Getting my first Asian Arowana. Any Advice?

Today, I bought a 180 gallon tank to keep my first Asian Arowana. Any advice / things you wish you'd known? I live here in China so it's legal and they're captive bred, no wild caught fish.

 

I thought they need 300 gallons atleast? Maybe I’m wrong but in YouTube there are plenty of arrowana care videos.

 

I thought they need 300 gallons atleast? Maybe I’m wrong but in YouTube there are plenty of arrowana care videos.

Most online guides say 240, but I see ppl keep them in anything between 150 and 300+. Length of the aquarium tends to be the bigger factor. In China, they design abnormally long tanks specifically for Asian Arowana. (Like the one I got. I'll share a pic when it's delivered) Plus, he'll be a little guy to start. I personally think he'll fine in 180 since it's one of the long ones made for Asian arros.

 

Today, I bought a 180 gallon tank to keep my first Asian Arowana. Any advice / things you wish you'd known? I live here in China so it's legal and they're captive bred, no wild caught fish.

You need to have a fish tank of 270g ( 180x75x75 cm)
But 180g is ok since the length of that tank is perfect
Give them tanning lights and don't give them live feeder fishes ( I have seen a lot of asians giving them feeder goldfishes)

My uncle has kept a high back gold arowana in a 270g for 11years. He was around 65cm when he passed away. He was very pretty!

I thought they need 300 gallons atleast? Maybe I’m wrong but in YouTube there are plenty of arrowana care videos.

I think 300g is the minimum for silver arowanas. Anyways I would always suggest to keep a fish which grows 3ft+ in a pond so he can happily swim around

 

You need to have a fish tank of 270g ( 180x75x75 cm)
But 180g is ok since the length of that tank is perfect
Give them tanning lights and don't give them live feeder fishes ( I have seen a lot of asians giving them feeder goldfishes)

My uncle has kept a high back gold arowana in a 270g for 11years. He was around 65cm when he passed away. He was very pretty!

I think 300g is the minimum for silver arowanas. Anyways I would always suggest to keep a fish which grows 3ft+ in a pond so he can happily swim around

How do I tell the difference between tanning lights and just regular old aquarium lights? This aquarium comes with one of those lighting bars that sits below the water's surface and has a red hue. Is that a tanning light?

 

Hi all,
fishkeepinginaisa I have no experience with anything even close to the adult size of that species.
I joined my local club and found a wide cross section of people from all walks of life. All used local water and local shops. Some are my kind of people. We all have a common interest.

What I am saying is the species you wish to keep is a long term commitment worthy of a few dollars to join your local club.

I know you will need a very heavy lid but I guess you know that?

 

How do I tell the difference between tanning lights and just regular old aquarium lights? This aquarium comes with one of those lighting bars that sits below the water's surface and has a red hue. Is that a tanning light?

There is not really a big difference between a tanning light and a normal aquarium light. The only difference is that tanning lights produce a strong ultraviolet light while a normal aquarium light's radiation is comparatively bit less. Tanning lights helps to increase ur arowana's coloration but its not a compulsory, ur arowana will grow just fine even without a tanning light

 

Hi all,
fishkeepinginaisa I have no experience with anything even close to the adult size of that species.
I joined my local club and found a wide cross section of people from all walks of life. All used local water and local shops. Some are my kind of people. We all have a common interest.

What I am saying is the species you wish to keep is a long term commitment worthy of a few dollars to join your local club.

I know you will need a very heavy lid but I guess you know that?

All the fish clubs in China operate in Chinese and my Chinese is so poor I can't really participate, however, there's an English speaking club in HK. I'm gonna join once the borders open up. Yep, the tank has the lids built in.

 

Can u send me a pic of ur fish?

 

Can u send me a pic of ur fish?

I haven't gotten it yet, but I will send a pic when I do. Next month probably. I'll also post videos, I still haven't decided on a variety. Which do you think is best?

 

I haven't gotten it yet, but I will send a pic when I do. Next month probably. I'll also post videos on my YT. I still haven't decided on a variety. Which do you think is best?

I love every variety of arowana which fits my pocket lol. If I had to choose one I would pick a blue base arowana

 

I love every variety of arowana which fits my pocket lol. If I had to choose one I would pick a blue base arowana

Those are stunning! I am torn between red and gold though

 

This is where you need to do your research, although it is true that in Asia they use much smaller aquaria like you are proposing.

Arowana & Arapaima Species Profiles

A lot of people have lost them because they are more stressed and try and jump.

Its a 2ft+ fish. There is a 4 ft one here:

There's one 34 years old here.

As well as satisfying yourself you should satisfy your fish by giving it what it needs.

 

Hello there. I have never kept or even considered keeping arowanas, but I watched a video about them on Kg tropicals. He said that he kept a brick on top of the lid, and the Arowana was still able to jump. I am not trying to scare you, just saying. I would just watch the video though, cause he said that was the first time it even attempted to jump.

 

This is where you need to do your research, although it is true that in Asia they use much smaller aquaria like you are proposing.

Arowana & Arapaima Species Profiles

A lot of people have lost them because they are more stressed and try and jump. Its a 2ft fish.

