Arowana fish, violent yes or no??

A friend of mine has an Arowana in his tank. He seems to bully the other fish in the tank. Are these normally a violent fish??

He is after growing huge in the last few weeks as he has started feeding him live crickets.

if I got one of these fish would it attack Guppies??

Joe

Look them up on google,
They are verry preddatory fish which can eat annything that fitts into their mouth.

They have verry bigg mouths too. Guppies wouldn't stand a chance.

The aggression depends upon the species (and to some extent upon the individual specimen).

But, when considering any Arowana and something as small as guppies then ‘aggression’ does not come into it at all.

Even a small arowana will see guppies as food. Especially as guppies are top-dwelling animals.

Now, if we talk on the true aggression side: the Australian Saratoga (Australian arowana) can be highly aggressive to most fish….no matter what size.
They have a bad temper and can be unpredicatable as to how much they will terrorise even a large cichlid or another large arowana.

The South American silver arowana (the most common ones around) are not that aggressive really. They can be a bit naughty with some fish, but so long as the arowana doesn’t think it can fit in its large mouth then aggression is not a particular problem.

If thinking of getting an arowana, then they will grow very fast….that bucket mouth is big, they are intelligent, they will even try to jump over a divider to get to fish they want to eat, and….most importantly….they must always be kept in a tank with a fully sealed and weighty lid.
You may go weeks or months without a problem, but they are powerful jumpers and one morning may be a day to awake to a dried arowana on the floor.

Also, if thinking of getting one then tank size and water conditions are not necessarily the only things to consider….
These are large fish and become stressed very easily if attempts to capture it are not done properly.
So, good fish-catching and fish-recovery techniques are vitally (and often more so) as important as a large tank.

ian

Your guppies will be just a snack for them i have seen them eating oscars and other big cichlids without a problem at all.
These fish grow to a size of 50 cm to 80 cm depending on the type you have.
Also something to consider is how big your tank is and how often you do water changes.
They will not do well in bad condition and will die fast.
I have had both Australian arowana and South American silver arowana.
Mine did not make it and were killed by my other fish.
When i bough my South American silver arowana i was commited to buying a 1500 litre tank for when he had outgrown my 720 so i think this is something you should also consider before buying such a fish;-)
If i remember correctly your tank is 60 litres or so ?
You have no chance of having an arwona in that tank it will out grow the tank in 2 weeks or less.
i would not even consider putting arwona fry in a tank that small.i dont want to sound bad saying this just that some stores will tell you that lots of fish are good for your tank and this is not the case.My advise is research any fish you are thinking of getting .For a tank your size i would consider this spliting your tank into sections.Top middle and bottom.Guppies generally stay at the top of the water and the likes of neon tetra are middle to bottom.You need to buy a mix of these types so they all have there own areas in the tank ;-)Also consider what your substrate is when choosing fish as some prefer sand to gravel.Crys for instance should have sand as they can damage there barbels in gravels as they like to dig around the place.

ceech wrote:

Your guppies will be just a snack for them i have seen them eating oscars and other big cichlids without a problem at all.
These fish grow to a size of 50 cm to 80 cm depending on the type you have.
Also something to consider is how big your tank is and how often you do water changes.
They will not do well in bad condition and will die fast.
I have had both Australian arowana and South American silver arowana.
Mine did not make it and were killed by my other fish.
When i bough my South American silver arowana i was commited to buying a 1500 litre tank for when he had outgrown my 720 so i think this is something you should also consider before buying such a fish;-)

You forgot to mention the importance of learning fish-recovery. If proper fish catching or recovery methods are not done then the fish can die within minutes.....the larger these species get, the harder they fall.

ian

your right there.I find that bigger and older fish can die fast due to stress mind you when i put my fish in the tank they are there for life unless i need to put them in a tank of there own for illness A good big net usually does the trick for me and some food
Mind you on another note, the way there were caugh from the wild if we are talking about VF is a big importance to me stunning the fish with chemicals i hate as the fish never fully recover i find so i will not buy fish caught like this.

Yea my tank is a 54L tank. When you say split the tank into sections, how can i find which fish are top, middle and bottom fish?

