Setting up an arowana tank.

Hello,

I am setting up an arowana tank and would like some advice.

What color or type of substrate is best?

What fish can I put in the same tank? Severums?

What plants can I add?

How many Arowana can I keep in one tank?

How much water flow do they need?

Is 125 gallons ok?

Temperature?

Has anybody had success maintaining a breeder tank for feeder fish? How large?

Thank you for your time
Larry

 

IMO, there is really no domestic aquarium suitable for Arowana.

The recommended minimum is 200G (750 Litres), but much bigger is much better. The Arowana can grow to over 1 metre long (about 3' 5").

There's a profile for this spectacular fish here on fishlore: https://www.fishlore.com/profiles_silver_arowana.htm

I would recommend (as the profile does) to leave these beauties in the wild unless you can provide a huge tank, great filtration and really look after it.

 

There are different sized arowanas, so I would be looking at getting the smallest one (jardini? there's one that stays under 2 feet, I'm pretty sure), but even that's gonna outgrow a 125. as ryan said, the big ones (black arowana) get huge and are not suitable for all but the biggest home aquariums, aka custom built 400+ gallons.

there is a plethora of info on the internet - most of the questions youve asked can be answered with a google search. for more specific questions, you can look at monster fish keepers. many people there have huge custom built tanks that hold real tankbusters, arowanas included.

 

Thank you for your posts. But is there anyone that could speak from experience of owning one of these fish? I will buy an arowana and I need to know the best way of taking care of it because I have really grown to adore this fish. I don't know if I can afford to buy larger than an 125. but I will try to go for a 180gal. I would appreciate if you can answer any of my questions I posted.

Thanks
Larry

 

You don't need the super big tank right away, but that time will come.

There are a few people here that keep them, but as I said you ought to look at monster fish keepers.

 

Thank you for your posts. But is there anyone that could speak from experience of owning one of these fish? I will buy an arowana and I need to know the best way of taking care of it because I have really grown to adore this fish. I don't know if I can afford to buy larger than an 125. but I will try to go for a 180gal. I would appreciate if you can answer any of my questions I posted.

Thanks
Larry

a 125 G is enough. just as long you have more than enough filtration and very far from the point of overstocked.

there are many variables on how a aro. will grow, its growth rate. from what ive seen from all the asian LFS in seattle, wa; a full grown aro. will most def. survive and be happy in a 125 G, with proper filtration.

at one point I was about to buy a 200 G for over 400 bucks at a asian LFS.
the owner told me to settle for a 125 G.
now, he couldve made a few extra bucks off me and have sold a tank; but he did not.
he said: buy a 125 G from me for 325, or buy a used tank for even less.

 

What kind of Arowana are you getting? If you are in the US,Jardini,African,and Silver or Black are the only ones legal.

JardinI stay the smallest,but a 125 is not big enough. You will need at least a 30 inch wide tank,and 6 to 8 feet long.Jars are very aggressive,and will often kill anything else in the tank.

African Aros need a 8x4 foot tank to be housed for life.The are also very picky eaters(filter eaters),and not recommend for beginners.

Silvers and blacks will be fine in a 180 for 2 or 3 years,but will also need a very large tank to be housed for life. A good rule for them is,twice the length of their body,and with a few inches wider than their maximum length. So a 8x3 is what you will need for life.

Asian aros have the most color,but are illegal in the US. If you do not live in the US,you will pay big bucks for one. They get to be around the same size as a Jar,so they will need a similair sized tank.

Aros are great fish. I have a silver myself. But in order to keep them healthy for life,you need the room for a huge tank,the room to keep the tank in,and the money to get it. If you have 5 or 6 grand to spend on a tank for 1 fish,go for it!

 

Hello,

I am setting up an arowana tank and would like some advice.

What color or type of substrate is best?

What fish can I put in the same tank? Severums?

What plants can I add?

How many Arowana can I keep in one tank?

How much water flow do they need?

Is 125 gallons ok?

Temperature?

Has anybody had success maintaining a breeder tank for feeder fish? How large?

Thank you for your time
Larry

They are top swimmers,so substrate does not matter.

Severums would probably work. Eartheaters usually are fine too. It depends on the fish though. Any and all tank mates could be food.

Any plants,live or fake are fine.

