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what would be the min tank size for this set-up

a small ray,(nothing fancy, not sure the name, but it isn't fancy, just natural servial colors peachy color.)

and a arowana, maybe a black X back asain arowana.

i was thinking about maybe 500 g.

The 500g water volume should be plenty,youll certainly be able to keep them alive in that much water, but to make them truly happy you might consider going even bigger.The orientation of the tank would also be important. The ray is a bottom feeder and the aro would be a surface feeder. Ideally the tank should be oriented so that its wide enough to to be comfortable for the ray,the aro will also appreciate the turning space. It need not be especially deep , but you might wish to avoid regular contact between the ray and the aro, since a brusque ray might stab an aro , and an aro might decide to take a shot at a ray thats spends a lot of time near the surface.Giving the fish more width and depth would give them less reason to go for each other. The nature of each animals weaponry means they could certainly hurt each other, but its possible a good tank design could help minimise aggression. At least a ray and an aro could be fed in a way that avoids competition, because they use such different techniques.Aros generally spend most of their time watching the surface and most rays are more concerned with whats below them.

Im actually considering a pacu to go with the aro, cos at least the mass of the fish will put each other off attacking, and food competition will be nil. A ray by comparison may be large when viewed from the top or underneath, but in profile they can be very thin. An aro might suddenly get an urge to attack the ray if it spends time at the top viewed in profile.Black aros are not calm when it comes to food.



Last edited by longhairedgit at 07-Dec-2005 02:56