Newbie Questions

Pat

New Member
Hi guys. I am new to Arowanas, but not to fish keeping. I have been reading a lot about aros on different web sites and I read the ebooks on the Panda site too. I have read a lot on arowana-care dot com and I subscribed to Steven Yeoh's 7 day ecourse about aros. he has an ebook for $37 too. Does anyone know anything about it?

Anyways, he said that a baby aro will thrive in a more confined space meaning tanks can be too big for your aro. He said that a 6 inch aro could live in a 20 gallon for a while and it will thrive because it is more confined. I have a 30 gallon established tank and I was wondering how fast does an aro grow? I was thinking on buying an RTG baby(6-7inches). How long will the baby aro fit in a 30gallon?

I do have a 180 gallon right now, but I have a Frontosa colony in it and I want to keep them. That means I have to buy another 180 for the aro and get it well established. Therefore I was wondering how long the baby aro could live in the 30.

Thanks in advance for any replies.
 

glamit

Member
hey Pat
aros do feel more comfortable in a smaller tank, a lot of people do move aros into bigger tanks as they grow. i personally just put them into whatever tank i have available aros are very hardy. They grow quite fast however so in a 30 gallon im guessing 36"x12"x12"? they would last you only about 4-5 months thats if you get your aro at 6-7inches. I actually have 2 breeding colonies of frontosa's one zaire group of 12 and one mpimbwe group of 20 both groups i had was housed with an arowana and both groups continued to breed, i personally think you can use the same tank thats if your 180 is at least 24" wide.
 

bcarlos

Member
There are mixed schools of thought when it comes to juvenile aros and tanks sizes. I lean towards using a grow out, because I have found that young aros are far less nervous and eat better in a smaller space. That being said, I've never kept them in anything under a 50 gallon.

Aros grow very quickly, and you'll find that 6-7 inch aro can easily double its size in a year. If you've done your research, you'll know that confining aro's to small spaces for too long can also lead to health problems (i.e. gill curl, etc). My advice, if you're going to use the grow out method, is to ensure you monitor the aros growth to ensure he has plenty of room to turn around. Once this becomes an issue, it's time to move him to a bigger home.
 

Pat

New Member
hey Pat
aros do feel more comfortable in a smaller tank, a lot of people do move aros into bigger tanks as they grow. i personally just put them into whatever tank i have available aros are very hardy. They grow quite fast however so in a 30 gallon im guessing 36"x12"x12"? they would last you only about 4-5 months thats if you get your aro at 6-7inches. I actually have 2 breeding colonies of frontosa's one zaire group of 12 and one mpimbwe group of 20 both groups i had was housed with an arowana and both groups continued to breed, i personally think you can use the same tank thats if your 180 is at least 24" wide.

Thanks. What is the pH of your water in that tank?
 

Pat

New Member
There are mixed schools of thought when it comes to juvenile aros and tanks sizes. I lean towards using a grow out, because I have found that young aros are far less nervous and eat better in a smaller space. That being said, I've never kept them in anything under a 50 gallon.

Aros grow very quickly, and you'll find that 6-7 inch aro can easily double its size in a year. If you've done your research, you'll know that confining aro's to small spaces for too long can also lead to health problems (i.e. gill curl, etc). My advice, if you're going to use the grow out method, is to ensure you monitor the aros growth to ensure he has plenty of room to turn around. Once this becomes an issue, it's time to move him to a bigger home.

Thanks. With that being said, a 6-7 inch aro could live in a 30 gallon (12"wide) for 4-6 months? This way I would have plenty of time to set up and establish another 180.
 

danfong88

New Member
No.... 30 gallon is just too small the aro might jump and kill itself. A start tank of 75 gallon is good for starter. Better to save your pennies until you can afford the property size for an aro? They live for 20 years!!!
 

peacockbass

New Member
get the biggest tank you can afford...a 180 is ideal but you can get away with a 135...just partition the tank when its smaller so that you dont have to deal with transporting the fish as it grows...
 

Pat

New Member
Thanks guys. I can easily get a 225 gallon. I was just wondering about using grow out tanks because I have read stuff about people using them. They said aros do better in smaller spaces as they grow. A 225 will just seem empty with one 6-8 inch aro in it...lol
 

peacockbass

New Member
partition the tank.....as the aro gets bigger, give it more space.....better than letting it outgrow a small tank....risk moving and transferring it to another tank....get the biggest tank in the first place and don't have to worry about anything but the aro growing into it...which it will within a year or two easily....
 

Pat

New Member
partition the tank.....as the aro gets bigger, give it more space.....better than letting it outgrow a small tank....risk moving and transferring it to another tank....get the biggest tank in the first place and don't have to worry about anything but the aro growing into it...which it will within a year or two easily....

Thanks. What is the best thing to use to divide the tank? My tank will be 6.5 feet long. Where should I place the divider for an 8 inch arowana?
 

peacockbass

New Member
get plastic egg crates from Rona....they are for ceilng panels....get some clear tubing so you can wrap around the edges so it won't scratch the tank.....
 
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