Silver aro aggression

[Nim Dibbley]

I have had a silver arowana and a red tailed giant gourami in a 240 gallon setup since June. The aro is about 15 inches and the gourami is about 9 inches. They used to get aggressive with each other but seemed pretty evenly matched and they have pretty much both grown at the same rate since i got them in June.

The last month or so it seems the arowana is getting the better of the gourami. They ignore each other when food is in the tank, but the gourami started to hang out near the bottom of the tank to avoid the aro. The aro doesn't mess with him unless he is near the surface.

I didn't think silver aros where known for their aggression and most people on this site seem to keep them with other large fish without issue. I have heard they might be more aggressive if they aren't eating enough. should i try and up my feedings? or is rehoming someone my only option here?

There are several other fish in the tank including a green terror. The only real aggression seems to be between the aro and the gourami.

Honestly it hasn't gotten that bad yet and no one has gotten injured. Let me know what you aro owners think.

 

[Bderick67]

I could be since as your fish grow they require more space. Your arowana may be more territorial then the average silver. A larger tank could be the answer or maybe you just have a psycho silver aro.

 

[West1]

I have 4 Silvers together over 1' mark I believe... I get a couple spalshes every week or so. If I keep them well fed, I don't hear/see any aggression. As if they are to full to care Lol
Smallest fish in the tank is a 4" Clown Loach.

 

[sbuse]

imo silvers go through a pricky stage at that size. it tends to be noticed starting at 13" and runs to 20" or so. it has happened with just about every aro i have owned. they have all been well fed, but still seem to have that. your options are to leave it and wait till the aro matures or separate and hope that after your aro gets larger it will be ate the mature stage when you reintroduce them. there are some aros that never reach this mature stage3 and will be a continuing threat to the small tankmates. i for one have never had an aro that didn't kill and try to eat angelfish, let alone smaller tetras like i see others put with their aros. i do however give my fish all live foods like sunfish or suckers on occation. more often then others, i get them from a local lake and feed them to my fish. i feel that they are a necessary part of the fishes diet. wild minnows are more nutritious then any feeder you get. i tend to use emerald shiners. i like them because they are so sensitive to sickness that i can easily tell the healthy ones from the sick one and there is a 99.9% healthy shiner population were i go to get them.

 

[Nim Dibbley]

Thanks for the replies. I haven't fed them feeders and i dont think i am going to start now. I do throw in ghost shrimp every once in a while or live worms.

I was home yesterday and able to sit and watch the interaction several times throughout the day and there was no aggression. The aro and gourami were both hanging out at the surface not paying attention to each other. The gourami is almost as tall as he is long, so he is not a small fish.

I guess I will just watch and see what happens. Hopefully he will reach the 20 inch mark and he will settle down before the aggression gets too bad. the reason i got into big fish was because of this gourami so if anything i will be rehoming the aro and calling it quits with aros. I was hoping to get a few more years out of him before he outgrew my tank but i guess that might happen sooner then expected.