arowana

[audio77]

i have a 180 (6x2x2) and i was considering putting in an arowana or 2. i will not have room to get a larger tank and i am wondering if this will be too cramped for them once they mature. anyone KNOW the answer to this.:confused:

[OrionGirl]

The 180 will be okay for a while, but only for one. A pair would need a much bigger system. I wouldn't go with this setup. Check with Aikido--his aro is huge. He also keeps a large weight on the cover to prevent it from escaping.

[AikidoGuy]

the 180 is ok for a single silver. mine lived in one for 5 years with a pair of stingrays. they LOVE to jump and make a disaster on your floor. make sure you have a heavy top or something heavy ON your top. The fish will outgrow that tank after awhile mine went into a 450gallon. A 300gallon should be ok though for it when its full grown. Mine is 42" and hasnt grown much in the last 2 years and its 7 years old now. I can se eit reachign 4solid feet by its 10th birthday. the 6' stuff yo uhear is nonsence, the fish would have to be 20years old probably to be reach that size or in tank thats thousands (not hundreds) of gallons

[terror]

180 gallon would be ok for a piece of arowana. it would be possible to keep maybe 2 silvers. but if your going to keep asian aros they are more aggressive and will most likeky kill each other if only 2 of them are in the tank.

[pinballqueen]

Originally posted by AikidoGuy
Mine is 42" and hasnt grown much in the last 2 years and its 7 years old now. I can se eit reachign 4solid feet by its 10th birthday. the 6' stuff yo uhear is nonsence, the fish would have to be 20years old probably to be reach that size or in tank thats thousands (not hundreds) of gallons

It is POSSIBLE to see a 6' aro. There is one at Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg. However, as you said, it's in thousands of gallons in a biotope at a public aquarium, and I'll figure it at probably 15-16 years old. It used to reside at one of the local fish places about 4 years ago, and it was close to 5 feet then. I don't ever remember not seeing that fish around, and I've lived here and dealt with that particular LFS for 14 years or so. I was soooo glad to see it go somewhere that it could live a full life in a really big environment.

Incidentally, how long is the life expectancy on one of those beauties? I would assume their king-sized body would command an impressive life expectancy....

[LMOUTHBASS]

couldve sworn on the animal channel a long time ago i saw something on south american fish in the wild, arowanas are these the fish that when full grown, simply gulp down pirannahs whole, i mean ive seen them in fish stores etc, but i cant think of if this is the fish i saw oin tv, they were pretty cool though

[AikidoGuy]

The life expectancy in unknown actually. It is well over 20 years and thats pretty much al lanyone body ever says.

I can see them gulping a whole pirahana, mine swallowed a Turq. Severum, and ate a Albino oscar. It tried to eat a full grown tinfoil barb but the barb was just way too big. it mananged to hold the barb in its mouth the whole day eventually killing the barb then he spit it out. Of all the cichlids I have kept and currently keep which are ALWAYS hungry! the Silver arowana is buy far the most expensive ish I have ever had to feed!!!! makes feeding multiples of 16 different species of cichlid liek feeding a few guppies!

[terror]

think they can live to more than 60 years..
as i've heard an arowana handed down from grandfather to grandson:)

[cdawson]

Originally posted by LMOUTHBASS
couldve sworn on the animal channel a long time ago i saw something on south american fish in the wild, arowanas are these the fish that when full grown, simply gulp down pirannahs whole, i mean ive seen them in fish stores etc, but i cant think of if this is the fish i saw oin tv, they were pretty cool though

You might have seen an arapaima, they get up to 15' in length. Their scales are used as natural nail files, and they've been known to swallow small mammals.
The vancouver aquarium has several in a 100,000g amazon biotope tank with a 4' silver arowana, 4 - 4' red tail catfish, 2 - 5' tiger shovelnoses, 3 motoro stingrays, some more aggressive cichlids, a 4 3' pirarucu's (black pacu). I drool everytime I see that tank =) If anyone's seen it, it's truly impressive.

[125gJoe]

What fish is this? Arrowana? I looked around for pics from the Vancouver Aquarium and found this..

http://technojunkie.org/berniec/galleries/Vancouver-5-7Jan2002/Images/22.jpg

[PumaWard]

I believe that one is the airapaima.

[PumaWard]

Here's another pick of them I got off google.
These things are huge...
http://www.potamotrygon.de/bilder/koeln3.jpg

[terror]

Originally posted by PumaWard
Here's another pick of them I got off google.
These things are huge...
http://www.potamotrygon.de/bilder/koeln3.jpg


arapaimas are the biggest freshwater fish:)

[stik6shift98]

i love arrowannas.....the biggest silver one i have seen was 3 feet...it was sooo cool too bad i dont have room for one:(

[cdawson]

Originally posted by 80gJoe
What fish is this? Arrowana? I looked around for pics from the Vancouver Aquarium and found this..

http://technojunkie.org/berniec/galleries/Vancouver-5-7Jan2002/Images/22.jpg

HEY! Where'd you get that picture!? =)
Thank you so much, I'm now using it for my wallpaper. =)
That's an arapaima gigas, there's like 3-4 of them in that tank. The largest is about 15 ft.

[stik6shift98]

15 feeet hollllllllly crap!!!

[cdawson]

That redtail catfish at the bottom right is about 4 1/2 ft long. That tank is truly something to see, the picture doesn't do it ANY justice. To anyone interested in the amazon river and it's fishy inhabitants, I strongly recommend visisting the vancouver aquarium. Hell the city is just as beautiful, as well as all the surrounding area. The amazon gallery at the V-aquarium is something to be seen. I've been to quite a few amazon exhibits throughout north america and it's probably the best. As well as the FW exhibits outside of the amazon gallery, including a brand new lake malawi exhibit.

[stik6shift98]

Originally posted by cdawson
That redtail catfish at the bottom right is about 4 1/2 ft long. That tank is truly something to see, the picture doesn't do it ANY justice.

wow....th biggest redtail ive seen is 2 feet....

i would love to see these fish in person

[funkifish]

wow the biggest redtail IVE seen was a baby about a quarter foot long