how big should the new house be?

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T

tinnuelenath

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 21, 2009
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CT
hello everyone,
my boyfriend and i have a silver arowana and she's about 12 inches long. we've had her for about two months in a 55 gallon tank. we've always known that this is a temporary solution. next month we will be moving to a new apartment (we are picking the apartment based on if it can fit a tank of gigantic dimensions for her). we have been looking around for tanks, and have found a brand new tank for sale nearby to where we live that is 6 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. we were initially looking for one that was 8 feet long, to give her more room to swim. but it is being sold for 1400 with the stand and it's starphire glass too! we're a little worried that this tank won't give her enough room once she grows up. do you think this tank is ok? or should we keep looking? also, does anyone have any experiences with tanks from glasscages.com?
-kyra
 
If the that tank is 8x3x3 then that is good for the silver for life. Even if the tank is 6x3x3 that is almost good for the arowana if not the rest of his/her life.
 
Well after observing my 27" silvers in a 6 foot long tank, I have formed the opinion that a 6 foot long tank is too short. I can only imagine how much worse it would be if they were 32"+.

You have yet to buy the tank, so why not just find the right tank to buy.
 
Yup, get what you can afford. Bigger is best, but consider your budget.
Fish keeping is a hobby. Don't go broke doing it.
 
Realize also that a 6' x 3' x 3' tank will not fit through standard doorways I will be removing a window to get my new tank inside the room it is going in.
 
You might want to make sure your apartment can handle that weight. Tanks of that size are meant to be placed in basements or floors made of concrete. The weight of the water alone of an 8 x 3 x 3 is almost 4300lbs! Not to mention the weight of the tank and stand, gravel etc.

Having that on a floor supported by wooden joists (regardless of its orientation with respect to the tank) would give me nightmares. Some people will probably tell you they have done it and their house hasn't collapsed on itself yet, but every house/apartment has a different floor plan. Save yourselves a lot of trouble, and hire a structural engineer to assess the apartment and have him/her recommend a suitable size/placement.
 
^ Good point, and that 3' depth will really put a strain on the floor.

I would look for something 8' long and sacrifice a bit on the width and depth (maybe 30" instead of 3'). As for glasscages, I haven't owned one but I've heard mixed reviews. You could do a search on here, some threads will pop up. Bottom line seems to be that the price is right, but you're getting what you pay for. I would probably take a chance on one, especially since they're run is close to me...do they get all the way up to CT or do you have to pay freight?
 
we have asked at each apartment that we've looked at about the dimensions of the doors. we're looking for a ground floor apartment with a sliding door and a porch to get it inside. we have also spoken to the people who own the apartments about loadbearing walls and what not. we'll probably end up in a complex with a cement floor (and we're requesting ground floor apartments!)

glasscages delivers to whiteplains ny and boston ma, we would have to get a uhall and drive up there to pick it up (2 hours either way)! whereas this tank is only about 20 minutes away..

we don't want to go broke with out fishkeeping hobby! but we want our arowana to be happy.. we're going with the depth because she has two jack dempsey friends that will be occupying the lower regions of the tank..

the vendor who is selling this tank offered to have a tank of the desired dimensions built. i'm not sure what that entails, but the current tank is made by marineland. i think we're leaning towards the 6 footer..
 
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