Depends on the size of tank. A 450 to 500 gallon, 3 or 4 aros. Bigger the tank,the more fish you could keep.

Slower flow on the top of the tank is best.

125 will work for a grow out for 12 to 18 months at most,depending on the type of aro it is. It is not even close to being big enough for life.

79 to 82 degrees.

Don't give them feeders.You will never get them off them,and if they are use to eating live food,they are sure to eat any tank mates,which it sounds like you would like to keep with one. Give them good quality freeze dried mysis,krill,blood worms,flakes when small. Then get them onto pellets as they grow.

 

reducing stress, keeping a silver arowana happy should be your main approach, which in turn helps the arowana be comfortable and happy.

whatever it takes, do it.
keeping a sil aro. in a 400 G is always good, but no need if having just 1 arowana.

 

keeping a sil aro. in a 400 G is always good, but no need if having just 1 arowana.

125 gallon tanks are 18 inches wide. A silver aro will grow to 32 to 36 inches. A 8x3 tank is needed to house one for life. 18 inches is just not enough room to turn.They will eventually start to swim backwards,get gill curl,get stunted,and die pre-maturely.

 

until that time comes, no need to speculate.

A healthy aro. will turn just as how a hand with its second knuckle clenched and then moving the fingers downward.

I witness my arowana doing her turns all the time.
---
my silver arowana at 3" cost me 30 bucks when I first brought her home.
since then, ive spent about 500 bucks, not including the new tank; to plan for her happiness.
this is how I'm so dedicated to my arowana's comfort.
ive removed so much: duckweeds, driftwood, a 3rd filter, a bullying fish; just for her.
I'm not implying that monetary unlimitness is a point of impressiveness, what I'm saying is:

I'm giving first hand experience. just as the OP is asking for.
whether it may be wrong, the wrong approach or just plain inhumane.

I'm giving my 2 cents.

 

until that time comes, no need to speculate.

I'm not speculating on anything. I have a 450 gallon tank,96x36x30,that I spent thousands,not hundreds on,that I have 1 silver(34in) and 2 black aros(26&30in) in. I myself,along with others I know,made the mistake of thinking a 125,or 150,or even 180 or 220 would be large enough for a aro for life. They are not. The aros do not have enough room to turn,grow,and live.They do get gill curl,get stunted and die. I'm sorry to tell you,but your 125 is not big enough to house your fish for much more than a year or 2. I'm not giving my 2 cents,I am giving years of experience,FWIW.

 

At least on this one I agree with you 100% Nitro. There's no way 125gal is big enough to permanantly house any Arrowana. Very accurate info about the consequences of keeping such a large fish in a tank that's too small for it to.

 

Good morning.

Rude comments and arguing will not be tolerated! I suggest you both agree to disagree and let it go at that.

Ken

 

Great info above. But I wouldn't suggest adding anything else in the tank except for the Arowana itself because they create a lot of waste and in turn whatever you have in there such as plants, substrate or decorations will get dirty and it wouldn't look nice. So a tank without anything would do nicely

Severums would probably work. Eartheaters usually are fine too. It depends on the fish though. Any and all tank mates could be food.

As long as the fish is big enough not to fit into the Aro's mouth then it should be fine

 

I think anyone that is daring enough to house an arowana will know when it is too big for its tank. I'd just recommend you prepare for that day by saving money for a bigger tank or make plans to sell it

 

Well. I just want to thank everyone for being honest and giving their info to me. You have convinced me to buy a 180 gallon 6'x2'x2' (I beleive)

I know you all say to go larger but at the moment that wouldnt be anything short of absurd for me. If I see that the arowana is having a difficult life in there I will think about taking him or her out when the time comes. I am looking forward to growing the fish out. So I want to buy one small.

I have decided to go with TahitI moon sand so that I can add a stingray.
How many pounds of sand would be good for a 180gal tank? I may order 300 pounds but that sounds like alot. Any more advice you can share?
Is drift wood ok as a decoration? What decor do you have?
Filtration?

