Comparative Growth Rates (Gar V. Arowana)

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Sidrock

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 20, 2009
579
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Bombay, India
Hello MFK,

I have a 1 ft Silver Arowana in a 180 gal tank. I am considering adding a few more fish (a bottom dweller and a middle-level swimmer)

My favorite options are:

1. A pair of Gars: The ones easily available (at a reasonable price) are only 3-4 inches in length. I am considering getting a pair of them

2. Tiger Shovelnose Catfish: The only ones available are about 3 inches in length.

My Silver has never had "feeders". And I once "tested" my Arowana by adding a 3 inch gold-fish to his tank (to check if he attacks or tries to eat it.) It didn't.

I know Gars (and Catfish) have legendary growth rates, but when they start out at the size mentioned above (3-4 inch) will they ever catch up with the Silver Arowana?

Is it safe to introduce the above mentioned fish in my Arowana tank?

Please advice.

Sid
 
i got my silver aro about 4 months ago at 2.5 inches and hes now about 12"-13", when i got my florida gar he was about 9 inches the same size as my silver but the silver is growing incredible fast compared to the gar, gars only about 10 inches now. imo the silver will smoke the gar in growth like crazy and should reach 2 feet within the first year. you said your getting 3-4 inches ones so i suggest that you grow them out for a while untill about 10"+ or bigger. my silver always bumps into my gar like he wants to start something but the gar backs down, its pretty funny. sometimes they nipp eachothers fins. the gar should be fine if hes big enough
 
not a good tankmate combination to begin with...
 
skip the TSN. mine killed my silver trying to eat it. 16inch silver aro and a 16 inch tsn. I love the tsn raised it from 2 he is about 8 years old now.

I keep him with gar one at 9 inch and one at about 15 and a plec. he has never tried to eat the gar or the plec. just reaches out with his barbels touches them and knows they are hard. I've put other cichlids and my rtgg in the tank too big for him to eat he reaches out feels them and then tries to eat them anyway.

my aro would also attack the tsn and I would imagine would snap at the gar. gar are extremely peaceful and don't understand Territory's or Territorial fish IMO.
 
My nearly 11" Silver Aro does fine with gars. Very rarely he will give my Florida Gar or my Barracuda a bite on the rear, he doesn't like when they get in his swimming space. He won't bite my S. American Gar though, he doesn't mind them at all in fact.

And I would grow out a tsn before putting it in...grow it to at least 4.5-5". That's just what I would do if I got one @ 3".
As far as growth rates, I can't really offer any input because I have not had my Florida's long enough. I don't count my S. American Gar because they aren't true gar and I know for a fact my Arowana will grow 3x faster than them.
Best of luck!
 
Gars are territorial...

at first my gar went after my silver.. then after the silver healed up I tried again.. this time my silver attacked my gar... So they are now seperated permenently. I also own a TSN who's w/ my silver arrow atm.. and they get along fine. a 10" silver should be okay w/ a 3-4" TSN .. the problem lies in houseing these fish long term. It is always possible the TSN decides to eat the silver one day.... it's just what big cats do. the TSN long term will also need a larger tank then the Silver will. a fairly docile arrow may be Ok w/ a few gars. or may not. btw I don't usually seperate fish unless i'm worried about fatalities, I liek to try and let them work things out.. So when I said I had to seperate my gar and arrow it was due to intense aggression... and it happened at night when the lights where off mostly. If you like TSN's a compromise w/ a higher success rate imo is a lima cat.. they max about 18" and have a similar build to the TSN but are black/silver striped. and consider something that more mid-water swimmer then top-water, so there is less territorial issues. You could still try either or.. But i'de be prepared to loose the arrow to the TSN maybe, or have a battle of brutes between the gar/arrow. It can work, and people have been successful. But it's not the general rule.
 
I did a bit more research on the TSN and am not going to go for it.

I basically want:

1. One bottom-dweller: I was considering TSN. But it seems to risky for the other fish in the tank in the long term. I am now considering a Pleco or maybe a smaller cat, maybe a Feather-Fin Catfish (Synodontis euptera). In any case, the bottom-dweller is not intended to be the "hero" of the tank. So, unless you guys recommend some bottom-dweller who can live happily with a Silver Aro and a couple of Gar, I may just skip this.

2. Middle-level swimmers: I am really looking forward to keeping gars for this purpose. (A pair of 4 inch ones will cost me about 20 USD. A single 10 inch one is close to 50 USD. If the 4-inch ones are going to get to 10-12 inch in about 4-5 months. I don't want to pay 500% extra for them.) The shop was closed by the time I could get there today. I plan to go and get some pics ASAP (tomorrow) for the experts here to ID the gars.

3. Surface-level swimmer: This is my 1ft Silver Aro.

Thank you,
Sid
 
It isn't so much a territorial thing as just competition during feeding time that can turn ugly. Here are some scenarios:

1) Gar grabs food, Arowana wants food, Arowana bites and injures Gar trying to get food.

2) Gar grabs food, Arowana wants food, Arowana chases or spooks Gar causing Gar to injure snout and/or spine by swimming into something.

3) Arowana and Gar both go for food, Gar gets a nice piece of Arowana instead.

4) Arowana and Gar both go for food, someone gets spooked and either Arowana or Gar end up jumping from the tank and dying on the floor.

--

If they are sized similiar and growth rates are accounted for, the fish themselves make pretty good tankmates. The majority of damage comes from boisterous, competitive feeding. Note that there are exceptions to this - ie; Gar who will go out of their way to nip at an Arowana's tail or vice versa. Also note that Silver Arowana's are more hyper and aggressive compared to the mellow Black Arowana, so your experiences may differ depending on your fish.
 
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