Few Qustions About My Pearl Arowana.

HI I am a beginner in fish keeping I started this hobby of mine not less than a year ago.So I don't know much about fish keeping.I own a 55 gallon tank,a 10cm long Peal Arowana(Chunchumaru),a 7 cm long Polypterus endlicheri,few guppies and mollies,a 10cm long Pleco,a Spotted Raphael Catfish(5cm),a pair of 4cm long dwarf gourami.Aquarium substrate I have is white sand,a powerfilter,no decors.
My questions are : 1) Are all pearl arowana = Golden JardinI Arowana?
2)My pearl arowana currently feeding only on live fish is there any alternative food that I can give him other than live fish?(he donot accept any kind of pellets,insect or worms).
3)I am currently planning to get a pair of African Leaf Fish(around 4 to 5cm) can I add them to my arowana tank(considering my arowana's peaceful nature towards my dwarf gourami tillnow,they have been together with my arowana for last one month) ?

 

WElcome to fishlore!
You do realize an arowana gets two feet long right (24 inches)? Meaning a 13 inch wide tank would not be appropriate for him. So making this 55 gallon specifically an arowana tank really shouldn't happen. Sorry to be blunt, but it is somewhat unacceptable in my opinion :-(

They need hundreds of gallons and even THEN....they still need to live alone (from what I have seen) I highly encourage you to rehome the arowana and focus on fish more appropriate for a 55 gallon tank.

Again, I am really sorry to be blunt....Please know that I am only trying to help.

edit: just want to add, that the peaceful nature you are seeing is because it is a baby. It is a 3-4 inch version of it's 24 inch self. That peaceful attitude will change. Just his mouth alone will be 3-4 inches or more!! LOL

 

Jardinis are the most aggressive of the arowanas and will most likely eat all your smaller fish. And as stated will outgrow your tank quickly as will your P endlicheri. If you want it to eat other things stop feeding it feeders.

 

WELCOME to Fishlore!!!

Agree with above, I suggest rehoming the arrowana unless you have room to build a 250 gallon tank either buy one or DIY. They definitely cannot live with other fish especially one they get bigger. Arrowana is a predator fish, they are at the top of the chain which means it will eat any fish about the size of its head, from barbels to gills. As mention above, it is peaceful since it is a juevnile. This is why many pet stores can keep 5+ in the same tank or you will see breeders with hundreds in a big tank. Once the arowana hits about 8" then you will see its aggressiveness and you will start loosing fish.

As for stocking how many of each fish do you have?

The Polypterus endlicheri(bichir) also needs a bigger tank. They get about 18" however they also get wide, believe more than 4+ inches, the bigger ones that are around 18" are 6" wide. Also the 18" is not a max, people who keep them in larger tanks and feed them properly have them at 20+" although they normall had the fish for over 6 years. For CB endlie they grow to 8-10" at a steady rate(2"/month) but then will start growing very slowly for the next few years but in the end will reach 18". Thus I suggest you rehome this fish otherwise your tank will be very crammed. Also bichir will eat the other fish. They won't aggresively go after it but if the fish gets too close to its mouth it will eat it. I know that some people who kept them, their bichir actually tried to eat a fish but couldn't but dragged the fish around and killed it.

African leaf fish need a soft acidic water in order to properly care for them. It would be best to have them in a smaller tank since they do need special feeding requirements. They only eat food that is moving so if you try to feed flakes then it would have to be floating and most likely your other fish will eat it. It is best to feed bloodworms and earthworms with these guys.

Also feeding live fish will just make it even more aggressive. By feeding it life fish your telling your fish that other fish are what it needs to eat to survive. Once the fish gets 8-10" it will now eat your other fish since for predator fish there really are no difference from a feeder fish and other fish in your tank.

If you want more help on these big fishes, Monster Fish Keeper is a great forum(I'm a member myself!) to go to.

I'd like to say that it was good of you to come to a forum! Sorry to blast you with all these information but the truth is you have monster fish(any fish that gets 10+") in a very small tank.

 

Thank you for the replay.I already know that some times in the near future I have to upgrade my tank when she grow.Any idea about my 1) & 2) questions?

Wow that was informative I don't know about all these , thank you guys for the replay.So any idea what I should give my arowana and P.endlicherI once I get rid of feeders?

 

I would suggest google / youtube King of DIY, he has 2 arowana of different sizes ( each in a 350gal) and feeds them a homemade food ( there's a recipe on the fishlore website for a homemade food aswell) and they seem to enjoy it very much I would suggest starting there

 

What kind of live fish are you feeding? Where are you getting it?