Thanks for all the info by the way guys.

you dont have to phisicaly split the tank, just try getting fish that like different levels of the tank...
Another thing to careful is clown loaches.. they look nice and cute. Most shops will sell them to you without even ask the size of our tank. they willoutgrow your tank in 6months or quicker... same appy to some species of plecos..

smitas5 wrote:

you dont have to phisicaly split the tank, just try getting fish that like different levels of the tank...
Another thing to careful is clown loaches.. they look nice and cute. Most shops will sell them to you without even ask the size of our tank. they willoutgrow your tank in 6months or quicker... same appy to some species of plecos..

I know he doesn't mean physically split the tank, how do I know which fish prefer each section

pole wrote:

smitas5 wrote:

you dont have to phisicaly split the tank, just try getting fish that like different levels of the tank...
Another thing to careful is clown loaches.. they look nice and cute. Most shops will sell them to you without even ask the size of our tank. they willoutgrow your tank in 6months or quicker... same appy to some species of plecos..

I know he doesn't mean physically split the tank, how do I know which fish prefer each section

That is quite an interesting question actually.

One way to simply do a bit of research on the fish using reliable sources (and that is easier said than done to be quite honest).

There are plenty of good books on the subject of general aquarium fishes....and they should indicate where fish prefer to reside.

BUT, failing that, for many fish (but not all) you could hazard an educated guess by looking at their body shape, their colour, their mouths, and their fins (and even their eyes in some cases).

Look at an arowana......it's pectoral fins are horizontal (suspect as being able to rapidly leave the water) its mouth is up-turned (feeds from above), it has a pretty straight back (no big hump bits sticking out)....even if it may take up residence on the mid waters at time, all those features means it is made for the top of the water.
If you look at a guppy, apart from the fin, it too has all the features of a top dweller (up-turned mouth and flat back).

Siamese fighting fish....upturned mouth: top dweller.
Hatchet fish...flat back, up-turned mouth, and the fins make you suspect it can leave the water rapidly.

Bottom dwelling....top colouration tends to be such to give some camouflage; the belly is flat; the mouth tends to be down pointing or has feelers.

Discus fish and silver dollars...big round disc shaped fish....not for bottom nor top dwelling (although silver dollars are well poised to eat from the surface, and discus are well poised to eat from the ground).

You may have a good guess that a fish is roughly as bulky on the top as it is on the belly may be a mid water fish.

Then you can get an indication from deportment.....a fish that angles its head downwards is most likely to be a mid water fish that will feed off the bottom or lower reaches etc.

Now....there are many exceptions, but nature doesn't use man's rules.
Many gouramis, for example, can be pretty adept at getting food anywhere.

If you see a fish in the flesh then behaviour gives many hints.

ian

Some very helpful information there Ian, I suppose by inspecting the fish that are for sale ill be able to figure out which fish will go where in the tank.

pole wrote:

Some very helpful information there Ian, I suppose by inspecting the fish that are for sale ill be able to figure out which fish will go where in the tank.

When you are in the fish shop, you should be able to get an even better idea.
The bit I gave above is a rough guide if all you have is a picture.

But, if you select the right shop selling fish then they should be able to give you sound advice.

From here, however, my advise would be to put getting an arowana on a distant future list of purchases, and not one in the near future.

Now, although many people might say put them into as big a tank as possible, I don't totally agree with that: not all arowana that are sold are full grown specimens. In fact, quite contrary....even a fish of a couple of inches long is still only a baby in need of lots of very regular food.
If the tank is too large for a baby then you'd need to have a silly supply of food in it....I would recommend either raising a wee baby in a smaller tank or sectioning off a large tank to enable what are quite shy baby fish to feed. There should be plenty of water changes to go with that.
They will rapidly outgrow a small tank, and so placing in a small tank is considered to be a 'temporary option' during the baby eating stage.

With good care and proper food and water changes, you can expect a recently hatched arowana to be 15 to 18 inches in about 1 year.
When you do finally consider getting one....avoid ones that still have the egg-sac attached, and avoid very large ones. Transporting large fish is quite hazardous.

