Aro vs Algae Eaters

[learner]

Hello....

it's the new year! but forum somewhat quiet... maybe everybody sitting in front of their tanks admiring..

oh.. well i was touching up my tank.. something struck me..

do you have algae eaters in your aro tanks?
aren't they expensive snacks for your aro?

or do the plants provide enuff cover for them?
asking just for fun... don have the $$$$ to start an aro tank..

maybe if i win toto

[David]

hi learner

arowana are basically surface feeders....unless the unfortunate algae eater is crazy enough to hang around the surface.....it will sooner or later be a snack!....if its an otto...hopefully it goes down the thoat of the arowana.......

[learner]

thanks david....
u mean they rarely go down to the bottom to look for food?
coz some frens feed their aros with dead market prawns...
i think they will sink to the bottom if the aro is not fast enuff ... or when u throw the MP behind it..

so i was thinking the algae eaters would also be natural targets

[]

[David]

hi learner

perhaps if they are either super hungry or super greedy

the arowana i used to have years ago never did pick food at the bottom....even when it was a juvernile fish...at best was mid water level.....

[vinz]

Well, my arowana does go vertical to pick up missed market prawns from the tops of short plants when it's hungry enough, but they are not suited to hunt and chase prey in densely planted areas.

The construction of the arowanas mouth is more suited for snatching prey above them on the water surface. Documentaries have shown jardini's leap out of the water to snatch insects from overhanging branches. Perhaps, also the reason for their fondness for small frogs and crickets, which match their natural prey profile.

Well, so far other then tragedy described in this thread, I have not witnessed my arowana gulp down or actively prey on any of my algae eaters. The SAEs are accounted all for, the otos at last count was 8 out of 10 but the other 2 could be anywhere in the dense foliage and unless I can get the el'cheapo little malayan shrimps to fall in and take dressing, I don't think I'll ever know exactly how many are left in there. My theory of why he won't purposely whack my algae eaters and mixing small fishes with large predatory ones is here.

Heck, it might be more dangerous to put an altum angelfish in a tank full of cardinals and shrimp. Or an apisto in a tankful of shrimp, for that matter. And the last of my ramblings... the LFS that sold me my RTG told me of ppl who put cardinals or neon tetras in their aro tank with good results.

[zulnaldo]

guys, don't be too hopeful aros don't hunt for bottom feeders!!!
was at PS(simei) the other day and saw the red aro in the main tank outside
suddenly made a dash into the plants at the bottom!(the strike made the king was beautiful) SAEs must have panicked seeing the king's mouth close-up....but happy ending during that incident, saw no SAEs in the aro's mouth. could that explain for the aro's droop eye?

[vinz]

Hmmm... maybe they don't feed him enough. Saw him make a move for the surface when one of the staff picked out a dead leaf floating in the tank.

[Vican]

Just to let known some things,
Bro Hee Meng's aro ate ALL the fish in his 4' planted tank. It's favorite food is live goldfish. So, the only fish in the tank now is his aro.

It's amazing how nearly algae free his tank is except for some brown algae on the glass even without algae control...

My point is, as long as a fish is small enough to fit into an aro's mouth, it will always be in danger of been eaten by the aro.

So far, the few of us who are keeping aros in planted tanks, the aros seem to have different temperament and favorite food. If it has been brought up on a diet of live feeder fish, chances are, the aro will eat any algae eater in the tank.

For my case, so far, about 14 yamatoes have been found missing. 1 SAE has also been missing. No carcass found. I am not sure if the SAE has been eaten or died and eaten by the clown loaches. But I tend to believe that it has been eaten by accident like Vinz's case.

My aro's decent enough. It allows the clown loaches and SAEs to steal its food. It even allows them into his territory. Sometimes, they do go overboard and he chases them.

Regarding the Pet Safari Red Aro, I think that on and off, it does eat 1-2 SAEs. Previously, I have noticed that there were replacement SAEs of a smaller size. They like to feed pellets, so I wouldn't be surprised that the aro is not completely full at any 1 time.

[peterkoh]

try those large "king sucker" fish. those normally used in luohan tank but the poor fish is always attacked by the luohan. aro will leave them alone.

[sherchoo]

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On 1/6/2003 11:37:59 AM

try those large "king sucker" fish. those normally used in luohan tank but the poor fish is always attacked by the luohan. aro will leave them alone.
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Peter,

Not really appropriate for planted tanks.