Another entrant into arowana kingdom

[demonknight]

Been keeping FHs and SA/African Cichlids for quite a few years now and finally decided to actually become a monsterfishkeeper!

I have been thinking whether to go for gars or for aros and well today at the LFS i saw something which made up my mind!

A beautiful gorgeous Red Arowana [4-6inches] with nice redness in his fins for Rs.18,000 [Approx $360]. The certificate had the name of some farm in Indonesia and it said "Red Arowana 1.5.

Does the 1.5 refer to a grade or something? and how will i know if it is chili red or super red or is there a plain red category?

Now that i have decided to pick him up [after arranging a payment in installments with the LFS owner] my question revolves around tankmates.

I have a 180G tank currently with a Jaguar, Oscar, FH and a Convict. These guys will be removed to my pond outside and will be replaced by 2 pairs of bichirs and of course the Red Arowana. I also have 13 Clowns in another tank and a couple of small royal plecos as well. can they be added to this tank or am i risking it?

after going through many threads have decided to keep the background black with floating plants as well. Still deciding whether to change the current brown substrate to a black one.

And the LFS guy asked me not keep a powerhead filter since aros dont like the current flow generated by them? is that true?

i hope i have covered all aspects before actually picking him up. advice, comments will be most appreciated

thanks

ps: shall try and get a pic tomorrow

 

[Hao]

1.5 is banjar red are crossbred between green and the reds ,Grade 1 Red is Super red,chillis,and other reds and make sure the tankmates cant fit in the aro's mouth and not every arowana dont like current,mines playing around with the powerhead current

Welcome to Arowana Section

 

[Stephaan]

yep, 1.5 red is a type, also known as banjar red.. good luck with him bro.

 

[nubz]

niice pick up!

 

[demonknight]

so the price is reasonable and banjar red is a good buy i guess?

and bichirs and clown loaches and royal plecos should do fine as tankmates?

 

[Hao]

banjar red is like a green arowana with yellow tail,it gets yellow tail when it grows big and yes tankmates ok as long it wont fit in its mouth

 

[demonknight]

thank you for the advice and yea thanks for the welcome as well

so i guess this sunday will be the day he starts swimming in my tank. cant wait for sunday to come.

so it will be:
180G Tank / Black Background / Black Substrate / Good Lighting / Good filtration
6" Banjar Red
13 Clown Loaches of varying sizes
4 Bichirs
1 Royal Pleco
1 Raphael Talking Catfish

one more query would be regarding driftwood...i guess since aros are skittish sharp edged driftwood is not advisable? so just simple flat driftwoods for the pleco and loaches to hide in will be ok?

sorry for all the questions but for $360 [1 month's salary for me ] i'd need to be 100% sure before he comes home.

 

[Hao]

yeah flat driftwoods

 

[Chaitika]

And the LFS guy asked me not keep a powerhead filter since aros dont like the current flow generated by them? is that true?

Maybe for a 4 inch aro, that might be true.

For my 19" RTG, he loves swimming into the current and loves riding the current in my tank. I'm talking about a pump that generates about 4000 gph of flow.

For my 8" chilli, I have a fair amount of current coming from an xp3 and a fluval 404, and while he doesn't swim directly into the outflows, he does not avoid them either.

As for driftwood, I would avoid pieces with fine branches or shards where the aro might poke an eye while chasing food, but aros are very powerful swimmers and mine has never so much as scraped a scale on the driftwood that I have in his tank. For the most part, the aro will swim above it 99% of the time.

 

[classic-chassis]

It's a banjar and they're nice fish. How much is a Red Tail Golden where you are and do you have a choice?
When i bought my fist Asian i went through exactly the same process. I was going to buy a green, then decided i would save a little more for a banjar. After that i was so close to the price of an RTG I saved again and went for the latter. It doesn't matter which you get because you'll love it but if you can get a gold try to. Aros live for a long time.
My fish likes current and plays in it all day, it shoots itself across the tank.
Welcome to Arowana!