Selecting The Right Arowana For You

[Miguel]

If I am allowed to barge in, I would say that the captive silver pool is, must be, very small, and most of the silvers we get, at least in europe ( and I would think in the US ) come from Asia ( ok, some from importers in Germany and elsehwre directly from South america ) but, as was said, the majority of them is grown in Asia, and shipped back to the west. ( Just as an example, one of my costumary fish providers phone me yesterday about his latest list from Singapore,a nd the only Aro's available were silvers?!?! )
Silvers are mostly caught by indians and other riverine people, who catch the males and chop their heads off to get the babies. That is thair way of life, and nothing can be said against them. But having said this, I very strongly feel that we should avoid, to our utmost, the fascination ( that we all feel, let us face it, with wild caughts. Wild caughts remain, for all of us, the jewels in our crowns ) with wild caughts and we should concentrate our efforts ( all of us, the hundreds of us ) in trying to deepen our knowledge of these wonderfull animals and to try and discover how to give them the best conditions to breed. We all should have an obligation to try to strenghten whatever breeding silver Aro pool there is..

Let us all try...if not to breed them, at leastto get to know Arowanas as best as we can...they truly are, all breeds, magnificents pieces of nature and natural history.

just my 2 cents..

 

[BIGgourami]

that was beautiful man,
not to sound apathathetic or anything, but, really what size tanks ARE we loking at here

 

[Miguel]

I would imagine that a 200 / 250 gallon, with ample swimming space, could do the trick...Some may have other opinions..

 

[BIGgourami]

the kind we're talking about are comming from asia right?
are there any from south america

 

[Miguel]

the kind were tqalking about, silver arowanas , osteoglossum bichirosum, is one of two species of south american aro's...the other is the black aro..
Miguel

 

[balton777]

not to sound apathathetic or anything, but, really what size tanks ARE we loking at here

I would imagine that a 200 / 250 gallon, with ample swimming space, could do the trick...Some may have other opinions..

This sticky doesn't tell the maximum aquarium size that each kind grows. I think this is critical information...at least for me. Miguel, when you say 200-250 gallons, is that for all the species?

More importantly, what are the tank DIMENSIONS that I need? And which is the smallest growing Aro?

Thanks.

 

[grmanrocks]

This sticky doesn't tell the maximum aquarium size that each kind grows. I think this is critical information...at least for me. Miguel, when you say 200-250 gallons, is that for all the species?

More importantly, what are the tank DIMENSIONS that I need? And which is the smallest growing Aro?

Thanks.

lemme answer that, sorry i neglected this thread back when i wrote it.


id say tank sizes are as follows:

Silver Aro: at least 36"x120"s for life, but a 24" wide tank would last a while

Black Aro: same size as silver, mainly beceause it will eventually get just about as big, but a 24" wide tank would last longer than it would for a silver, but again, depends on the fishes growth

Jardini Aro: 24"s x 60"s minimum, as they ussually hover just under the 2 foot mark at maturity

Lei: imma go ahead and say 30"x90" only cuz ive seen and heard of a few just under the 3 foot mark

African: FReaking huge.....i mean like gimongus.....but at least as wide as the fish is long +6 or so inches and then 3 times as long as the fish is.

basically, as wide as the fish is long with some clearance and ad long as you can manage. bigger = better



in other news, almost a year after posting this, i finally got myself an aro

 

[95Harley]

Some one should add some growth rate info as well.
Siver Aro - Expect 18" min at the end of 1 yr, some report 24" in 1 yr
Black Aro - Slower, but I have no exp with them
Jardini - 12" minimum 1st yr, but again I have no Exp
Asian - ?
Leich - ?
African - ?

 

[Swann]

Grmanrocks,
thanks for the info. i reside in Australia and are weighing up between a silver arowana or our local jardini. what are the defects that may arise due to captive bred silver's ? i think they have more physical beauty than the jardini, though dont want to invest in a species that may not be up to the standard im looking for due to breeding issues.

 

[Jamarl7]

What is the proper temperature to keep an arowana healthy?