So, a middle-aged woman I wourk with mentioned that her son was trying to sell his 12" "pink ariwina" sometime last week; apperently her husband just didnt have time to take care of the fish anymore.
I stated thinking about it and figured I would take him, grow him out a little bit and eventually find someone who can house him for life (I only have a 125 at the moment), since from the conversations with her I got the feeling they have no idea how big these fish get.
On friday I got off work, went to the sons house (who apperently was in his mid-20s) and see a 18-19" Silver Aro in a 75g! The tank was unkempt, dirty, and when he tried to net him the entire tank was stirred up and turned green. It probably wasnt maintenanced for months. Mind you I was prepared to bring home a 12" fish and as such, only brought a 5g bucket to carry him home in. I have plenty of larger containers to transport fish in, but again I was told he was 12" if that.
It only took a couple minutes to start seeing the sons weird behavior: shaking, trembling, sweating; it quickly became obvious this guy addicted to some kind of drug and im assuming selling the fish for a fix. His mother, who i talked to to setup the whole deal is a very nice and successful person so this was not what i was expecting at all!
Long story short, he made it home and now he is in my 125g, which I know is too small, but its much better than what he was in before and atleast has clean water. Ill nurse him back to health and then find him an appropriate home. He is relitively healthy considering his tank conditions although extremely skinny and almost positive is pretty stunted, but no fin rot or ammonia poisoning.
I dont have pics right now because im at work
Now, I also have a question on stunting. Will this Aro recover and reach his full length? The guy said he had owned the fish for over 2 years, but its only 18" and I assume been in horrible water conditions.
I stated thinking about it and figured I would take him, grow him out a little bit and eventually find someone who can house him for life (I only have a 125 at the moment), since from the conversations with her I got the feeling they have no idea how big these fish get.
On friday I got off work, went to the sons house (who apperently was in his mid-20s) and see a 18-19" Silver Aro in a 75g! The tank was unkempt, dirty, and when he tried to net him the entire tank was stirred up and turned green. It probably wasnt maintenanced for months. Mind you I was prepared to bring home a 12" fish and as such, only brought a 5g bucket to carry him home in. I have plenty of larger containers to transport fish in, but again I was told he was 12" if that.
It only took a couple minutes to start seeing the sons weird behavior: shaking, trembling, sweating; it quickly became obvious this guy addicted to some kind of drug and im assuming selling the fish for a fix. His mother, who i talked to to setup the whole deal is a very nice and successful person so this was not what i was expecting at all!
Long story short, he made it home and now he is in my 125g, which I know is too small, but its much better than what he was in before and atleast has clean water. Ill nurse him back to health and then find him an appropriate home. He is relitively healthy considering his tank conditions although extremely skinny and almost positive is pretty stunted, but no fin rot or ammonia poisoning.
I dont have pics right now because im at work
Now, I also have a question on stunting. Will this Aro recover and reach his full length? The guy said he had owned the fish for over 2 years, but its only 18" and I assume been in horrible water conditions.
all the best.. post some pics please.. i hope the guy who gave/sold you the aro also gets better.. cheers