henward

mark, love it! box of patience. yeah ok fair enough i guess i really want them to school or at least come out to feed like they used to. only been 2 weeks or 3 weeks at most since i moved them. i will wait:D

should i remove the hiding spots?. i moved them 2 weeks ago or let them settle and they willc ome out?

i movbed my 22 clown loaches from one tank to the other. tank shares the same system so no water shock. but the new tank has way more hiding spaces. they hide alot, i dont see them schooling like they used to. any reason for this? they love to hide - some come out to eat but they only come out when i leave the room. i hardly see them eat. should i remove the hiding spots? force them to come out? loach sizes are from very large to medium/small. 4 to 5 cms is the smallest. should i remove hiding spots, force themt o come out and spend time in the open?

It really depends. your bactyeria are 99% on your bio media, nto the water columb. bacteria prefer to live on SURFACE not the water. so the question of what is safe depensd on this. 1) Temperature shock to fish. any drops in temp more than 4 degrees i would consider to be a shock. Imagine being in a pool thats 25degrees - then jump into 20 degrees...for humans thsi is cold, imagine for fish wtih such small body mass. So the key is to do mroe frequent water changes, smaller changes than one big one. In saying that, dependson the fish too. 2) Where is your water from. IN torbay, east coast bays, albany, our water is from the okura resevoir, i know that its clean and water care can give you a chlorine report IF there isany. I use water from tap straight into the tanks - i have been for 2 years now. If your water is heavily treated, this can destroy your culture of friendly bacs on yoru filter..... leading to a crash. I trickle in 20 litres every hours over 15 mins 24x per day. So the temperature will NEVER drop more tahn .5 Degrees. In fact probably less than that. It never fluctuates really. water change is to remove nitrate as previously mentioned. also, as your bacteria filters the water, it consumes minerals and nutrients in the water, some of which the fish needs for their bodies and general health. So replacing the water puts some extra minerals and trace too. I put small amounts of sea salt 3 times a week into my system, this makes sure there are trace minerals in the water. i Buy salt at $1.10 per kg. lasts me a long time when i buy 60kg at a time. some say this is redundant, but i dont get sick fish - when they get cut they heal rapidly. apparently its old fashioned - but when i used to do a water change i always treated with salt after. worked and still works for me

yeah, makes me think too - are arowanas not bred in muddy ponds? i jsut realised that on my drive home. (shows how much of a nerd i am) anyway, arowanas are bred ifnot exclusively 99.9% in muddy ponds. ponds and mud from the natural source would harbour more bugs. when i get my substrate (except silica) i put it in the shower pumping hot water into it to kill bugs.

yes i agree some gravel are harder to clean - i guess you can syphon the gravel whcih cleans it. bare tank is certainly more simple thast for sure, i guess i just like a more natural look. Fine gravel does nto retain much of any dirt underneath, something like silica sand i find keeps clean with enough fast moving bottom dwellers. as they eat they disturb and with the canisters pickign up debris. Planted tank would be good i reckon for an arowana. I dont think plants will be bad for arowana.

I dream of a tank like that - with a nice red arowana!!! oh yeah. or 100 neon tetras

yeah me too, silvers tend to get it the most. Blacks not as mucha dn asian probably less thans ilvers and black aros. curious too. some say tis fatty tissue, some say its habit, some say its cos the aro looks at bottom of the tank. then my rtg should have it, there is plenty of things to look at at teh bottom i guess..... would be interesting... but i cant find any scientific info on it. Also, why is it that you remove gravel in your tank? you can use dark gravel - i dont like the look of bare tanks personally. light also reflects from bare bottom tankis which can brighten up the tank and the underbelly of the fish. maybe bare tanks make teh fish look up as the reflection may put them off, thus avoiding drop eye?

haha, yeah, it goes for them with zest, chews and eats maybe 20% of the pellets and the rest is for the other fish haha. but in saying that, the other day, when i threw in my standard ball of meat for the bichirs, it took what was left roughly half and kept it in its mouth for 5 hours then swallowed it lol so its now eating beef heart too!! what ever goes in there, its going for, but pellets are the only thing its not properly eating. i want it 60cm!!!

hui king i didnt meant you have NEVER kept fish i mean right now in nz, do you have one as a pet for yourself? cos some people sell but dont keep as pets. i know you have lots of experience lol i just want to knwo if you have one at home right now as a pet, i wanna look see!!!! i like looking at aros!

