skittish silver aro

[islander671]

i have a silver aro, about 7-8 in. just recently he started acting really skittish. I cant approach the tank to feed him without him darting for cover. he still eats, not as much as he was before though. he wasnt like this until 3 days ago. did a 25% water change. and the water parameters appear fine. Is anything wrong with him or is this a phase kinda thing for silvers? any info would be great.thanks!

[dodgefreak8]

what size tank is he in. mine was like that when I had him in my 55 growing out. when I moved him he was instantly better. also check all of your water parameters. and add blackwater extract to calm him. good luck. hope yours is doing better than mine

[islander671]

what size tank is he in. mine was like that when I had him in my 55 growing out. when I moved him he was instantly better. also check all of your water parameters. and add blackwater extract to calm him. good luck. hope yours is doing better than mine

he is in a 55 right now, but when he gets bigger i will move him into a 75. I will try the black water extract. is it a common product? our LFS doesnt have much to offer and its the only one in this little town.
Good luck with your silver. I saw the pic you posted of him on your last post. i can see why your attached to him. thanks again.

[redtailfool]

he is in a 55 right now, but when he gets bigger i will move him into a 75. I will try the black water extract. is it a common product? our LFS doesnt have much to offer and its the only one in this little town.
Good luck with your silver. I saw the pic you posted of him on your last post. i can see why your attached to him. thanks again.


Hows your light?? Maybe its too bright? .. try putting some plants to provide some cover.

[islander671]

Hows your light?? Maybe its too bright? .. try putting some plants to provide some cover.

oh ok, i didnt know lighting was a factor with these fish. thanks! ill give it a shot.

[redtailfool]

oh ok, i didnt know lighting was a factor with these fish. thanks! ill give it a shot.


it could be if its a newly aquired aro.

[dodgefreak8]

he is in a 55 right now, but when he gets bigger i will move him into a 75. I will try the black water extract. is it a common product? our LFS doesnt have much to offer and its the only one in this little town.
Good luck with your silver. I saw the pic you posted of him on your last post. i can see why your attached to him. thanks again.

blackwater extract is a common product but can be hard to find. tetra makes some and my aro loved it. It will make your water a tea color though but I thought it really made the color of my aro come out. also I would get him into the 75 as soon as possible and then get on with purchasing at least a 180 my aro grew from 8" to 12" in about 3 months. good luck

[islander671]

blackwater extract is a common product but can be hard to find. tetra makes some and my aro loved it. It will make your water a tea color though but I thought it really made the color of my aro come out. also I would get him into the 75 as soon as possible and then get on with purchasing at least a 180 my aro grew from 8" to 12" in about 3 months. good luck

in that case i would probably have an easier time finding it online.
i would love to put him in a 180 but finding one around here is the hard part but im sure i will be investing in one of that size in the future. thanks again for your help.

[islander671]

it could be if its a newly aquired aro.
i see, ive had him for a few months now so probably not the lighting? was worth a shot though. thanks, i cant stress enough how great this site is.

[redtailfool]

probably not. Try putting floating plants and in the foreground so that it could "hide"


btw- thanks for the kind words . :)

[dodgefreak8]

when it comes to quick reply's and help this site is #1 people here really love their fish and the modereators are great.. good luck

[KurseD]

goodluck bro, that aro is definetly my favorite of all your fish.

[ashdavid]

in that case i would probably have an easier time finding it online.
i would love to put him in a 180 but finding one around here is the hard part but im sure i will be investing in one of that size in the future. thanks again for your help.

180g is way to small, for keeping a full grown silver ,at 48" it will require close to 1000g. But then again you probably wont listen to what I said , and you will end up with stressed constantly, and more than likely deformed arow.

[dodgefreak8]

how many 48" arowana do you see in aquariums? if you wanted to be completly ethical you should never remove the fish from its natural habitat because nothing will ever compare to that. there have been plenty of adult arowana's live long happy lives in 180's. although this is still on the small side it is the bare minimum size for these great fish.

[ashdavid]

how many 48" arowana do you see in aquariums? if you wanted to be completly ethical you should never remove the fish from its natural habitat because nothing will ever compare to that. there have been plenty of adult arowana's live long happy lives in 180's. although this is still on the small side it is the bare minimum size for these great fish.

Yeah thats a smart thing to say, especialy when we are all in the practice of keeping fish in aquariums. Do you subscribe to that way of thinking? I think not! I just don't want to see fish of this size cramped into a tank that they will have difficulty turning around in, why don't you put a 2" tetra in a 2" wide tank? And just to answer your question one of my , lets just say "friends" has a silver arow in a 35,000g aquarium(for public veiwing)( he owns the aquarium) And this fish is over 4 foot long. So yes provided they have the adequate enviroment provided they will reach their potential.
180g , dimensions 72"*24"*24", this size tank for a fish that will and this is a fact reach over 3 feet in lenght ,Is not enough room for it to live stress free.
I will say it again , what you should do and can do are two different things!
I will say again a fish of that size will at least need a tank with a width of 60 inches, and a tank of that size will ultimately mean a tank close to 1000g.

[islander671]

180g is way to small, for keeping a full grown silver ,at 48" it will require close to 1000g. But then again you probably wont listen to what I said , and you will end up with stressed constantly, and more than likely deformed arow.

i can see your point.. however a 1000g tank is not feasible for my situation. when the time comes and he has outgrown the largest living space i can provide for him i have arranged for him to be donated to an aquarium at a nearby lake resort that does have an adequate facitlity for him. Ive already done this to a clown knife that i couldnt provide a home for because he outgrew it. (by the way i didnt purchase these fish, i took them off the hands of people who purchased them not knowing how large these fish can get) pls do not assume that i dont have the best intersets of my fish in mind.