Smaller pima in 4500 gal, ~16"-18"
- Thread starter thebiggerthebetter
- Start date
Sorry for the loss
thebiggerthebetter
....
Yew.. hope things turn for the better now.
thebiggerthebetter
....Yew.. hope things turn for the better now.
Thank you, guys, but nope. Things haven't gotten better. Pretty gruesome and sad day here as we lost Bima too.
Bima has jumped out twice before successfully (and was picked up and plopped back) straight through the greenhouse film covering the tank. After we lost Sima in Nov 2018, I installed a net over the tank. Bima tried jumping out again several times between Nov 2018 and Apr 2019 unsuccessfully, broke, wrestled, and messed up the net... because I made a wrong decision and bought a cheap leaves netting for $20 (something I had used before extensively and found to be pretty strong for its lightness) instead of a stronger net, like a sports net for ~$200.
I had to get inside the tank and sew the net a few times and adjust and stretch it again and again so it hangs above the water. After the last unsuccessful Bima's attempt a few months ago, I didn't sew the net, nor stretched it but let it float on the water surface. It looked like Bima understood that the net is an obstruction and won't let it jump and stopped trying.
Then it tried today and succeeded. It jumped out through a hole that I didn't sew and made a new hole in the greenhouse film, of course, with ease. I found it too late. Plopped it back in the tank but it wasn't breathing anymore.
Lessons learned:
[1] Get a forever home first for an arapaima, that's be at least around 20,000 gal, more is better
[2] Make it jump proof with high hard walls above the water level
[3] Don't be cheap and lazy - buy good nets or keep sewing the cheap ones, you frugal and indolent idiot
Here are the last two videos of Bima and the post mortem photos. Last measure is 5 feet and 6 inches at roughly 3 years old (bought at 5"-6" the summer of 2016).
I think Sima was a male and Bima was a female (I may be wrong) and Bima has had a lot more red in its coloration versus Sima.
Bima has jumped out twice before successfully (and was picked up and plopped back) straight through the greenhouse film covering the tank. After we lost Sima in Nov 2018, I installed a net over the tank. Bima tried jumping out again several times between Nov 2018 and Apr 2019 unsuccessfully, broke, wrestled, and messed up the net... because I made a wrong decision and bought a cheap leaves netting for $20 (something I had used before extensively and found to be pretty strong for its lightness) instead of a stronger net, like a sports net for ~$200.
I had to get inside the tank and sew the net a few times and adjust and stretch it again and again so it hangs above the water. After the last unsuccessful Bima's attempt a few months ago, I didn't sew the net, nor stretched it but let it float on the water surface. It looked like Bima understood that the net is an obstruction and won't let it jump and stopped trying.
Then it tried today and succeeded. It jumped out through a hole that I didn't sew and made a new hole in the greenhouse film, of course, with ease. I found it too late. Plopped it back in the tank but it wasn't breathing anymore.
Lessons learned:
[1] Get a forever home first for an arapaima, that's be at least around 20,000 gal, more is better
[2] Make it jump proof with high hard walls above the water level
[3] Don't be cheap and lazy - buy good nets or keep sewing the cheap ones, you frugal and indolent idiot
Here are the last two videos of Bima and the post mortem photos. Last measure is 5 feet and 6 inches at roughly 3 years old (bought at 5"-6" the summer of 2016).
I think Sima was a male and Bima was a female (I may be wrong) and Bima has had a lot more red in its coloration versus Sima.
Sorry for the loss Viktor, it was a monstrous beauty. It's such a shame that some fish try so hard to kill themselves -- but don't beat yourself up too hard, heck lots of people can't even keep 3" kuhli loaches in their tanks, we can only imagine the challenge with a beast of that size.
Thank you, brother. I must be hard on myself. Can't blame the fish whatsoever. It only does what its instincts tell it to. I knew it well, going in, before committing to their ownership, that they were notorious jumpers; what I underestimated was my time and $$$ to build their new home and my ability to prevent them from jumping.
I believe they will still try to jump out of 20,000 gal or 50,000 gal, just with a lesser frequency. But c'mon, a 5.5 foot fish in a space slightly bigger than its 2 body lengths x 2 body lengths... What would I expect, that that feeble net with holes will discourage it from jumping out or hold it in? I am an idiot but I learn. This lesson hits where it hurts the most. I should memorize well the experience.
Not to sound patronizing but that's all we can ask of ourselves, to learn and grow -- and on the positive side your sharing this experience is bound to help others who might be in a similar position (even with smaller monsters like Aros or Iridescents, etc.) Last year I lost a $1,000 Xback because of my own stupidity (not properly covering an internal corner filter). I'm pretty sure neither of us will make the same mistake again, because even if we're not perfect, we do care.
Well said. I can see the guy who makes a living by speaking
Tobiassorensen
and
dazzapolypterusweeksii
are two off the top of my head who wanted to get an arapaima in their similar sized tanks. Watch out, bros.
Im actually on the hunt for a arapaima leptosoma.Well said. I can see the guy who makes a living by speaking
- Dec 2, 2018
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