Thinking of Aros for the first time and need advice!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
So a Silver will get 26"? Ok, does this mean the Aro will be very unhappy only having 24" to turn around? I thought they were eel-like and were very flexible. And my tankmates are safe so long as they are over a foot?

Oh, what should I do? Which one? It must be the least aggressive. Any final thoughts please? EVERY article I read and everyone has a conflicting opinion.

What about Heterotis niloticus?
 
A silver or black is the least agressive and they can easily get over 26" I have a 3 foot wide tank for my 24" aro but he doest use all of the tank width to turn around......ever lol
 
There is another type that gets forgotten and while it is not as popular or as "pretty" it is my favorite, maybe the relative rarity in the hobby is what makes it special to me. I am talking about the Heterotis niloticus or African arowana, It has been recorded up to 38" but even in the wild seldom exceeds 28", It is not easy to find but is much cheaper than most asian or aussie aros when you do, usually around the price of a similar sized silver.
They are aggresive with others of it's own kind and often other aros but peaceful with other fish to big to swallow, I have seen a 20+" one kept with foot long tilapia. It is long lived and fairly slow growing. Here is a picture from Aqua Geographica. There is also a golden color phase that is rare.

E05011.jpg
 
Hi guys. I'm new here, but I've had 3 areos. 2 silvers that I bought small, around 4-6 inches. the smaller of the 2 jumped out of the tank about 3 months after I got them. and the 2nd one jumped out at about 12 inches, I had him almost a year. man I was po-ed. then after about a 3 month period of having no fish, I find a 18 inch jaridni at a local pet shop. A customer just dropped it off the day before was too big for his tank. this time I put it into my 125 and made sure the tops were on tight. had it for three months, and I found it on the center support, on the top of the tank dead. the funny thing is both tops were still on tight. I have no clue how it got up there.... now my wife said no more. too expensive to jump out.
 
guppy said:
There is another type that gets forgotten and while it is not as popular or as "pretty" it is my favorite, maybe the relative rarity in the hobby is what makes it special to me. I am talking about the Heterotis niloticus or African arowana, It has been recorded up to 38" but even in the wild seldom exceeds 28", It is not easy to find but is much cheaper than most asian or aussie aros when you do, usually around the price of a similar sized silver.
They are aggresive with others of it's own kind and often other aros but peaceful with other fish to big to swallow, I have seen a 20+" one kept with foot long tilapia. It is long lived and fairly slow growing. Here is a picture from Aqua Geographica. There is also a golden color phase that is rare.
Click to expand...

I read somewhere that the African Aros are partially filter feeders and can be difficult to keep in the aquarium. Is this accurate?
 
I have never been fortunate enough to have the room for one but both from the couple of people that I knew who did and from research it is true that in the wild they are partial filter feeders, the waters they live in support huge populations of midge and mosquito larvae. TheY also eat fish and shrimp. The ones I fell in love with recieved pellets, mollies, market shrimp, mysis shrimp (live), and lots of live brine shrimp. their owner had them for a coupleyears before I met him and they were in beautiful condition, at that time they were about 24" long. The main problem he had with them was having to keep the tank lids latched down because they would try and push them off.
 
Why are they always trying to jump out? Are they this dumb? Well, I suppose in the wild they would find it harmless to fly through the air to snag a bird or something else flying by, but why would they want to jump up if there is nothing to look at? Nothing to see? (I have a wooden canopy on the tank and thus there is nothing for it to look at but brown....more plain brown....just brown wood.
 
My 20" black gets along with a ray, actually "likes" a 30" lungfish and never ate the convict and other small fish I put in her tank. Seems like a peaceful fish to me.
 
I think I have made my final decision. I admit, I am a little nervous. I have a friend in the next province that I would call an Aro expert. He has kept many, has few right now, and is able to find them through his past workplace and get them for people. He is looking for a Salmon Silver for me. I told him I was very worried about them getting too big, but he assured me that he has never seen them get bigger than about 2 feet. (I hope he's right). I don't know how this happens because they are so big in the wild. What makes a fish "stunt" if you are taking good care of it and it gets lots of food? It is a MYTH that a fish will only grow as big as the tank it is in. Anyway, he is going to get a Salmon for me. My tank is acrylic and the top only has 2 openings in the top. The openings are 11" x 11". Strange I know, but acrylic builders do this to add strength. I bought a couple sheets of acrylic and will make lids.

Tankmakes, 2 Jack Dempseys and one Firehead Cichlid. And a large Scarlet pleco.

I hope to get the Aro within a month.
 
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