FishProfiles.com Message Forums

A note: The specimens featured in the AP article are apparently destined for a 20000-gallon (U.S.) pond. Moreover, aquaria with volumes of several hundred gallons are not all that unexceptional amongst the cadres of “tankbuster”-keepers.



Last edited by Veneer at 18-Jul-2005 01:38

African Arowana are from a different line. I believe they are actually more closely related to the Arapaima than the other species of Arowana. The eyes look pretty good to me.

Last edited by solongNthxforallthefish at 08-Aug-2005 11:17

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

cool pic..but it's eye is alil too big for it...i kind of think that he is stunted..or is it natural..i have a silver and pearl arowana...but none of them hv such big eyes for their head

That's not true. There are many populations (and arguably, species) of full freshwater mollies scattered all throughout northern and central america. As for said gobiid, they are known from almost strictly costal waters in the panhandle area. This being said, though "thriving" is a personalized word, the morphology of each member of the species is the same. Therefore, one cannot say that each individual of a species thrives in it's own unique water condition. The water conditions of a collective species is similar amongst each fish, and seeing as how the species is known only from costal waters, it is safe to assume that they would indeed prefer some salt in the water. Whether or not you intend on following suit is your choice.

Failing to thrive is all a matter of each individual fish and each tank. They do better in a more brackish tank, but without evidence of failure to thrive mine will remain freshwater. If need be it will be acclimated over to saltwater. It is similar to sailfin mollies in freshwater, while really they prefer saltwater. They do fine in both.

Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

Not to stray too far off-topic, but if by "dragon eel" you mean Gobioides broussonetti, they fail to thrive in full freshwater.

You just helped stock my tank. Right along with a dragon eel and large clowns and balas. What a cool fish.

koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

In all honesty and lets all think realistically for a second it is almost impossible to find this guy and any other arow a 1000g home.

Only a die hard arow fan or a zoo can provide this, ALTHOUGH I DONT CONDONE THIS a reasonable size tank for ONE of these guys would be a 180g or bigger.

I'm not tryin to pick a fight or encourage everyone to go out and buy a 6ft tank just to keep an arow but what i am saying is that alot of these fish are never housed properly and to house them properly is out of most peoples budgets. In all honesty i would be happy to see this fish and any others sold by aquariums housed in no less then a 180g tank which is a 6x2x2 tank.

Any other thoughts or comments welcome

I am scared of arowanas. That's just me though.

I will make sure he goes only to a person who can properly care for him. If we cannot sell him, our store has 180, 300, and 700 gallon display tanks.

There are several regular customers that come into our store that have tanks that hold hundreds of gallons (which is good for a few years at least), and they are really into the big oddball type fish. I'm actually not too worried about finding him a permanent home.






Last edited by Cory Addict at 18-Jul-2005 01:44

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I made a sort of pity purchase today, a small African Arowana. We get them in at the store a couple times a year, and I always hate it because nobody buys them and they always end up starving to death.

They are very difficult to feed. Unlike all other arowanas, which are voracious predators, African arowanas are peaceful filter feeders and will not prey upon even very small fish. They grow to three feet long, so obviously I cannot keep him for too long. I just want to grow him out a bit and get him really healthy.

I bought him because I have a lot of sediment in my gravel (good for the plants), and this is what the arowana eats in the wild. They also filter plankton from open water.

He has tons of personality, and is very active. My snakeskin gourami doesn't like him though, and they sometimes chase each other around (though never harming each other).

I noticed (after I put him in my tank) that he has a bit of ich though, which I will be keeping a close eye on (and I have medication on hand). So far I have seen him pick at the plants, grab some mouthfulls of gravel, and eat a small amount of frozen brine shrimp and tubifex worms. This is good, because in the store he would just hide and absolutely refused to eat anything.

Does anybody have any experience or advice about keeping these guys? I don't know too much about them other than they grow to three feet long and are strictly filter feeders.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Heres basically a caresheet for them. Also you may want to ask around on the forum and see if any of them would want him. I think a couple of people have been looking for one.
http://aquaticpredators.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11173

What a lovely fish. If i had a 1000gal tank i would seriously consider getting one. I do have one question. Do you know anyone with a tank big enough to hold a fish like that once its reached its full size. You obviously want to give this fish to an experianced fish keeper but an experianced fish keeper wouldnt want anything to do with this fish unless they have an extremely large tank which is very unlikely.

---

''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

can it be put in with small fish?

With common sense, yes. You shouldn't house a two-foot African arowana with guppies and expect them not to slowly disappear. But mine is about 3.5" long, and I feel comfortable having in my tank even though I have very small pencilfish and corys. He has not shown interest in any of the small fish in my tank.

i reckon by the end of it you will have a nice big home for this guy!

I wish... Unfortunately I can only provide a "foster home" for him, where I can hopefully fatten him up and grow him out a couple inches. After that, he's going back to the store, where I can still take care of him for three days a week (and hopefully make sure he's eating enough).

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

That is one awesome fish! I love it, i reckon by the end of it you will have a nice big home for this guy!

Good on ya and goodluck!

from the description is it a paddle fish,?

No. It's an African Arowana; there's no questioning the identification.


Here are some pictures I got of him. The ich actually looks worse in the photos than it does in real life. I think he got it because he was so stressed out at the store, but now that he is in a heavily planted tank he is showing much better behavior.

He is so cute! I think I have a new favorite fish. Haha...







[/font][/font][/font]

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

from the description is it a paddle fish,?

update: i stand corrected. i think this is my first time seeing this fish, looks nice. can it be put in with small fish?

Last edited by bettachris at 17-Jul-2005 22:43

Awesome. Thanks for the links.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

A 'definitive guide' (replete with images of some truly beautiful specimens) is available here.

Check the forums at http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com - lots of arowana owners there...