African Aros
- Thread starter Onion01
- Start date
Perform a search on african aro. The subject has come up fairly frequently. Here's some info I posted on the young:
Basically, the only real success seems to be in providing a constant source of food until the aros reach about 8" and develop some fat storage to allow them to receive scheduled feedings like most other fish.
I raised the young in bare tanks with sponge filters. The sponge filters allow the fish to "graze" on previously missed food until the next feeding. Be sure to rinse of the sponges every other day to keep spoiled food off of them. Keep the water on the alkaline side and at 80 degrees. Also keep a good lid on their tank. They're jumpers from the get-go. They also need a cover to provide matching air and water temps while the young's air-breathing architecture is developing.
Feed them on a variety of small foods. Frozen bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp, crumble food, sinking food, cyclop-eeze, flakes, and micro-pellets are all taken. Feed high protein foods since they have high metabolic rates (no cheap generic foods). Water changes of 30-50% need to be done every 2-3 days.
Af aros need to be housed either as 1 to a tank or 4 and up to a tank. With 2 or 3 you'll wind up with only one in a short time as their aggression towards each other is high.
Note: my best success was in following the above and allowing my rearing tanks to go green with algae. These are a filter-feeding species, after all, and I think they benefitted from some algae consumption in their diets.
Good luck!!
BTW...
Basically, the only real success seems to be in providing a constant source of food until the aros reach about 8" and develop some fat storage to allow them to receive scheduled feedings like most other fish.
I raised the young in bare tanks with sponge filters. The sponge filters allow the fish to "graze" on previously missed food until the next feeding. Be sure to rinse of the sponges every other day to keep spoiled food off of them. Keep the water on the alkaline side and at 80 degrees. Also keep a good lid on their tank. They're jumpers from the get-go. They also need a cover to provide matching air and water temps while the young's air-breathing architecture is developing.
Feed them on a variety of small foods. Frozen bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp, crumble food, sinking food, cyclop-eeze, flakes, and micro-pellets are all taken. Feed high protein foods since they have high metabolic rates (no cheap generic foods). Water changes of 30-50% need to be done every 2-3 days.
Af aros need to be housed either as 1 to a tank or 4 and up to a tank. With 2 or 3 you'll wind up with only one in a short time as their aggression towards each other is high.
Note: my best success was in following the above and allowing my rearing tanks to go green with algae. These are a filter-feeding species, after all, and I think they benefitted from some algae consumption in their diets.
Good luck!!
BTW...
BWs anywhere will be sought. High protein foods such as Dense Culture Granules are what I use. Basically, any granule feed with 50% or higher crude protein content will do (dense culture or growth formula).
The aro is in a 360 in the pic. Now, he's back in his 650. The polys on the bottom are all 16" and up. The aro is well over the 2ft mark.
The aro is in a 360 in the pic. Now, he's back in his 650. The polys on the bottom are all 16" and up. The aro is well over the 2ft mark.
i have a very detailed account/guide for care of African arowanas put together by myself and some other hobbyists on www.primitivefish.com. the direct link to the account (sans photos, although there are several already posted in that gallery) here:
http://www.primitivefish.com/Africanbonytongue.htm
they are a challenging (when young) fish, but definitely a great oddball species to keep!--
--solomon
http://www.primitivefish.com/Africanbonytongue.htm
they are a challenging (when young) fish, but definitely a great oddball species to keep!--
--solomon