Arowana frustration

[tlindsey]

Well update time! He is doing so much better, he seems to really eat at night after the lights go out. He is zooming around the tank. When the lights are on he is definitely so much better then he was. Also got him flaoting water wisteria and boy does he LOVE to hang out in the plants it's cool. He is on nothing but a pellet diet, takes pellets without a issue so I may just keep him on pellets for good. Overall he definitely has gotten alot more comfortable and the definitely underestimated the benefits of floating plants. Specially with the awesome nitrate reduction you get from them and added oxygen into the water!

Awesome!

 

[Trouser Bark]

Specially with the awesome nitrate reduction you get from them and added oxygen into the water!

In my experience that "added oxygen" reference only applies when the lights are on. When the light is turned off the plants stop producing oxygen and appear to consume o2. I'm not a plant science guy but have had several planted tanks over the years, some augmented w/ co2. If you look closely at those tanks you'll notice that the only fish that survive in them are tiny... neons, endlers, etc. The part that's not as easy to notice (from other's planted tanks) is that any losses appear in the morning.

My assumption has been that at best they're only producing o2 during lighted hours and at worst they may be consuming o2 when the light goes out. The practical difference can be pretty dramatic.

You may also want to try Water Sprite if it's available in your area. It has a broader leaf than Wisteria and looks pretty sharp.

 

[Redshark1]

Yes that is correct. Plants consume oxygen both day and night because they need to respire aerobically. Just staying alive consumes oxygen. They do produce a lot of surplus oxygen through photosynthesis however which only occurs in the daytime.