 

Driftwood is fine for decoration & some large leaf floating plants will be much appreciated to. Something like Water Lettuce should work well. Unless you are planning on having substrate rooted plants, 150lb of sand should be plenty. I used 120lb of a fine grained sand in my 6x2x2ft & that gave me a bit about 1 1/2" deep substrate. I've got a fair bit of wood in there that displaces some of the sand, meaning it is a bit deeper than if there were no decorations. There's no way you will need more than 200lb though, even with substrate rooted plants.

 

I have hit an important speed bump...

What do you guys do for filtration ? I am thinking a fluval fx5 canister filter..

Any opinions?

 

I have hit an important speed bump...

What do you guys do for filtration ? I am thinking a fluval fx5 canister filter..

Any opinions?

Fx5 times 2. Or two Eheim Pro 3.

 

BTW, while Asian and JardinI arowanas couldn't care less about tank decorations, SA arowanas, namely blacks and silvers, prefer a heavily planted tank. If that's not possible, at least have tall plants on both ends of the tank so if it gets spooked, it won't bash its snout onto the end of the tank and either bruise himself pretty badly, or crack the tank glass, or both.

About housing, I don't think that the volume of the tank is the biggest matter; it is the dimensions. Due to the fact that most aros have pretty armored, stiff bodies and grow rather large, a wide tank for him when he's an adult may have to be used. I'd say a custom 600 gallon tank, which is 8x5x2 feet (LxWxH).

 

Hey guys. So I am considering a black arowana or a silver arowana. I also want to add a stingray and some green severums.

I am considering filtration right now and that has become a big speed bump. right now I am considering a fluval fx5 rated for 400 gallons at 607 gph. But it gets a bit pricey at $330.

The person I am purchasing the tank from suggested a wet dry with an overflow box. He said this might be the cheaper and better solution.

I wanted to hear your suggestions on this. Perhaps this is the wrong forum to ask this question. But I appreciate what you will have to say since I will be housing an arowana.

I just purchased two 250w ebo-jager heaters, a peice of drift wood, and 200 pounds of tahitI moon sand. I will have to build a canopy for the tank but I am going to wait a month for it to cycle until I add the arowana, so I have time for that.

Also what are good cycling fish?

 

Oh. I didnt see the previous posts. So the FX5 won't be enough??

Also Id like to say that its not possible for me to get a larger tank right now.

So, I understand your concern about me housing such a large fish in the tank BUT I will face that hurdle when I reach it. I am sure I can house the arowana for a couple of years before it gets to big. I will be buying a juvenile.

Thanks again.

 

Do you know about the Nitrogen Cycle? Leaving the tank for a month won't cycle it. If you were really fishlessly cycling the tank, I would be thinking of maybe 2 or 3 months for it to cycle. Please read the link to the words above, and learn how to cycle your tank as to prevent losses of your fish in the future.

 

I didnt say I was going to cycle it without fish. I am going to put fish to cycle and I even asked what fish are best.

 

Sorry but I have to be blunt, very blunt.

There is no such thing as a best fish for cycling

No matter what you do, exposing fish to the nitrogen cycle is not only cruel, it is potentially fatal, no matter how hardy the fish.

Would you bring a new puppy home and put it in a room full of carbon monoxide? It might tolerate it, heck it might even live through it, but it's so cruel.

You have an opportunity to avoid the cruelty, but then I guess, what would I know....

good luck, but I don't think anyone here at fishlore will recommend a good fish for cycling....

 

I'm not sure I understand.

I am not trying to be rude but I can't help but feel thatsome people do not read the entire post.

I was simply asking how best to cycle a tank. Since I was young the recommended method was to buy a group of small but hardy fish.

If you are saying that this is outdated and there is another prefered method. I am completely open to new knowledge or advice

 

Cycling with fish the old way is very rough on the fish, as was mentioned. But that's the kind of thing that's up to you to decide if it's right or wrong for you. Many people have had success with tetra safestart, which is a form of cycling with fish. It;s the new way to do it. Danios are an old favorite if you don't want to do the TSS with expensive fish.

A fishless cycle really is ideal, though.

Welcome to the site!

 

Fx5 times 2. Or two Eheim Pro 3.

I agree with the 2 FX5's,but Eheim Pro 3's are not worth it IME. I have one on a 180,with a Eheim 2262. The 2262 by itself is enough,but I wanted the Pro 3 for the heat,and to run a UV on. I have a 2180. They are designed poorly IMO,and not worth the money. I love Eheim Classics. I own more than I care to admit to,and cannot recommend the Classics enough. But when it comes to the Pro 3,don't waste your money. If a canister is what you want,get one Eheim 2262. You'll pay a pretty penny for it,but it is well worth it.

