Minimum tank size for a silver?

[Gator]

since you dont get it, its useless to try to explain any further.

the point remains. some are smaller, some are larger. if you know what youre dealing with, the "average" is a useless number. if you have a 36" aro, the "average" is too small.

do your research before you buy any fish and make sure you can accomodate it as it grows. while its a juvie, you can have it in a 30g tank. but be prepared to upgrade as needed. if this isnt an potion for you, any 6' tank will be fine. you can have silver(S) in a 125 with no problems.

-0ut

Here go educate yourself a bit more.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33159

 

[David R]

the point remains. some are smaller, some are larger. if you know what youre dealing with, the "average" is a useless number. if you have a 36" aro, the "average" is too small.

Obviously there will be the odd freak that grows faster/slower, but I think its safe to say the vast majority of silver aros if kept in clean water and well few will be pushing 2' in about 2 years from the average purchase size of 4-6". I don't know about you or your money, but for me with a fish thats growing that fast putting it in anything less than a 6x2x2' tank seems like a waste of time (unless its a smaller grow-out tank when the fish will be going in with larger tankmates once big enough).

Regardless of this, the OP asked what the minimum size tank to keep a silver aro for life, and in my (and most peoples) opinion you should be budgeting on something with an 8x3 footprint to give the fish space to grow, because in 3-5 years it will probably be around 30".

 

[Eric A]

Hi guys.

Look whats been going on. An arguement? No no guys no need for that. All i'm after is the minimum tank size. Any takers? 8x 3.5x3 could be do-able, i'll just sneak it past the folks saying it's 3' wide lol.

 

[Gator]

8x3.5x3 is great for life which works out to be about 600G. The height isnt as important as the length and width since Silvers don't spend much time away from the surface.

 

[Bderick67]

Hi guys.

Look whats been going on. An arguement? No no guys no need for that. All i'm after is the minimum tank size. Any takers? 8x 3.5x3 could be do-able, i'll just sneak it past the folks saying it's 3' wide lol.

Ya you'll get arguments when members new to keeping arowanas think they are experts. I'll comment on the satements bitteraspects has made in a later post.

As for your original question. I think you would need to figure on the silver aro getting 30" long, but with proper care and time it'll probably get bigger then that. Anyhow a good rule of thumb is to have a tank length 3 times of that of the aro and a width/depth equal to the length of the arowana. So that being said a 30" should have a tank with a 90" x 30" footprint.

I would think a 8' x 30" x 24" would house an silver for life. Plus this is a size tank that is practicle enough to be kept in a home.

 

[Eric A]

Hiya.

Yeah I guess that will happen. I'm no expert on arowanas, so I guess i'll keep my mouth shut round here lol.

8' x 3.5' x 3' will do, think thats what I will do. People on the other forums are saying 10' x 3' x 3'? But thats including royal knifes and Pbass in the equation.

 

[Bderick67]

Hiya.

Yeah I guess that will happen. I'm no expert on arowanas, so I guess i'll keep my mouth shut round here lol.

8' x 3.5' x 3' will do, think thats what I will do. People on the other forums are saying 10' x 3' x 3'? But thats including royal knifes and Pbass in the equation.

These sizes are great, but they would be custom made tanks. So unless you were to build yourself, your looking at alot of $$$. Not to mention time changes alot of things. Do you plan on living at your current house 5 years from now? How about 10 years from now? If you go with a standard size tank it will fit into future plans much easier then one of those super size custom tanks/ponds.

 

[Eric A]

I'm only 13 so of course I will be living with my parents for the next 5 years lol.

It's not going to be custom made, I'm going to try to build it, when the time and funds come.

 

[Bderick67]

the width is more important for jars, leis, ect, which all have stiffer bodie types and dont turn as easy. silvers and like aros ar much sleeker and can turn just fine in a 75g footprint. ive even seen them in 55s for long periods of time. they can fold their bodies almost in half with no problem

Although small silvers can turn around in an area less then a third of their body length, this is not true for larger silvers. Once they get around 2 foot and start bulking up they are far less flexible. The width/depth doesn't only have to do with turning radius. Arowana will feel much more secure when in a tank they can retreat farther from the front glass.

they spend half their day folded in half anyway, watch a silver swim for about 20 minutes. its not sitting completely straight very often

This is the worst description I have ever seen regarding silver aro swimming habits. First they don't "sit" they are constantly swimming. All three of mine(2 silvers, 1 black) swim the entire length, or a good part of it, then turn and swim back. Now granted they are not completely straight but far from the folded in half desription you gave

not all adult silvers grow to be the same size. ive seen some stop growing at 14 (or slow dramatically) ive also seen some at 30. its a situational

Normal adult silvers(3 to 4 year olds) are in the range of 26 to 30". Your 14" aro was either far from being adult or severly mistreated. Either way should NOT be given as an example of a normal average adult arowana.

and if your aro is growing to 16" in less then a year its being overfed and is probably unhealthy.

Geez man do some research! Average silver growth is 1 to 1.5" per month. You don't even know what the starting length was of this aro. Yet you are qualified to judge the heatlh of this silver. Personally I think your just being an ignorant *** and hoping to insult.

and more then 2' wide means a 8' tank generally.

Again your research is lacking there are many tanks available with more then a 2' depth/width that are not 8' long. Also I realize that you are trying to build your post count, but think about combining posts. You can always edit instead of making 2 or 3 posts within minutes of one another.

since you dont get it, its useless to try to explain any further.

the point remains. some are smaller, some are larger. if you know what youre dealing with, the "average" is a useless number. if you have a 36" aro, the "average" is too small.

do your research before you buy any fish and make sure you can accomodate it as it grows. while its a juvie, you can have it in a 30g tank. but be prepared to upgrade as needed. if this isnt an option for you, any 6' tank will be fine. you can have silver(S) in a 125 with no problems.

-0ut

For anyone who thinks this is sound advice, you would have to be a complete moron to think this could be pulled off. At best a silver aro of upto 20" would be OK. With a 30" plus aro you will eventually either have a dryed aro laying on the floor or a busted tank.

 

[David R]

8' x 3.5' x 3' will do, think thats what I will do. People on the other forums are saying 10' x 3' x 3'? But thats including royal knifes and Pbass in the equation.

the 10' length would sure be appreciated when the fish is 30"+, but an 8' would be alright IMO. The 3' depth certainly isn't needed, 2' would probably be 'enough', but 30" would be better.