Setup / inhabitants

[Erik the Furry]

Hello, I'm new here and not sure if this is the right thread...

I need advice on stocking a tank. Me missus and myself are moving to our new house and I am getting a new aquarium (oh happy day). It will be 200cm x 100cm x 100cm if I get it my way. External filtration, aiming at having the tank filtered at least twice per hour.

I would love to stock it with red oscars and black or silver arowana(s?). The tank should be big enough to sustain I guess 3 or 4 grown oscars (would love to breed them). But would it be big enough to additionally sustain an arowana or two? Love them but don't want to cramp them. Why two? Well, who would not want to try to breed them...? ?

Thank you very much for your dead honest opinions - I have had enough "sure, just do it" but I want brutally honest replies. Better now than later ?

 

[Tobiassorensen]

That tank should be sufficient for 4 grown oscars and an arowana for sure. But you should aim on at least have 5 times the volyme in turnover. The best way to get that is with a sump system and/or showerfilters. On my 3200L tank i run two showerfilters with combines 15000L/h running through them then an beadfilter thats runned with and 12000L/h pump on full flow then i have an additional proteinskimmer with an 8000L pump tuned down to roughly 5000L per hour. And im still thinking of adding an 540L sump filled with k1.

 

[tlindsey]

Hello, I'm new here and not sure if this is the right thread...

I need advice on stocking a tank. Me missus and myself are moving to our new house and I am getting a new aquarium (oh happy day). It will be 200cm x 100cm x 100cm if I get it my way. External filtration, aiming at having the tank filtered at least twice per hour.

I would love to stock it with red oscars and black or silver arowana(s?). The tank should be big enough to sustain I guess 3 or 4 grown oscars (would love to breed them). But would it be big enough to additionally sustain an arowana or two? Love them but don't want to cramp them. Why two? Well, who would not want to try to breed them...? ?

Thank you very much for your dead honest opinions - I have had enough "sure, just do it" but I want brutally honest replies. Better now than later ?

Welcome aboard

 

[Erik the Furry]

That tank should be sufficient for 4 grown oscars and an arowana for sure. But you should aim on at least have 5 times the volyme in turnover. The best way to get that is with a sump system and/or showerfilters. On my 3200L tank i run two showerfilters with combines 15000L/h running through them then an beadfilter thats runned with and 12000L/h pump on full flow then i have an additional proteinskimmer with an 8000L pump tuned down to roughly 5000L per hour. And im still thinking of adding an 540L sump filled with k1.

So beef up the filtration system - how about a mate for the arowana? Too small? If yes, what size are we looking at to have a pair of them? Not that I will get my wife to approve a bigger tank than the one I described...

 

[Tobiassorensen]

So beef up the filtration system - how about a mate for the arowana? Too small? If yes, what size are we looking at to have a pair of them? Not that I will get my wife to approve a bigger tank than the one I described...

Jupp thats needed. Well if you can go 250x150x100 it would be better. Even 200x150x100 would be so much better. Its aint easy to mate arowanas to a pair. But in a tank with 250x150 in fottprint i would say its a good possability to have two arowanas.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Welcome along Erik.
In 200x100x100 (2000 liters), you could definitely do an arowana and a few oscars. I wouldn't do a pair of arowana, though - pairs seem to almost always end in one killing the other. A group of 3-4 would be your best bet, and in a tank this size that's starting to push it in terms of bioload.
Also, wouldn't get your hopes up about breeding them either (the arowanas) - I've not heard of it done in a home aquarium, usually it's done in in-ground earthen ponds, usually in SE Asia.