Buying a silver arowana

andrewsin

Dovii
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Feb 19, 2010
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What would you guys choose to do when buying a silver arowana:

Buy one at 8"

Or

Buy 3 at 3", grow them out to 12" then keep the best and sell the rest

Thanks
 

andrewsin

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Feb 19, 2010
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Going to go buy a the silver arowana this week, still not sure yet whether to buy one or three. They are all around 3" right now. How well would they do in a grow out tank 6x2.5x2, would they hide behind a filter pipe all day and not find food? Tank mates in that tank are only clown loaches.
 

MariaS

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Apr 13, 2015
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I would also rather buy a 8" one than at 3"

Silvers are very hardy but when they very small they susceptable to scale desease, which is a lifting of the scales.
I lost my very first one to that, she was very small
If you only going to keep one anyway i would buy the bigger one but that's my humble opinion
I dont think you will find much difference between the three when they grow up
 

Hendre

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There is not too much variation unless you get a WC something which is probably next to impossible with all the CB ones. Bigger would be better
 

The Mother Confessor

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Feb 3, 2017
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They won't hide, I got my guy at around 4", just under a month later he is now 5"+, he swims about all day, he literally never stops, never hides and always eats!

He loves floating Hikari Cichlid Gold, Mealworms, Peas, Crickets and the odd bit of Mussel that actually floats. Basically anything that will float, he eats. They have a fantastic appetite, don't worry about them not eating. It only took him a day or so to settle into eating my food.

My guy stayed in the soft water at the other end of the filter outlet for a couple of weeks, now he swims about in the current all day and never goes in the still part of the tank. HE enjoys it so much that I'm going to get him a wavemaker. It's good exercise for them!

Don't worry about them hiding! I have 8-10" aggressive cichlids in with my little guy. He doesn't care in the slightest.

Also, +1, I agree, the bigger you buy, the less likely you are to have diseases or problems. They are more hardy when they are a bit larger. I would have bought a larger one if they were available in my area.
 
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tlindsey

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Personally I would be concerned about the CL's especially if they are small Silver Aro's grow fast if properly fed, and will outgrow the CL's may try to swallow one possibly getting choked by the spines.
 

andrewsin

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Feb 19, 2010
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The CL's are between 5"-12", by them time the silver is big enough to eat them he will be transferred to my 7ft tank!

The 8" cb aro is now sold

The lfs had a big shipment from Colombia and said this batch of silver arowanas are wild caught, which I do believe and have to trust them as they are very reputable

I was more concerned that the frail 3" silver arowana would not settle in the 6ft tank as it maybe too big for a grow out tank. I do have another 3ft tank but it's hassle to setup to grow them out for just a few months
 

krichardson

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No point in buying a few common fish with the intention of trying to sell them off in the future.
 
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