I think 180g is ok for a asian arowana since a general rule for a arowana tank is ""The length of the tank should be 3 times bigger than the length of the fish"

 

That's not a rule that's an opinion.

 

I agree, I think 180 is too small for a fully grown arowana. If its longer, then that means its going to be shorter, typical 180 is 6x2x2. To have a 9 foot by 3 foot tank footprint, it would be less then 1 foot tall. If its taller then it wont have the width. It would be like getting a Great Dane in a small studio apartment. Just because you can and others do it, maybe doesn't mean its the right thing to do.

Anyways, I have said my part, I wish you the best of luck if you go forward with it. Once you upgrade to a 300 gallon in a year it will be great to have 2 large tanks!

 

I agree, I think 180 is too small for a fully grown arowana. If its longer, then that means its going to be shorter, typical 180 is 6x2x2. To have a 9 foot by 3 foot tank footprint, it would be less then 1 foot tall. If its taller then it wont have the width. It would be like getting a Great Dane in a small studio apartment. Just because you can and others do it, maybe doesn't mean its the right thing to do.

Anyways, I have said my part, I wish you the best of luck if you go forward with it. Once you upgrade to a 300 gallon in a year it will be great to have 2 large tanks!

That's honestly that 300 g is most likely outcome haha

I agree with you on that just because you can, doesn't make it right. Like how just because they sell betta bowls doesn't mean you should use them.

However, some of the healthiest, most beautiful arros in the the world are in Asia and they're in tanks the West would categorize as too small. It's common practice here and the fish are healthy. If if it stunted or hurt the fish, people wouldn't drop 3-5K on said fish. Other arro keepers (both here and abroad) have confirmed that the tank I bought is sufficient. Regardless, I'll probably bump up to 300+ later just cause I like big tanks.

This is simply my opinion and I understand others will disagree.

Hello there. I have never kept or even considered keeping arowanas, but I watched a video about them on Kg tropicals. He said that he kept a brick on top of the lid, and the Arowana was still able to jump. I am not trying to scare you, just saying. I would just watch the video though, cause he said that was the first time it even attempted to jump.

I'm not too worried about this part, this tank was specifically made for asian arowana. The lid is like layered so that the parts overlap and weigh each other down. I can't really explain it well but I'll share a picture later.

 

Please share pictures once things get going. Would love to see the tank and arowana once set up. They are very beautiful.

 

Please share pictures once things get going. Would love to see the tank and arowana once set up. They are very beautiful.

for sure! I'll also put some videos on my YT channel and share

This is where you need to do your research, although it is true that in Asia they use much smaller aquaria like you are proposing.

Arowana & Arapaima Species Profiles

A lot of people have lost them because they are more stressed and try and jump.

Its a 2ft+ fish. There is a 4 ft one here:

There's one 34 years old here.

As well as satisfying yourself you should satisfy your fish by giving it what it needs.

I just made an account on monsterfishkeepers! I said something similar on another post, but I'll mention it again here. Ppl do tend to keep fish in smaller tanks in Asia, but I've spoken with arowana keepers both here, in Singapore (where they have the absolute best arowana!), and with some western keepers. They've confirmed what I have is alright.

It's common practice in a lot of places to use these 180s and the fish are healthy. If if it stunted or hurt the fish, people wouldn't drop 3-5K on that fish.

And this is just my opinion on the matter. I know people will disagree, but I've done my own research, I've talked to other keepers, and this is the tank size I came to for the time being.

But I'll probably bump up to 300+ later just cause I like big tanks. =D
Al

This is where you need to do your research, although it is true that in Asia they use much smaller aquaria like you are proposing.

Arowana & Arapaima Species Profiles

A lot of people have lost them because they are more stressed and try and jump.

Its a 2ft+ fish. There is a 4 ft one here:

There's one 34 years old here.

As well as satisfying yourself you should satisfy your fish by giving it what it needs.

I'm also starting with a baby. The big ones are wayyyyyyy too expensive.

 

Just curious is this an acrylic tank. My lfs has one in their display tanks that they don’t sell but they said this is her third tank before they finally decided to go acrylic. because they can easily break a glass tank with the force of their body

 

That's honestly that 300 g is most likely outcome haha

I agree with you on that just because you can, doesn't make it right. Like how just because they sell betta bowls doesn't mean you should use them.

However, some of the healthiest, most beautiful arros in the the world are in Asia and they're in tanks the West would categorize as too small. It's common practice here and the fish are healthy. If if it stunted or hurt the fish, people wouldn't drop 3-5K on said fish. Other arro keepers (both here and abroad) have confirmed that the tank I bought is sufficient. Regardless, I'll probably bump up to 300+ later just cause I like big tanks.

This is simply my opinion and I understand others will disagree.

I'm not too worried about this part, this tank was specifically made for asian arowana. The lid is like layered so that the parts overlap and weigh each other down. I can't really explain it well but I'll share a picture later.

An a asian arowana would be perfectly fine in a 180g. Although I would personally increase that a width a bit but its fine just keep them clean and healthy

That's not a rule that's an opinion.

Well then in that logic keeping a betta in a tank instead of vase can be counted a opinion and not a rule or a necessity!