New silver arowana. Lots of questions

[Juxtaroberto]

I don't think many arowana really get bigger than two feet in captivity. I'm pretty sure it's more of a hit and miss type thing. I'm sure some do grow to good sizes but most that I've seen are always 24"-28" max. And even a 28" can live in a 200 because of how flexible they are, but bigger is better. And I plan to get a larger tank in several years so it should be fine.

And what about the other questions?

That's because people keep them in tanks that are inappropriately small. All
regular silver arowanas (as opposed to genetically short-bodied) have it in their genes to reach, approximately, 48". So while some might seem to stall at 45", and others might get to 49" and 50", aros which stop growing at the 20" mark are that way because they've not been taken very good care of. That could either mean a tank that is too small, bad water quality, but more likely, a combination of the two. If you take good care of your aro, it will most certainly hit the 40" mark, double what you expected.

 

[charles-n-charge]

1. growth rate question answered.

2. if you feed it food high in carotene the red color will stay. feeding mp with shell and gut loading crickets with high carotene food before feeding and krills should help.

3. they are the best community fish among arowanas, but you can never tell as it solely depends on the personality of the fish. but in most cases they tend to leave their tank mates alone

4. i dont think the tsn is a fish for a 200 gallon tank and i dont have any experience keeping them nor have i kept a lung before..the gar will do fine in that tank for life.. i have 3 gars with my aro...but the general rule says no gars with aro..so thats your choice.

tank size i am not going to discuss..

good luck with your fish..hope this helped

Thank you for being the only one here to actually answer something without acting like an ass.
You people need to start actually reading everything. I said that I knew everything I needed as far as research goes and I wanted expert opinions on the other stuff. I also said that I'd get a bigger tank when it is needed which most of you seemed to ignore.
Of course I'm going to have a couple things wrong, does that mean you people need to act like jerks about it? Last time I checked this was suppose to be a friendly community of people who all love the same thing, but I'm starting to believe otherwise thanks to some of the answers I've been getting.
I joined this site because I knew that people here loved the same thing I did and because MFK is the best of the best, so why don't you act like it?
I admit that I'm new to "monster fish" but I think that if I'm willing to spend this kind of money and time and effort in keeping and enjoying them that I at least deserve some respect here and shouldn't be treated the way I have been here.
Why don't some of y'all think about that for a minute

 

[nishant_datta]

sorry but that aint gonna happen

i agree. flexible only means an 18 incher is ok in a 24 inch wide tank.once they start feeling trapped and congested they have been known to jump and injure or kill themselves in the process. but 200 gals will fine for sometime.
florida gars dont grow fast as an aro and can be added without any problems. i presently have 6 gars ranging from 6 to 16 inches in my tank with a 22inch silver and there are no aggression issues. avoid the tiger shovel nose u know that u will certainly be upgrading from a 200. good luck.

 

[smartlove_518]

there is always a talk of tank sizes when it comes to monster fish. all i want to add is that every fish has different growth rates, stickies have been made for you to read and understand whats the best for your fish..you see your fish grow and care for it and you are the best judge of the upgrading time.. i dont think you can actually set a time limit..

the advice given on mfk is really good and by very experienced fish keepers..some of them dont talk that politely but they do know their fishkeeping well...

 

[amerino456]

at this point ur fish wont be happy until u build a 10000000 gal pond

 

[Gshock]

You people need to start actually reading everything. I said that I knew everything I needed as far as research goes and I wanted expert opinions on the other stuff. I also said that I'd get a bigger tank when it is needed which most of you seemed to ignore.

Maybe you should remember what you typed . You clearly said you plan on getting a bigger tank in "several years". Then you said your 200 gallon is going to be able to "hold a healthy aro for about 8 years". You clearly DON'T know when you will need a bigger tank and don't seem to care either. All I see is everyone trying to tell you you're going to need a bigger tank alot sooner than 8 years, but you don't seem to care. So what exactly did we ignore?

 

[Juxtaroberto]

Thank you for being the only one here to actually answer something without acting like an ass.
You people need to start actually reading everything. I said that I knew everything I needed as far as research goes and I wanted expert opinions on the other stuff. I also said that I'd get a bigger tank when it is needed which most of you seemed to ignore.
Of course I'm going to have a couple things wrong, does that mean you people need to act like jerks about it? Last time I checked this was suppose to be a friendly community of people who all love the same thing, but I'm starting to believe otherwise thanks to some of the answers I've been getting.
I joined this site because I knew that people here loved the same thing I did and because MFK is the best of the best, so why don't you act like it?
I admit that I'm new to "monster fish" but I think that if I'm willing to spend this kind of money and time and effort in keeping and enjoying them that I at least deserve some respect here and shouldn't be treated the way I have been here.
Why don't some of y'all think about that for a minute

No one has acted like a donkey towards you. Most people these days don't seem to be able to differentiate between criticism and flaming. Any naysayers are automatically seen to be flaming. Any healthy discussion between two parties of opposing views is seen as a bad thing, even when the parties are both completely civil. The problem is that you can't see people's faces, only what they type, so it might seem like people are being exceptionally harsh, when they aren't. If you need to mentally add a after ever paragraph in order to keep perspective, please do so.

I want to impress upon you how wrong it is to think in terms of "wild size" and "captive size." If animals are properly cared for, they will reach their "wild size." Take, for example, people who keep terrestrial wild animals, such as bobcats, wolves, bears, emus, etc. All of these animals reach the same size as their non-captive counterparts. This is because there is a major difference between them and fish: the medium by which they interact with their environment. These animals can breathe the same air we can, which means they're not limited by what their owner's can afford. Fish only have the volume of water within enclosures we can afford, and waste builds up quickly. They get cramped quickly. THIS is why a lot of people have RTCs that max our at 3.5', or arowanas that only seem to get to 2'.

I think the reason people were reluctant to answer your other questions was that they felt as if they'd be encouraging you to get an arowana, which you said would be fine in a 200 for 8 years. I think it's safe to say that most fish do about 75% of their growing in their first three years, and being in a small tank will stunt them.

 

[i pee in the sea]

I'm also getting a silver arowana soon, a small one at 7" with tankmates of 4" red wolf, 5" clown knife, 5" peacock eel and 4" senegal bichir in a 80G grow out.

I only plan on keeping them in there until summer, as I'm well aware of their tank size needs.

I've been warned (clown knife and the red wolf), and have seen a picture of a tailness arowana due to clown knife's bite. I think with enough hiding spots and food, I'll be able to work this one out.

Good luck, I also don't think anyone's been rude to you here. As it's been said by another member before, sometimes we ask and wait for answers that we want to hear, as opposed to real answers.

 

[brutonsbrew]

i wish i could learn more than the hundreds of years of actual fish keeping in a few months of research that didnt even cover basic questions you asked. from now on i will use only you for info since you clearly know it all. your my hero

 

[Juxtaroberto]

I'm also getting a silver arowana soon, a small one at 7" with tankmates of 4" red wolf, 5" clown knife, 5" peacock eel and 4" senegal bichir in a 80G grow out.

I only plan on keeping them in there until summer, as I'm well aware of their tank size needs.

I've been warned (clown knife and the red wolf), and have seen a picture of a tailness arowana due to clown knife's bite. I think with enough hiding spots and food, I'll be able to work this one out.

Good luck, I also don't think anyone's been rude to you here. As it's been said by another member before, sometimes we ask and wait for answers that we want to hear, as opposed to real answers.

I've never seen an arowana use hiding spots. Perhaps at a certain age they do, but from my experience with them (6"+), they don't hide.