2 Silver Arowanas

pillzburypimp

AC Members
Nov 7, 2006
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Hey everyone, I am brand new to these boards and figured I'd throw out my first question for anyone to answer..... Would a 90 gallon tank be big enough for 2 silver arowanas? Thanks in advance!
 
that tank is big enough for no arowanas. minimum tank size for one silver is 250g, for two id say 400g.
 
Agreed...rallysman has one along with some other predatory fish in his 265 gallon tank. Pic on this link:

265g tank pic

v/r, N-A
 
o srry, wondering if you meant short term? If thats what you meant then if you got aros at about four inches you could keep them in there for about six months.
 
90 gallon, no way.
It's really not even worth wasting your time or money on a 90 unless you already have a larger tank. They can grow 1-2" per month, so they would outgrow a 90 very quickly.

Another thing to take into consideration is that you wont be able to keep 2 silvers together unless you find a pair, which will be next to impossible.

In order to keep more that 1 silver aro, you need to have about 5 to distribute aggression. This obviously will take a very massive tank.
 
ok thanks for all the answers, guess I won't be getting the arrowana's like I had hoped even though those are my all time favorite freshwater fish but maybe I will get one and just keep it til it grows to big but not sure what else I would want instead of those
 
African butterfly fish are like small Arowanas:)
Same family even.....
I would advise against growing them out to sell unless you're 100% sure that you can get rid of it. Arowanas are harder to sell when they get big because there aren't many people who can/want to house them.
 
get one and just keep it til it grows to big
and then do what with it? if you cannot properly house an arowana, the kindest/most humane thing you can do is NOT GET ONE. getting one to satisfy YOUR personal desire for a particular fish is irresponsible in my opinion.

when you undertake to keep a particular species of fish, it becomes your responsibility to provide for that fish's needs ... this includes proper tank size. there are a vast number and variety of fish out there that will be housed perfectly in 90 gallons. find one and fall in love with it.

fish maintained in tanks which are too small or in conditions which are too crowded, develop severe stress syndrome. these fish do not exhibit proper color, do not develop proper fin form, do not exhibit proper metabolic development, do not exhibit normal behaviour, do not develop proper musculature, do not develop properly functioning organ systems and as a result, slowly lose their inherant resistance to disease. this results in a significantly shortened lifespan and along the way, lots of diseases for which the poorly conditioned fish is a good target.
 
yea I guess I will have to stay away from arowana's for now at least until I have enough money saved for a tank big enough not sure what to put in the tank now I will probably use cichlids because i want to make my tank aggressive I will also be getting a snowflake eel
 
i want to make my tank aggressive
i don't mean to step on your parade but please don't get fish simply because you perceive them to be "aggressive".

not all cichlids are aggressive. some that exhibit "aggression" may only do so when housed improperly. a great many cichlids are "aggressive" only because they're housed in tanks which are too small to allow them to exhibit their normal behavioural traits. if a particular cichlid species dominates a territory that is roughly 4 feet square and you put it into a tank that is only 4 feet long, then other fish, be they cichlids or not, cannot escape the territory of the dominant fish within the confines of your glass box. the result is certain death either by the stress of constant harrassment or by outright attack. the "aggressive" fish means no purposeful harm to the rest of the tanks inhabitants ... it's simply defending an area which it perceives to be its own. this is a genetic trait, not an aggressive trait.

other cichlid species may act aggressive depending on your definition. predators may appear aggressive to you but they are only doing what they are genetically programmed to do .. i.e, prey on other fish in order to make a living.

still other cichlids, such as african Mbuna appear aggressive but if you understand their biology you'll quickly realize they are simply acting normally. these cichlids are polygamous. males attempt to spawn with all the females of their species which are in the tank. fish do not understand that a female may not be ready to spawn and thus attempt to avoid the advances of the male. if there is only a single female, or even two, the male will continuously pursue the female(s) whether they have eggs or not. this harrassment may be taken as aggression. it is not.

in their native habitat, African Mbuna are found in abundance over rocky areas which provide both both the algae that they feed on, and the caves, nooks and crannies they need to hide in. both males and females are in a constant battle to claim and occupy those caves that are available. thus, both nutrient source and caves are a natural limiting factor of the number of Mbuna that occupy a given area of the lake.

in the home aquarium, uninformed hobbyists seem bent on cramming far too many Mbuna into a given tank space under the mistaken impression i think, that this is the way to limit aggression. it may work but it puts a tremendous strain on the filtration system given the huge biological load in the tank and further, it put tremendouos stresses on the fish.

in my opinion and experience, it's far better to insure that you've got at least 4 females for a single male so that spawning aggression and stress is diluted, and to keep fewer rather than more fish in a given tank space. if you provide at least one cave for each fish in the tank there will be no need for the fish to fight over territory and thus territorial aggression is naturally limited.
 
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