Substrate for aros?

[Wesley M]

I want an arowana and am saving up for the jardini at my lfs. The want 119 and its around 4 inches I would guess. I currently have gravel in my 72"x15"x20" tank (roughly 85 gallons). Is there a recommended/preffered tank setup for these guys? I know it wouldnt be ideal for life but hopefully by the time he needs an upgrade I will have the money saved. what would be the bare minimum for an adult arowana and a guy on a budget (meaning a 200 gal or above is out of the question.) Thanks
Sent from my EVO using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Owens]

Most reasonable people say 180g minimum for Asians or Australian.

 

[archers]

Most reasonable people say 180g minimum for Asians or Australian.

And it has to be one of the 6'x2'x2' varieties

Sent from my SGH-I317M using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Miguel]

Whatever substrate you want...

 

[David R]

what would be the bare minimum for an adult arowana and a guy on a budget (meaning a 200 gal or above is out of the question.)

My 2c, if you can't see a 200g+ tank in your future don't get an arowana, regardless of species, end of story. The jardini would be ok in a 6x2x2' for a few years, but the Scleropages species aren't as flexible as their south american cousins and I'd feel the fish would need a bigger tank by the time it gets to around 20". if you can stretch to 30" wide it would be better, and of course any increase in length would also help, but at the end of the day any tank <200g isn't going to cut it for any arowana long-term.

If you're on a budget either learn to DIY and look at building something out of ply/pondliner with a big window, or keep a look out for second hand deals. That said, buying the tank is only part of the equation. Heating, feeding, filtering and cleaning costs will always be higher with a big tank. There are some things you can do to reduce them (insulation, for example, to reduce heat loss) but other things like pumps powering the filters are going to chew up the power regardless.