Arowana in Planted Tank

[vinz]

I'm seriously getting an arowana and the best environment i think of for it is a 6 foot planted tank!!! []

Does anyone here have arowanas in a planted tank and can give some pointers?
Would also appreciate any links to pics of planted aro tanks. I've already seen the ones at Pet Safari.

Acutally, I'm more excited about the 6 foot planted tank and I've already chosen the plants and planned the layout. []

[spilopterus]

actually, if you can get those ponds, you could give it a try, plants viewed from above are quite a beauty too, just go to ah pek plant farm and you'll know what I mean. Only thing, how to stop arro from jumpin jumpin...

A family friend had two arros in a large outdoor pond, sui ah....

[Simon]

no lar, I prefer a 6ft planted tank with a arrowana.. seeing it swimming effortlessly ard the tank is much better than in a pond.. a Koi looks great in a pond, coz Koi keepers appreciate koi looking at the top

Imo, vincent, wat u shld be consider of is prob due to feeding.. yr choice of plants oso limited to hardy, low light plants like echinodorus, anubias, crytos.. plus algae eaters which may become fish food for yr arrowana

[YES]

hi.. i think i saw a few at the arofanatics forum.. u got to seach their database on the gallery..

[Simon]

sorry to say this.. but most of them r not wat i call a planted tank..

[vinz]

Did think about a pond, but still nicer to view the fish from the side then the top. Besides, I live in an apartment... no space for a big enough pond. I agree about plants looking nice from the top. Maybe a project for the future.

Yeah, Simon, I realised that. Guess I may have to feed slowly and carefully. As for algae eaters... problem to be solved. I think Sam Yicks planted aro tank has large SAEs in it. Didn't check for shrimp though. I guess a small number might be able to survive in thick foliage. Probably have to make sure big-guy is well feed.

Did browse some of the tanks in AroFanatics. There are 1 or 2 real planted tanks with aro.

[Simon]

I think best to establish a mature tank with a thick vegation b4 intro yr arrowana...

[vinz]

http://arofanatics.com/members/hobbit6003/rtginaplantedtank"]Planted Aro Tank[/url]

[Simon]

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On 5/11/2002 12:03:36 AM

http://arofanatics.com/members/hobbit6003/rtginaplantedtank/"]Planted aro tank...[/url].
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this one is nice... 6ft?

[kelstorm]

http://arofanatics.com/members/hobbit6003/rtginaplantedtank/"]Planted aro tank...[/url].
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sorry vinz, but i can't see the hyperlink leh..

[vinz]

Kel, try the http://arofanatics.com/members/hobbit6003/rtginaplantedtank"]link [/url] again. If not working cut and paste

http://arofanatics.com/members/hobbi...inaplantedtank.

The forum seem to be sticking the forum URL infront of the URL. It works in the preview of my post.

Simon, 4 ft. Please note the bug above?

[lsz]

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On 5/10/2002 11:41:20 PM

sorry to say this.. but most of them r not wat i call a planted tank..
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simon actually there are quite some arowana keepers with planted tanks .


And vinz, what variety of arowana are you getting ?

somehow the light requirement of planted tanks clash with some of the SOP arowana practices too.

For one, certain varieties look the best under dim light condition and bright light may wash out the colour that particular variety is valued for. But this can be a matter of personal perspective.

and also, the many long established rules.
one of them is that bright light above will cause droop eye. Another common practice is for the case of RTG, the lighting is limited to 1hr per day..and the rest of the day the tank is kept as dark as possible..to promote climbing of colours up the scale level.

some may be sound unscientific, but they had not been proven wrong too..they are from many years of experience..and many do hold true.. nobody can really prove these theories wrong now.

[vinz]

LSZ,

I was thinking of an RTG... looks like its not a good choice for a planted tank. What is a good arowana to keep in a planted tank?

I'm probably gonna bring the light level down to 2 watts per gallon... is that dim enough?

[lsz]

the traditional arowana tank is still a bare tank, and that is still what most ppl are doing anyway.



ok what i mean by "climbing of colours " applies esp in the case of RTG.

look at the link below,
link
in the last 2 pics, there are 2 RTGs.You can see that the gold reaches higher for the below fish. The below fish has colouration that reaches the 5th level, while the top one is still at 4th level. (the 6th level the the single row right at the top of the fish. while the 5 level will be rows at both side of the fish, right below the 6th level and so on.)

Now it is widely practiced and somehow proven that a dim environment encourages the "climbing" of colours as naturally the normal RTG will have colours up till 4th level and not further up.

to many, it is desired to have the gold climbing as high up as possible. So they strive to do this by creating a dim environment. But to me, it is a matter of preference. I like the look on RTG with colours stopping at 4th row with a dark top....see below

link2


(3) For myself, i feel that the RTG still looks best in a dimmer tank too. While a crossback can pull it off in a brighter setting (see the young fish in the last 2 pics...the one above is an adult under dim condition)
http://www2.wbs.ne.jp/~arowana/horiuchi/eindex.htm
a RTG will not be as impressive.

However, i do not want to have a really bare tank too in long run. Thus i am setting up a tank with some low light plants like nana and java fern...and use moderate lighting for lesser hours per day. Sort of a compromise.


eventually up to you so just tell you abt some of the issues you can think abt.

and i have a 9-10" RTG certified from WanHu for sale still!
can talk abt it also

[kelstorm]

Vinz,
wow.. at a tank like this, the aro can hardly find the algae team.. unless they swim up to him...hehehe...[]

[Simon]

how about a peal arrowana? i luv the looks of the colour and the scales

[lsz]

yeah like simon said there are many alternatives too.

but pearl aros or jardinis as commonly called are known to be aggressive. and they lose out quite a bit in shape and posture compared to asians.


ANother choice you can consider for planted tank is the south american Black arowana.
(1)it is like silver, but is more slender and grows to a smaller size.(60cm more common than 75-90cm of silver) i will try to post a pic of our black (16" now) as soon as i can
(2) i find it to be among the most peaceful and graceful of all arowanas. if you are interested you can come over and see an adult black swimming under light..gorgeous
(3) adult colour is a very metallic gunmetal silver...something like the exposed metal part of older M16 rifle barrels.
(4) no concern abt lighting
(5) Good News....the is a good chance of a black aro co-existing readily with a lot of fish.(provided tank is large and tall enough.) From what i observe from ours, it will not be surprising if it can be mixed with large angelfish even.Although have not tried yet.
However, not so friendly to other aros.
(6) however, relatively rare ..seasonal.
(7) planted tank confirm can.

[Sky Devil]

Not a good idea if you are feeding your Arowana guppies or any live feedas the fishes will swim into the thick plants and hide.

[lsz]

aros can be trained to totally accept pellets and dry food
live food can be used as a treat..and frogs and shrimps are very sufficient for that purpose..

even when using live fish, just throw them in one by one and the aro will eat them before they have any chance to hide

and frogs dont hide in vegetation,
shrimps can even do some useful work in a planted tank []

[Simon]

lsz, u mean the peal arrowana is more aggressive? hmmmm.. i truly like the colour of it