Arowanas and Rays

[Mantas]

Hello All...New to this site but I've had alot of experience with freshwater tanks...I currently have a 30 with 3 angels and a 10 with a few guppies and white clouds, took down my 55 (one huge oscar) at the wife's request about a year ago...Anyway we remodeled and now that I have the room I went and bought a 150...I'm a fan of the larger carnivorous fish and would like to set it up w/ an arowana...I've seen a few in my LFS that have been kept in a tank w/ various freshwater rays, some species of which get huge from what I understand...does anyone have any first hand experience keeping rays w/arowana? what is the preferred type of substrate and what species of rays (if any) are suitable for this setup? Are there any particular pitfalls I need to avoid with these fish? Any help would be appreciated....

 

[ChileRelleno]

Most Aro's get big/long, a 150gal would be very minimal for the average Aro.
Aro's average 2.5'-4'+, a 8'x2'x2' 240gal tank would be much better suited for long term, but still IMHO minimal for the larger species.
Aro's need lots of room to swim, they are almost always on the surface and cruise incessantly, they also like to jump therefore their tanks must be well covered

There are some South American rays that don't get overly large.
Thoroughly research different species beforehand, rays require/demand exceptional care/water quality, special handling techniques and can be hard to acclimate to new surroundings.
Feeding can require patience and training to accept cut prepared foods.
Substrate for rays is a smooth edged sand or fine/smooth gravel. Habitat needs to be wide open tank bottom, they will cruise around a bit but spend substantial amounts of time lurking under the substrate with just their eyes showing.
A 240gal standard tank or a 300gal round rubbermaid cattle/stock tank would provide sufficient room for one of these magnificent creatures.

 

[Toirtis]

Sure, a lot of people I know do it, but you need a large, wide tank. Chilerelleno hit most of it....I would suggest a tank about 6'-8' long by 4'-5' wide, by about 3'-3½' deep....so a good 500+ gallons. Mostly around here, people keep Asian aros with motoros, motelos, henlei, or castexi, but since Asians are probably not an option for you, I would suggest silvers, blacks, or leichardtii (I understand that people trying with jardinis often have aggression issues).

 

[fish_freak]

I think I rember that there is some kind an arowana that stays under 2 feet but I think it was rare maybe if you reasearch it. I personaly dont like any besides the silver and they get 3-4' so your looking at like 300gallons for one of them. To bad cause there beautiful fish.

 

[Roan Art]

700g gallons for a silver bare minimum. Tropical Fish World in MD has a 3+ foot arro in a 700g tank and the guy doesn't have room to swim from one end to the other before he has to turn around. I've got some crappy pics somewhere and if I can find them I'll post.

Remember, a 3 foot fish in a 6 foot tank isn't getting much swimming space. That's only twice his body length.

Roan

 

[fishcatch22]

yeah. a fish that active needs a tank, like, 4x his body length.

 

[Toirtis]

I think I rember that there is some kind an arowana that stays under 2 feet but I think it was rare maybe if you reasearch it. I personaly dont like any besides the silver and they get 3-4' so your looking at like 300gallons for one of them. To bad cause there beautiful fish.

Nope...even Asians (the smallest species) can hit 32"-38" (with 28"-32" being more typical)....and silvers can hit 60", although 40"-48" is more common.

Besides, we are combining rays here, which also get reasonably large, and require a tank with a large footprint...that ray with a 14"-20" disc needs space, too, and a 36" wide tank is a minimum...so easily 700 and up for combining the both fishes.

 

[is300zx]

A 150 gal is not large enough either for an adult ray or arowana. You can use it to grow them out but eventually you'll have to upgrade them to much larger tank. Go with the smaller species of polypterus instead if you like primitive predatory fishes like the senegalus or delhezis.

 

[kody1192]

plain and simple no...arowana will get atleast 2 and a half feet and are constantly moving...a silver will do fine in a 300gal...and as for rays the smallest species get atleast 12"disc size w/o tail i got an arowana and am gettin rays within the month.....so yes they can be put together since arowana are top dwelling species...i put together my 235 specially for rays and it isnt cheap eathier is the care of rays espically food. and sand is the best but it cant contain silica and estes is preferred(thaitian(sp)moon sand is bad becuase it is very sharp and will cut up the bottom of the rays...also heater gaurds are needed to protect the rays from bein burned....there is lots lots more that i could add check out the post freshwater stingrays in the bottom dweller section also check out www.monsterfishkeepers.com

wow i just threw one piece of advice after another lol sorry bout that

 

[kody1192]

Sure, a lot of people I know do it, but you need a large, wide tank. Chilerelleno hit most of it....I would suggest a tank about 6'-8' long by 4'-5' wide, by about 3'-3½' deep....so a good 500+ gallons. Mostly around here, people keep Asian aros with motoros, motelos, henlei, or castexi, but since Asians are probably not an option for you, I would suggest silvers, blacks, or leichardtii (I understand that people trying with jardinis often have aggression issues).

yes sadly asains are illegal here and motoros will reach about 24"plus disc size for females and 18"plus for males and need atleast 300gal(that is baremin) all the others you posted also get very large close or bigger than the motoro.. and as for the leichardtii very hard to find and wouldnt reccomended it both the aulstailian species are aggressive(jardini leichardtii)