Fishless cycling is easier than a fish in cycle.



Read up on it,and ask lots of questions.
Good Luck.

 

I was very happy with my Pro 3's (2075's) but I got them pretty cheap. The Classic's are definitely better though. (my favourite filter to )

 

I may still go with a wet dry or a fx5.

To me cycling a tank with a danio or two for example is the lesser of two evils. Why should I expose an expensive and less common fish to a tank when I could have easily cycled it with a hardy common danio. Is it not wrong to introduce an arowana into a tank that has yet to be tested on an actual living fish. Sometimes the older methods are better than dumping a bunch of chemicals into a tank and hoping for the best.

Thank you for your informative posts jaysee

 

A danio or 2 will never cycle a 180 gallon tank. There is just not enough bio load from them,FWIW.

If you want to cycle with fish,nothing wrong with doing that IMO,get some tiger barbs. I have some in with some of my Aros,and they are left alone. 15 or 20 will get the ammonia needed to get a 180 going. The biggest downside to this is the amount of water needed for the water changes,and the time involved.

I would get yourself some raw market shrimp or fish,put it in a media bag,toss it in,and wait. Using raw fish or shrimp is the set it and forget it approach to fishless cycling. And in a 180,unless you can get some cycled media to help you new tank along,probably your best bet.


Or you could get some Seachem Stability. I have used it it with great success.You can get enough to cycle a 180 for about $20.

 

A danio or 2 will never cycle a 180 gallon tank. There is just not enough bio load from them,FWIW.

If you want to cycle with fish,nothing wrong with doing that IMO,get some tiger barbs. I have some in with some of my Aros,and they are left alone. 15 or 20 will get the ammonia needed to get a 180 going. The biggest downside to this is the amount of water needed for the water changes,and the time involved.

I would get yourself some raw market shrimp or fish,put it in a media bag,toss it in,and wait. Using raw fish or shrimp is the set it and forget it approach to fishless cycling. And in a 180,unless you can get some cycled media to help you new tank along,probably your best bet.


Or you could get some Seachem Stability. I have used it it with great success.You can get enough to cycle a 180 for about $20.

+1. Great advice there from Nitro.

PS: Fishless cycling isn't adding a bunch of chemicals & hoping for the best. It is adding pure ammonia in controlled quantities, monitoring & waiting for the bacteria to develop. Pure ammonia gives you the identical bacteria to using actual fish wastes from live fish. Why risk ANY fishes health when you don't need to? Fishless cycling is the ONLY way to garuntee that no fish will be put at risk whether they be cheap & common or rare & expensive.

 

Well. I learned a lot. Thank you all for your help. I never thought of it that way nitro. I guess it couldn't hurt if I did that for the first few weeks. So is there anything else that can be used or do I have to buy an aquarium product? I just looked up seachem stability and its not that expensive but I would have to order it because I have never seen it in the LFS. I am kind of against bottled products and always prefer to do things on the natural side. So please excuse me if I always seem to lean away from bottled products.

I will try the raw shrimp thing... and add the tiger barbs a few weeks later.

I am also thinking about taking some old media from my friends tank and putting it in my wetdry to cycle it.

Thanks for enlightening me.

Ill let you know how it works out

 

I am also thinking about taking some old media from my friends tank and putting it in my wetdry to cycle it.

Great idea
In fact, this could almost give you an 'instant' cycle. I would let the tank get to about 0.5-1ppm ammonia, then add the filter media. That way there is a food source for the bacteria. [unless you'll have fish in there, in which case add the media straight away as the fish will produce ammonia]

And just be sure to keep the ammonia source up to it until such time as you add the arowana, otherwise the bacteria will die off it isn't fed.

Whether the source be raw shrimp, fish or pure ammonia, it doesn't matter, as long as you keep the bacteria fed

 

I think bigger is definitely better for an arrowana. with that said, I have a silver arrowana in a 125 gallon tank. So far, its very healthy and happy. My friend has one too and he's had it for over 3 years. good filtration and regular water changes is required though.