Acclimating large Arowana

[STONEDFISH]

Depending on the acrylic guy, in about 6-8 weeks I will be setting up 96x30x24 for my Silver Arowana. I want the transition from his current home to be as smooth as possible. I was thinking of buying the filters and putting them on his tub to get some bacteria started in the media. Would that work? How long after I put the filters on the new tank would it be cycled?

Also, should I add the tankmates first? He will be living with a Flowerhorn and some polypterus. I don't know how territorial they will all be. Maybe just put them in all together? Thank you for any advice!!

stonedfish

 

[Miguel]

Depending on the acrylic guy, in about 6-8 weeks I will be setting up 96x30x24 for my Silver Arowana. I want the transition from his current home to be as smooth as possible. I was thinking of buying the filters and putting them on his tub to get some bacteria started in the media. Would that work? How long after I put the filters on the new tank would it be cycled?

Also, should I add the tankmates first? He will be living with a Flowerhorn and some polypterus. I don't know how territorial they will all be. Maybe just put them in all together? Thank you for any advice!!

stonedfish

The sooner you start the filters the better...just remember that when transferring the filters to the new tank you have to act quickly so as not to kill the bacteria... If, on top of the new filters, you could add the filters that you already have running on the tub, the better.

if possible fill the new tank as much as possible with the water the aro is currently in.


If you do all that, you should have no problem. I never had.


As to the tank mates I would add them before putting the aro in.

 

[dragonfish]

While not on the scale of your tank, last one I set up, I took an extra filter off a tank and instant cycle. Never had a problem.

 

[JardiniBoy]

As they said, tankmates first ... and remember that you need to have an ammonia source (e.g. fish poo) if you're gonna run the filters in a tub first.

Why don't you just wait for the new tank, set it up with the filters, add the tankmates after say 3 weeks, and then add the aro once everything has stabilized?

IME big aros are very hardy and I've not had any problems transferring the big guys after 3 attempts.

FWIW

 

[Wolf3101]

I'd have to agree with most of the advice you've recieved so far. small young aros can be a bit spooky but larger ones are tougher than they look and adapt well to new situations. I've found over the years that it's always best to introduce the fish in a slow controled fasion even in an established tank...large changes in the bio load take time to stabolize even in well established tanks. So I'd get the tank up and running with one or two fish and then slowly add the others over the course of a couple of weeks.

One of the things that gets overlooked a lot is that an established tank (fully cycled) is a ....pardon the pun...fluid situation. what may well be a perfectly safe tank for 5 or 6 fish could have problems or even crash if you add 10 more at once.

 

[Bderick67]

Well this is what I did. 16" silver moved from 85g to new 180g. I had a rena xp3 running on the 85g. Also my aro was used to getting weekly 50% W/Cs.

I first moved about 40 gallons of water from the 85g to the 180g then refilled the 85g with new water(typical w/c). I added about 40g+ to the 180g, so this basically means I now have the same water in both tanks. I then moved the silver aro and othe fish that were in the 85 also. Next I moved all the water from the 85 to the 180g. finished by topping off the 180 with 15-20gallons new water and moved the established xp3 filter to the new 180g. I then added 2 AC110 filters which were brand new.

My fish acted like nothing ever happened, the aro ate that evening. Never any signs of ammonia or nitrites.

 

[Koji]

My suggestion

1) Fill up your new tank with water and add water conditioners to remove chlorine. Add active carbon too.
2) Start running your new filtration system in your new tank with wool alone
3) Add tankmates in there after 2 days.
4) Transfer your filter media and aro together on the same day

Do note that the active carbon can be remove and replace after a week with fish in there to control the ammonia while the filtration maturing with the media.

 

[kriztu]

i agree with adding the tankmates first especially if the aro is big already