If you feed live fish, the fish will not just eat non live fish the next day. The best way to switch is fasting it. After a few days(3+) of not feeding the fish will be hungry and would eat anything you give it. This is when you should try feeding pellets or insects. I know that going to a fish market and buying fish and cutting them up into cubes is another great way to feed them. Shrimps are also a good food source however don't buy frozen shrimp only by fresh.

I mentioned about the leaf fish in my other post , but short answer is no. These fish need soft acidic water and only feed on moving things. So flakes most likely won't get to these little guys. It is normally best to house them in smaller tanks or with less voracious fish that would most likely eat any food that you try to feed these guys. Normally you want to feed them bloodworms and earthworms.

 

Okay, so you have a lot of stocking problems. You should rehome everything except the live bearers and the catfish. They don't fir in your tank. And even though they are small now you are putting a lot of stress on the fish and the filter.

 

Okay, so you have a lot of stocking problems. You should rehome everything except the live bearers and the catfish. They don't fir in your tank. And even though they are small now you are putting a lot of stress on the fish and the filter.

He obviously has serious stocking issues, but you think a dwarf gourami should be rehomed? I'd like to know the reasoning behind that.

 

He obviously has serious stocking issues, but you think a dwarf gourami should be rehomed? I'd like to know the reasoning behind that.

He probably didn't see that

 

He obviously has serious stocking issues, but you think a dwarf gourami should be rehomed? I'd like to know the reasoning behind that.

Yeah, sorry I didn't see that. He can keep the gourami.

 

so does that mean I can keep my arowana and polypterus together without any problem?

 

so does that mean I can keep my arowana and polypterus together without any problem?

Yes if you have a 300 gallon aquarium

 

so does that mean I can keep my arowana and polypterus together without any problem?

Yes you can but in a 300+ aquarium. Also you are probably going to need to rehome them within 3 months if not now.

 

What kind of live fish are you feeding? Where are you getting it?

If you feed live fish, the fish will not just eat non live fish the next day. The best way to switch is fasting it. After a few days(3+) of not feeding the fish will be hungry and would eat anything you give it. This is when you should try feeding pellets or insects. I know that going to a fish market and buying fish and cutting them up into cubes is another great way to feed them. Shrimps are also a good food source however don't buy frozen shrimp only by fresh.

I mentioned about the leaf fish in my other post , but short answer is no. These fish need soft acidic water and only feed on moving things. So flakes most likely won't get to these little guys. It is normally best to house them in smaller tanks or with less voracious fish that would most likely eat any food that you try to feed these guys. Normally you want to feed them bloodworms and earthworms.

Guppies,molies,platies,goldfish fry(feeder) and I buy these feeders from a near by local pet store.

 

Do you have an LFS nearby that would be willing to rehome the majority of your fish?

 

Guppies,molies,platies,goldfish fry(feeder) and I buy these feeders from a near by local pet store.

So I suggest you don't feed them pet store fish especially feeder fish. Feeder fish don't have any nutrition value and it risk your pet getting sick. I suggest you get another tank to breed your own fish so that you can gut load them and you know they are free from parasites.

 

Is there anyway to know the sex of my arowana?

No

Do you have an LFS nearby that would be willing to rehome the majority of your fish?

:l

 

Is there anyway to know the sex of my arowana?

No, there is an equation but the equation doesn't fully give you a 100% confirmation. The only way would be doing a biopsy.

So you have no way in rehoming? Where did you buy the fish? I suggest going online and posting your fish! Otherwise in a couple months or so if you don't get a bigger tank than most of those fish will die. When the arowana gets 6" it would be best to move it since around that size it will start seeing your other fish as potnential food. Are you buying an aquarium or building one? If you build one you can either buy a big piece of glass/acrylic and have it cut to the proper dimensions or you can create a plywood aquarium. The easiest way would be building a raised pond using wood or concrete blocks and a pond liner.

 

Sorry about my late replay I am a beginner @ this field so I can't grasp most of the thing u said, I am currently trying to buy an aquarium for my arowana and by the end of this month I could get it. Its been only 3 months since I bought her.

 

Sorry about my late replay I am a beginner @ this field so I can't grasp most of the thing u said, I am currently trying to buy an aquarium for my arowana and by the end of this month I could get it. Its been only 3 months since I bought her.

Arowana aren't beginner fish , they are actually more for advanced due to the maintenance and requirements.

For arowana it might be better to build one if possible , its very hard to find a big tank that's made already. You might have to go to a LFS or online and get a custom tank which will most likely cost $500+ for the size tank you need for the arowana.