New to Arowana and knifefish

[johnthefisherman]

I have a 180gallon tank, one 18'' silver arowana, and one 15'' clown knife.

Here is my question, is it normal for them to take a stab at each other every once in a while? The clown cruises up to the aro and they kind of mean mug each other for a while then try and take a huge chunk out of each other... no damage has been done thus far. Is this normal?

secondly, how many feeders should i be putting in there say every week?


thanks!

 

[justonemoretank]

Aggression is normal in any fish tank, but I'd be worried that the knife might spook your Aro, causing him to try and jump. This will either end up with him on the floor, or bashing his head against the top. As for feeders, there is a general consensus here that if you can get your fish off of feeders, you should. Feeders, unless you breed them yourself, carry parasites and bacteria which can sicken your fish, and a varied diet will be healthier for them, as they wouldn't only eat fish in the wild. In order to be somewhat safe, you'll need to QT them, which takes up space in a tank that could otherwise hold a fish you actually want to keep. I cannot speak to the number of feeders for fish this size, maybe someone else could chime in here. I have two Florida gars that refuse to eat anything other than feeders; they are fourteen and twelve inches, and I feed them four two inch minnows each once per week. Again, though, I'd definitely try them on some other foods. Also, and I just have to mention this, though you may already know, your Aro will outgrow your tank, maxing out at four feet.

 

[johnthefisherman]

thanks for the help.

I got the aro eating pellets, but the clown will only touch feeders.

I dont really like the clown knife, so i may sell him and get something else.

as far as out growing the tank, yeah, ive heard, from EVERYONE haha I've got a long term plan.

 

[SuperDave]

you dont like clownkife come on, ya everyone has there taste, but 15 inch is kinda small, they are pretty sweet fish around the 20 inch and larger mark. Mine are as active and mean as hell, great personalities, maybe Im just lucky.

But ya its normal, they are probably going to keep being aggressive until they get a bigger tank.

 

[SimonL]

My 30" Silver and 22" CK used to have an almost nightly class of the titans, they nevver did more than superficial damage though...

 

[myfishwilleatyou]

yikes

 

[RWaltman]

Typical for these two fish (or any large fish for that matter) to get "nippy" with each other, I'd expect it, clown knifes get "nippy" anyway

 

[sbuse]

NO EXP. WITH CLOWNS BUT MY 15" SILVER ARO GET A BUG UP ITS @#$ SOMETIMES AND GOES AFTER EVERYTHING IN THE TANK.

 

[peewee]

i think aggression is normal, my silver aro and giant gourami fights at least once a day and they are doing no significant damage towards each other at all. they've been doin that since the day they were introduced and it has been about 6 months now.