Now, in my earlier posts (which were quickie ones) I mentioned about fish-recovery skills.

these are ancient fish and go down hill extremely rapidly if stressed (yes they are tough and rough, but make no mistake about their very sensitive internal organs).

More likely than not you will have to one day catch the fish in a net, or you may have one bolt heavily against the tank lid, or you may even have one end up on the floor.
They can get quite stressed, and may require being placed into a recovery situation pretty quickly:

Here are a few guides for future reference...
dose the water with Tetra AquaSafe (I cannot think of another conditioner in its quality);
switch off the tank lights;
do not feed;
do not make any sudden movement;
if the fish has jumped out or is swaying on the bottom of the tank then gently lift the fish in a decent sized fish net;
make sure the fish is fully upright all the time and gently move the net around the water;
after a few minutes, you should slightly drop the net and see if the fish stays towards the top of the water upright and tries to swim a little. If it does then gently remove the fish and watch it.

Now, it may go to the bottom of the tank for shelter...but watch it for signs of swaying.
If it has jumped out of the tank, it may develop white eyes. But the white eyes in themselves are not a worry.
Check also for unusual dark colourations...that could mean brain damage.

When catching a large arowana, I recommend that you use a large solid container and use a net to simply sway the fish into the container. That is so much better than netting a large fish.
IF your system doesn't allow you to place a large enough container into the tank of water, then your system is not good enough for arowanas.

A few things to think of before getting these fish (or any monster fish).

ian

igmillichip wrote:

pole wrote:

Some very helpful information there Ian, I suppose by inspecting the fish that are for sale ill be able to figure out which fish will go where in the tank.

When you are in the fish shop, you should be able to get an even better idea.
The bit I gave above is a rough guide if all you have is a picture.

But, if you select the right shop selling fish then they should be able to give you sound advice.

From here, however, my advise would be to put getting an arowana on a distant future list of purchases, and not one in the near future.

Now, although many people might say put them into as big a tank as possible, I don't totally agree with that: not all arowana that are sold are full grown specimens. In fact, quite contrary....even a fish of a couple of inches long is still only a baby in need of lots of very regular food.
If the tank is too large for a baby then you'd need to have a silly supply of food in it....I would recommend either raising a wee baby in a smaller tank or sectioning off a large tank to enable what are quite shy baby fish to feed. There should be plenty of water changes to go with that.
They will rapidly outgrow a small tank, and so placing in a small tank is considered to be a 'temporary option' during the baby eating stage.

With good care and proper food and water changes, you can expect a recently hatched arowana to be 15 to 18 inches in about 1 year.
When you do finally consider getting one....avoid ones that still have the egg-sac attached, and avoid very large ones. Transporting large fish is quite hazardous.

Now, in my earlier posts (which were quickie ones) I mentioned about fish-recovery skills.

these are ancient fish and go down hill extremely rapidly if stressed (yes they are tough and rough, but make no mistake about their very sensitive internal organs).

More likely than not you will have to one day catch the fish in a net, or you may have one bolt heavily against the tank lid, or you may even have one end up on the floor.
They can get quite stressed, and may require being placed into a recovery situation pretty quickly:

Here are a few guides for future reference...
dose the water with Tetra AquaSafe (I cannot think of another conditioner in its quality);
switch off the tank lights;
do not feed;
do not make any sudden movement;
if the fish has jumped out or is swaying on the bottom of the tank then gently lift the fish in a decent sized fish net;
make sure the fish is fully upright all the time and gently move the net around the water;
after a few minutes, you should slightly drop the net and see if the fish stays towards the top of the water upright and tries to swim a little. If it does then gently remove the fish and watch it.

Now, it may go to the bottom of the tank for shelter...but watch it for signs of swaying.
If it has jumped out of the tank, it may develop white eyes. But the white eyes in themselves are not a worry.
Check also for unusual dark colourations...that could mean brain damage.

When catching a large arowana, I recommend that you use a large solid container and use a net to simply sway the fish into the container. That is so much better than netting a large fish.
IF your system doesn't allow you to place a large enough container into the tank of water, then your system is not good enough for arowanas.

A few things to think of before getting these fish (or any monster fish).

ian

Quality response.

Jay