Return to Arowanas ... ?

impalass

impalass

Member
Need Help From The Pros,

Just over two years ago I suddenly lost my five year old Classic RTG. I still don't know why it actually died and have stopped dwelling on it (finally). At the time I was so gutted I decided to get out of the hobby completely, sold two out of three tanks, (took a while) and had the third listed but changed my mind.

Been through various fish combos since but nothing compares to owning an Arowana imho, and I'm thinking of finding another Classic RTG. My one concern is my tank size, it's a 175g Bow Front, 72"Lx 24"dx 30"h, bowing back to 18" at the sides.

This would be it for the life of the Aro, I have two Pro Series Eheims (2250/2262), and would do as many water changes as it takes to keep nitrates no higher than 20 ppm. In your opinions would I be doing the RTG a disservice in a tank this size long term ? Looking forward to all opinions good and bad.

Thanks In Advance, Mark.
 
You probably know this already, but the issue could be gill curl down the road if the turning radius is too tight for the size of your fish (and of course water conditions play a role with gill curl too). In my opinion, you might be better going with a cross back since in my experience they do not typically get as large as RTG's by at least a few inches. Most adult cross backs I have seen maxed out at about 20-22 inches, whereas I have seen a number of adult RTG's at 24-25 inches. If you don't fully feed the aro as it matures you might be able to stunt it somewhat to fit the tank, but stunting a fish intentionally is not a great thing to do for a variety of reasons.

It really is a tough call. I usually tell people that a "classic" 180 gallon of 6 X 2 X 2 feet is the minimum size tank for an adult aro. You have the 180 gallons, but in an irregular form.
 
How big was your first aro? The first time I saw an adult aro at a LFS was when it
became obvious that a very large tank was needed. Goodluck with what you choose to do.
 
Dis my RTG was a measured 22" and quite thick when he died, no gill curl, drop eye or anything else.

Thanks for the Crossback size info Cirrus, something for me to consider. Stunting is not an option, I lack the testicular fortitude to even lightly starve anything.

I found with the 175 he still used the entire length of the tank and to my surprise had no problems turning at the 18" end of the tank at 22". Had he grown an inch or two more, and bulked up more, this may have changed, but I believe it would have been no worse than a 5x2x2 tank.

I tried uploading some pics but have a new lab top which is not as straight forward as my last one. Hopefully my shots from two years ago + can still be viewed.
 
A rectangular shape tank is preferred.

Min size tank is a 48"x24"x24" tank.

Death of Aro can be caused by many factors.

Too many or too few water changes do no good for the Aro. :)

Similarly for large volume water change.

For feeding, try not to feed it till 100% full. Estimated 70% to 80% full will do.
 
mark

ur tank is no issue....i've seen 24" jardini grow out no problems in 90 gal tank!!

u've always took good care of ur fish so just dive back into the hobby and enjoy...u've obviously got ur itch back

good luck finding that aro

.........k
 
kman said:
mark

ur tank is no issue....i've seen 24" jardini grow out no problems in 90 gal tank!!

u've always took good care of ur fish so just dive back into the hobby and enjoy...u've obviously got ur itch back

good luck finding that aro

.........k
Click to expand...

Thanks for the positive words Ken, your comments along with others have convinced me to get another RTG come September, too busy till then.

Thanks to all that replied, I feel confident going forward now, it's going to be a long wait till September though.

Regards, Mark.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top