Arowana tank almost complete, have a few questions.

[Haasume]

Hey guys,
I have been preparing this 200 gallon aquarium for a 18" arowana I have waiting at my LFS. I have the aquarium completely cycled now and am just making sure I have everything perfect so I can pick him up next week. I have done a lot of research and I realize I may need to get a wider aquarium once he gets to be around 2' or 2.5'.
Regarding the aquarium: I have read that I need to leave a night light on for them because they spook so easily. Because they spook so easily I have read that they need a very sturdy weighted lid to keep them from breaking through and ending up on the floor.

1) does the night light need to be inside the tank or outside?
2) Is there a particular color that would be best? I was thinking red or blue.
3) My lid is 3/4" plexiglass 7'x2' weighing about 65 lbs. It covers the entire aquarium top. How do I get oxygen into my aquarium? I have wave makers pointed toward the surface but surface agitation does nothing if there is no oxygen above the water.

Here are the specifics on the aquarium set up. Please let me know if there is anything I am missing or need to change, this will be my first arowana.
- Dimensions 7' x 2'x 2'
- lighting 24/7 full spectrum LED 72"
- filtration #1 75 gal sump with 1500 1.25" bio balls, 5 lbs lava rock, 3 lbs pool filter sand, 15 lbs ceramic rings, activated carbon UV sterilizer light in pump compartment, coarse, medium and fine sponges, filter floss. HOB overflow with 2 1" bulkheads. Roughly 650-850 GPH.
- Filtration #2 Canister filter with Coarse, medium and fine sponges, Filter floss, Activated Carbon, ceramic rings and a 9w UV sterilizer. 700 GPH

Thank you for taking the time to read this I would appreciate any advice or comments.

 

[tlindsey]

Sounds like you are on top of things. The light can be placed on top and blue moon affect. Yes very important to have weight on the lids.

 

[Haasume]

Thank you for your reply. Do you have any suggestions on getting oxygen in the aquarium? I was thinkig about drilling a hole in my return fitting at the tip of the J pipe and putting in air line tubing with a one way flow adapter. Hopefully making a venturi siphon for air.

 

[tlindsey]

You could try that or use one of the wave maker to agitate the surface.

 

[islandguy11]

I'm at similar stages with 2 new Arowanas/2 tanks, and yes I can confirm they can be easily spooked after you bring them home, esp. first couple of days and esp. by sudden lighting changes (inside or outside of the tank, as I'll report soon in an update of my Goldenhead), so best to keep the lighting environment stable as you can, esp. for first week or two. While I might use blue lights later, for now I'm keeping it simple and just reducing his light (6500K LED daylight) during sleeping time (while keeping the bigger room light off all the time).

But is there any way to reduce the water level in your tank? That's one reason my GH lost a scale on his 2nd day, tank level was too close to top of the tank (and he was spooked by a lighting change) -- but I had little choice: his 4 ft temporary tank has an internal overflow corner filter that basically stops working if the water level isn't kept high.

Anyway if you can reduce your water level some, even an inch or so, it won't guarantee that he won't hit the top in case of a jump, but it will reduce the chance he's injured if spooked -- because often times when they get scared they don't actually try to jump out of the tank but instead swim wildly back and forth at the top of the tank for a few seconds is my experience, but then I'm pretty much an Arowana newbie too.

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Lsey81]

I think you're pretty well set! I'm not sure how others feel about this but be careful with surface aggitation as I've found my silver and jardini don't like it much at all...I've only ever grown my arrows from baby's so my knowledge on getting them to adjust to light is very limited...I always light an area off in the far end of the room 1st then start turning tanks on once everyone is watching me....and weigh that lid down!!! These fish are powerful!!!!! They well mine are notorious smaking the lid especially when it's time to eat!!! & the moment you think your fish won't jump...you'll find it on the floor! Good luck!

 

[M3AN ONE]

What is that thing around the pipe in your sump

 

[Raynado]

hows it going with the aro?