It is AROWANA, the arowana is the best pet fish in a freshwater tank category. To help you figure this out i'm going to score the arowana based on our five categories which are:
• HANDLEABILITY
• CARE
• HARDINESS
• AVAILABILITY
• UPFRONT COST
1. Handleability
When it comes to handleability we give the arowana a score of one out of five. This is a big fish that can be a bit skittish. I would say that generally you aren't going to touch them, probaly the most likely reason that you might end up handling it would be if it ever jumps out of the tank which is not unlikely to happen at some point. If that happens, you will have the privilege of handling your arowana. It is just as much fun as picking up any other 10 pound wet slimy flopping fish . They also can bite this is something to keep in mind if you need to pick them up, also while feeding them and while cleaning the enclosure. Their teeth are small but sharp so expect to lose some blood but not any appendages. In a nutshell this fish won't kill you or do much permanent damage but it really shouldn't be handled except when it is absolutely necessary.
2. Care
When itcomes to care we give the arowana a score of two out of five. This is a huge tropical fast growing carnivorous fish that can hurl itself out of the water. If you know anything about keeping fish that pretty much tells you the whole story. If not, i'll tell you the story. This fish is huge it isn't the biggest freshwater bony fish in the world but it is dang big as a result it will need an aquarium in excess of 200 gallons. And that's just the swimming area for the fish so it can move around. Thousands of gallons would not be excessive for one of these fish. I would recommend a sump which will increase the amount of the water in the system, this fish is going to make a mess, why? Because of what they eat and how much they eat of it, these it meat live feeder insects, fish and honestly about any other animal they can swallow will plausibly be accepted. Eventually you might get them to take some frozen or otherwise not alive prey as well but they eat meat and they eat a lot. There are prepared diets though like carnivore pellets and with some work you can get them transitioned over to that as a staple diet. Feed them what they want, they are not prone to overeating. They are prone to eating tank mates though so keep that in mind they're primarily a surface feeder hence the mouth shape they have, so feed them up there at the top. I said it's really important to feed them off the surface, in fact if they're always eating off the bottom. These fish are not well adapted to doing this and their eyes can actually end up getting stuck pointing down towards the bottom which probably isn't what you want to have happen with your arowana. So this is called drop eye syndrome, so to avoid drop eye feed them up high. Now a big fish that eats a lot will produce a lot of nitrogenous waste, this means properly cycling your tank is a must. Filtration will also be very important, canister and over the side filters are a great idea. You will still need to do regular water changes and this is a really big tank. Did you know how to test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Captive bred arowanas will do well in a range of water hardnesses, but keep the water warm it will still need to be heated , substrate is optional for an arowana it's probably easier if you don't use substrate, but one of the most important things is that you prevent escapes. This fish is strong and can actually break glass so be sure that your tank is very thick, also be sure that the lid is very secure and cannot be knocked off by a mini white shark leap. If they do happen to leap out, good news they do have lungs, so they can survive for a bit, but if you don't notice soon enough you could lose them.
3. Hardiness
When it comes to hardiness we give the arowana a score of three out of five. There are a few keys, first, cycle the tank properly before introducing them. Feed them well but make sure that the filtration can keep up and monitor the water quality frequently. Also make sure that you have proper temperatures and do not let them jump out, captive bred individuals should do really well. I make you no promises about wild caught individuals and just generally watch out for common fish diseases like fungal and bacterial diseases especially after any sort of injury.
4. Availability
When it comes to availability we give the arowana a score of four out of five. They're really not that hard to find. I've seen them fairly often at pet stores that carry large numbers of fish. They will be at fish expos and all over the internet. So, if you want the arowana you can get one.
5. Upfront Cost
When it comes to upfront cost we give the arowana a score of two out of five. The fish will actually be pretty reasonable. A 200 plus gallons aquarium with a sump, a stand, a filtration, heater and a righteous lid that will not be so cheap. And again i would recommend going much more larger than 200 gallons. This fish is going to be a giant. And that's about as cheap as a giant fish is going to get, but it's still a giant fish. Which is why overall we give the arowana a score of 2.4 out of five. Anyway if what you want is a giant leaping water knife with lungs and a drawbridge for a mout, and you're willing to maintain an enormous alcatraz style fish tank. The silver arowana might be the perfect pet fish for you. Okay, that's all i can explain to you, thank you for reading.
0 Comments