I have a 125 gal & had a 12" silver aro that recently died & i only had him in my possession for 3 months. His tank mates were 1 blood parrot @ 2.5", King Kong Parrot @ 5", small bala shark, small iredescent shark. He was fine until i added 3 Viejas. They were only 2.5 inches & they chewed up the top fins of the aro. I noticed the aro acted weird that week by not eating & staying on the bottom of the tank. He eventually died. I then bought a Black aro that was 6" and he died also within a week. Just thought i would add that my water parameters are good. My friend told me that an Aro should be left alone @ 1st then introduced to his tank mates after a month & to try to avoid adding fish that are aggressive. I do wanna try another silver aro & the viejas are no longer in the tank & was wondering what any of the experienced aro owners have to say about how they introduce their aro into their tank. I'm wanting to raise an aro into a monster & not have it die so quickly. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Proper way to house in Aro?
- Thread starter SiR831
- Start date
Keeping small arowana's with cichlids is not a good idea. Silver and blacks aren't as robust as asian's or jardini's this therefore means they are delicate.
As long as your water parameters are fine and you keep it with non nipping fish such as tetras o agressive fish such as cichlids you should be fine.
Best of luck with your future arowana but if this one dies please don't be tempted to buy another as there may be something you're doing wrong that is causing the deaths.
As long as your water parameters are fine and you keep it with non nipping fish such as tetras o agressive fish such as cichlids you should be fine.
Best of luck with your future arowana but if this one dies please don't be tempted to buy another as there may be something you're doing wrong that is causing the deaths.
im assuming you'll get a few comments about your tank size as well .. if your tank footprint is 72" x 18" or 19" wide youll get a few people deffinatly saying its not wide enough for a silver when he gets bigger as he himself will be 18" in no time.
i havent kept one (yet) .. but i plan to order mine in soon .. by xmas wanna have the order in. .. and because of the aro is the reason i bumped up to a 225 instead of 125. to get the extra six inchs of width, it still wont be great when he is 24"+ but figured its better then 18"
either way i have no experience yet and best of luck
i havent kept one (yet) .. but i plan to order mine in soon .. by xmas wanna have the order in. .. and because of the aro is the reason i bumped up to a 225 instead of 125. to get the extra six inchs of width, it still wont be great when he is 24"+ but figured its better then 18"
either way i have no experience yet and best of luck
Thanks guyz for responding. I know 125 will be outgrown in no time & I'm not really a newbie to fish. Been keeping cichlids in my childhood & Flowerhorns for a year. I did realize that Aro is a sensitive/delicate fish. I will try 1 more Aro and if it dies than no more.
Great to hear you're taking our advice on board 
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Maybe you should try a larger fish as they're more hardy once they pass the juvenile stage.
.Maybe you should try a larger fish as they're more hardy once they pass the juvenile stage.
willtang3000;3719917; said:Great to hear you're taking our advice on board
Maybe you should try a larger fish as they're more hardy once they pass the juvenile stage.
he said his first one was 12" already .. any bigger then that and the tank size is already comming into play. i wouldnt get one bigger then 12" .. id say try around 12" again .. and just keep a really good eye on him. if yous ee anything unatural going on with him .. post it up. there are alottt of experienced aro keepers on here that will most likely tell you the problem and sollution
This was opposed to the black arowana which died "within a week".
Obviously by keeping a larger fish he kept it longer, it was the tankmates that caused its death.
Obviously by keeping a larger fish he kept it longer, it was the tankmates that caused its death.
24" depth at the very minimum for larger aros. My 20" silver still has tonnes of room to swim in my 6'x2'x25" tank. Some might say to have even deeper, but you'll be good for a while with that footprint. a 125 isn't going to last a year most likely.
So, i ended up buying another Aro. I went to 3 different LFS to get one that i liked. He's 6 inches & by himself with a Pleco. Doing good so far, and seems healthier & stronger than the Black Aro that died. Hope he lives to be a Monster.