NOOB MISTAKE!

[earthwing]

with no real experience taking care of fishes, i suddenly decided to buy some 'fishes of the amazon' so i went over to the local petshop and bought 2 pacus (4"), 2 oscars (3") and 1 silver arowana (6").

problem is i only have a 35 gallon tank. i just did some research and each of those fish grow around 1" a month. how big of a tank will i need to last for 2 years?

also, my arowana doesnt seem too aggresive when it comes to food. wenever i put guppies in, the oscars eat em all. the only way i can get him to eat is when i drop some worms in the tank. is this because my arowana is still getting used to the new environment?

lastly, my pacus are seem to be getting a little bit aggressive. are they goin to attack the oscars? what other potential problems could i encouter with these fish combo?

 

[7itanium]

TAKE THE AROWANA, AND OSCARS BACK NOW!!!

that arowana is going to need a 500 gallon tank before you know it...
both of the oscars need a 90 gallon MINUMUM EACH
The pacus are gonna need 90 gallons each as well

so to keep all of these fish you are gonna need about a 750 gallon tank


take them back

 

[NeonFlux]

I agree with 7itanium. These fish are monster fishes. Go get a refund. However...if you truly want to keep them, be prepared for a large spending.

 

[7itanium]

I swear to god... i want to blow up all the fish stores that are willing to sell a freakin arowana (not to mention an oscar) to people with tiny tanks....

its more the stores fault than the person who bought them

 

[beblondie]

return them and get smaller species of Amazonian fish tetras etc etc

 

[jimv8673]

This is exactly what i love about a lot of LFS, NO GUIDANCE. It should be a requirement of employment at every LFS that any employee that works in the fish section, know at least how big all fish get, to save new hobbyist this kind of trouble .

 

[DSR]

Wow. That is a lot of fish for a 25 gallon tank. Not only will they quickly outgrow your tank, but you are going to have a very difficult time keeping the tank stable .Oscars can be messy. Something to keep in mind. I am assuming from your post that this tank is new. If so, there hasn't been a cycle and it is incredible difficult, not to mention cruel, to cycle a tank with fish... you are essentially engaging in chemical warfare with the fish that you just paid for...please take the fish back, regardless of how cool they appear... you will not be happy with them.

 

[IceH2O]

TAKE THE AROWANA, AND OSCARS BACK NOW!!!

that arowana is going to need a 500 gallon tank before you know it...
both of the oscars need a 90 gallon MINUMUM EACH
The pacus are gonna need 90 gallons each as well

so to keep all of these fish you are gonna need about a 750 gallon tank


take them back

Why would he not need to take the Pacus back also?

There are some really nice Amazonian cichlids you could buy and put in a 35 gallon. Just think of the adult size when stocking and not the current size.

Apistos
Rams

or you could go with small schooling type fish like tetras,cories,etc



These links might help you


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]South American Whitewater River
South American Clearwater Stream
South American Blackwater Creek
South American Blackwater Stream
Central American Rocky Lake
Central American River[/FONT]

 

[Dejitaru_Davis]

This is exactly what i love about a lot of LFS, NO GUIDANCE. It should be a requirement of employment at every LFS that any employee that works in the fish section, know at least how big all fish get, to save new hobbyist this kind of trouble .

While I do agree employees really need to guide the customer, I think customers have just as much responsibility to research before they purchase. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't buy a car, or a TV, or a computer without doing research. I would want to make sure my purchase would meet all the requirements.

 

[excuzzzeme]

The store either took advantage of your ignorance or you refused to listen to reason. Unfortunately the fish end up suffering as a result. To help the fish and yourself out, take all the fish back to the store if you can. Next go to the stickies in this section that will teach you about cycling a tank.

Cycling a tank

Arowana's get very large and Oscars need a 75 gallon tank minimum for just one, and a minimum of 100 gallon 6 ft tank for 2. There is no guarantee that just because they start out together that you will be able to keep them together as they mature. You will also need extra filtration for them due to their messiness. For my Oscars, I have one in a 90 with 2 Emperor 400's and the other is in a 100 gallon tank with a sump good for 200 gallon FW @ 1000-1200gph. You may see articles saying that Oscars can be kept in a 55 - NOT TRUE!!! Minimum is 75 gallons. You can't keep a 15"+ fish in a 13" wide tank.

Not knowing which Pacu you have, you might be able to get by with a 200 gallon tank just for them.

I am sorry you got no advice or whatever from the LFS and we will do what we can to help you have a good healthy tank of fish.