2 foot Armatus eating 9 inch Mackerel

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Push - I think the main thing is going to be how long I can keep him alive. I remember seeing the video of the one in Japan, that was the biggest armatus I ever seen in a aquarium and I agree there is probably no way anyone can grow an armatus in captivity to the same size as one in the wild or to full potential anyway.

lix.ma14 - Check out the video Push is referring to on youtube. There was an armatus with a huge goliath tiger that that had to be over 2 feet.

Chicxulub - Thanks
 
Push said:
I'm going to say that it will be a feat if you can get him larger than 30 inches in the home aquarium, you may actually be the first to possibly do it if it does happen.

Seiichi/Samurai-H posted one from Japan a few years back that had been raised for 10 or so years and was just at 30". Not saying it's not possible but it seems their captive size is definitely not the same as their wild potential. Although we still really don't have a good understanding as not many with super huge tanks have kept them for any great amount of time.

Awesome Armatus and Aimara though, simply stunning.
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what's the link to the giant armatus?
 
I definitely wouldn't get discouraged man. He is absolutely beautiful and you are doing something that many thought to be impossible. For one you have probably the single largest/oldest Armatus in the US and on top of that it's cohabing with an Aimara, which many seem to believe to be impossible to have tank mates with.

If you could can you share any info on his diet, feeding schedule, or other tips you might thank useful to prospective Armatus owners? It seems many have suffered from the random death issue with these guys, some (such as myself) seem to think they are better off on live or whole dead fish rather than being weened to prepared food such as shrimp or pellets. What are your water conditions?

Sorry for the many questions but I'm sure many others are very interested in your success with this big guy.
 
All that room + good diet, theres no reason his army shouldnt break the 30" mark in time.
 
Slippery K said:
All that room + good diet, theres no reason his army shouldnt break the 30" mark in time.
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It's not that I am dissing or disbelieving in FCs care or diet program. It's simply that I honestly don't see an Armatus getting much over 30+" in the home aquarium. There simply isn't much of a case for them growing any larger. 24 Inches in the first 2-3 years seems to be where they have their ridiculous growth rate but after that growth is minimal and differs from individual to individual with the largest specimens just barely breaching 30 or so inches.

We all know that in the wild Hydrolycus Armatus has the ability to reach 4 or so feet but the proof is in the pudding. It's not just Armatus either, this extends to many of the larger Characins that many here are keeping. GATF is one that is known to get over 5-6 feet in the wild but yet in the home aquaria the largest I have ever heard of was 37 inches and that fish too was pretty old. Aimara is another example, many wild specimens are 40+" but the largest ones in home aquariums that I can find info on is just nearing 3 feet and was brought in when it was 27 inches.

I hate to open this can of worms in a media lounge thread but I think it's probably slightly unrealistic that we will ever see 4' armatus, 6' goliaths, or any of the others in a home aquarium any time soon.
 
lix.ma14 said:
lol. I watched this videos tons of times and I never knoew that they were 30 inches! I thought they were just 2 footers. Any confirmation?
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TBH those probably are just right around 2 foot or a bit more, the other link I posted though is at 30.

Another one to bring into comparison would be these 3 as they too seem to be cresting that 2' or a little more mark.

[video=youtube;Ilf2nl3pZM4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilf2nl3pZM4[/video]
 
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