Does high flow benefit an arowana?

[Mkvc]

Hi all. I have a 210g I'm planning to use to grow out a black arowana fry before transitioning him to a pond (thanks to the people who helped me pick which aro in my last thread!). When he's big enough I'm also planning on growing out some Oscars, bichir, and misc oddballs with him. Because this tank used to be a reef tank I have two Ecotech MP40s on it. They're worth a pretty penny and if I don't need them I'll sell them to the local reef club to beef up my pond budget.

Would the fish in this tank benefit from a current at all? If so, I'll keep 'em.

My return pump is currently on the lowest setting, so I could probably keep things moving without the powerheads, too...

 

[Kingdoffishcraft]

Hi all. I have a 210g I'm planning to use to grow out a black arowana fry before transitioning him to a pond (thanks to the people who helped me pick which aro in my last thread!). When he's big enough I'm also planning on growing out some Oscars, bichir, and misc oddballs with him. Because this tank used to be a reef tank I have two Ecotech MP40s on it. They're worth a pretty penny and if I don't need them I'll sell them to the local reef club to beef up my pond budget.

Would the fish in this tank benefit from a current at all? If so, I'll keep 'em.

My return pump is currently on the lowest setting, so I could probably keep things moving without the powerheads, too...

From my personal experience, my arowanas don't like flowing water. These are asian arowanas so take this with a grain of salt. Also looking at their environment they seem to have very slow or still water. Flow could increase their metabolism by stimulating movement which could aid in powerfeeding if you want to throw em in your pond but see what works for you!

 

[Trouser Cough]

I have a black arowana in an 800g w/ a strong riffle at one end of the tank and some movement at the opposite end. The riffle is strong enough that it'll push the arowana down when it enters that area.

My experience has been that as long as the aro has a chance to get out of the strong current it doesn't seem to have a preference as he's all over the tank. He's also a couple feet long and strong enough that those kinds of things don't present an issue. For small arowana a strong current in the tank can be a definite problem. For a mature arowana my experience has been that they don't seem to have much of a preference.

 

[Mkvc]

Gotcha, thank you for the input. If y'all don't think it makes much of a difference I'll probably sell the MP40s, then. I can use a cheaper powerhead for feedings!

 

[Trouser Cough]

If y'all don't think it makes much of a difference I'll probably sell the MP40s, then. I can use a cheaper powerhead for feedings!

I don't think you need fancy or expensive powerbeads. I'm guessing you have more than one canister or similar filter in the arrangement and I'd be inclined to orient the outflow of one of them such that it creates flow at the surface. Should be plenty.