish and the hobby.I rlly have been thinking of adding 3 more aros to my 160gl tank,with a 55g quarantine tank.i no that in the future i will need a bigger tank just for the 1 aro not to mention 3 more but can i get away with it for 1 year?will they be cramped? i plan to make a 500gl+ when my current fish out grows my current tank. also my aro sum how got a rip right in the middle of his side fins will this heal?
pre thanks
chris

 

[xenon240]

Chris, ripped/torn caudal, pelvic, or anal fins always heal back after about a couple of weeks. Occasionally you will see a small dot at the point of where it ripped after it heals, but after time it will disappear.

Introducing Aros in a community is a slow process that does not always work. I use a four step approach:
- divider where they can clearly see each other
- remove after three weeks
- monitor over a couple of hours, if one resorts to hiding in a corner with torn fins put divider back up
- wait a couple of weeks then try again
- repeat one more time, after the third time it will be a good indication whether they will get along
- even if they do get along you will still see occasional ripped fins

A more successful approach is if you can separate three at a time, three tends to give them a choice of who to pick on