You are right pinkies would be a good alternative! good idea thanks:D apparently frogs from NZ are not suitable, fish spit them out, they have a bad taste, probably the anti bacterial component of their mucous. pinkies though - mmmm

I think most asian aros are beautiful, even the cheaper 1.5 grade ones, some are just more beautiful than others lol its like wine... you would of course settle for a $12 bottle.... but some would say $50 bottles are better..... well.... some would ask if its worth the extra money.... maybe, maybe not....its up to you i guess. Arowanas in Asia is like a pedigree dog show.... standards. Mid to high level etc... terms commonly used in the aro hobby. you can go forever in terms of fish 'quality' ... I would go for a chilli red or VIP red personally, i dont th in i want to replace my rtg - im too attached to it and its now rather large lol...

that tank on TM is nice, but folr that price, you can get your own brand new one. but, its good value if it comes with gear!! i reckon its a goer if you can see it filled up! beware of leaky tanks.

king, do you keep one arowana for yourself? last time you didnt have one .... i would love to see a fish you have raised yourself from young!!

haha yeah, you didnt tell me that 2 years ago:D its ok, i still love that monster. 5th level scales gold would have been cool though.

"Henward, i do not agreed your opinion. You try to keep a F5 red aro in a white tank for 1 year and then compare with your 1.5 red... you will not beliave that is a F5! Also the 10 days changing water period and old water does increase the red color. Mr.Ginando Yuki who is the director of Yukia red Aro Indonisia and Mr.Ye who is the boss of Qianhu fish farm.--Their tank's changing water period is over 10 days. I have chat with them in last year when i visit them. Asian aro is from Asian, that's why the myth is always from asia. Haha" I am curious - as to what is the science behind the water not being changed much. I mean - i am no arowana breeder and cannot claim that i know more than the director of an arowana farm lol but, Not changing water would mean the Nitrates would build up - what else builds up in a tank with older unchanged water? Nitrate cannot possibly enhance colour? I have seen the same fish in a tank with Artificial light and whtie light, and the colour difference is almost double. I have seen blackwater wtih a red aro in it, also enhances the red... but i beleive more from contrast as when you remove the blackwater - the fish is not as red....i guess wtih scientific reasoning i would be convinced lol I know that fish such as the asian arowana are relatively brightly coloured because of the water they come from - some say that evolution dictated for themt o find each other, they had to be shinier so they can see each other..... this is found in other fish in muddy and dark waters too. Sunlgiht tans and enhances arowana colour, tanning is a principle using a UV spectrum bulb too.... So by putting dark water - prolonged use of Ketapang leaf and darkening the water this could eventually tellt he fish to "get more colour" to be 'seen' better.... i can see how that can work. Anwyays, i am really interested how not changing water frequently would help colour development. then maybe i can wind down my wc cycles:D currently my 2x1200Litre has 340L of water over 24 hours cycling out of it. i dropped it down to about 280ish lately to give my plants more nitrate.....

hey king! no offence taken at all! yeah, my RTG is a 4th level RTG - by no means it is a 5th or 6th or crossback:) But the scales up to the 4th level are very full in gold. Of course i cannot claim that it is as shiny as crossbacks in their full shine! i guess thats the difference, retail RTG $2500 and Retail Crossbacks $6000 lol When i say 'full gold' i meant the scales which are gold are fully gold, no black or brown centres. But the 5tha nd 6th level and the top of the fish, nor its head is definitely a ligth brown not gold...... but that is to be expected wtih a RTG isnt it?

A note however: The comment that Old water is good for the red colour. I dont neccesarily agree. This is what i hear a myth. The old water has a tendency to become BROWN. the brown makes the colour of RED come out more.... it enhances the red. some say that it actually has no effect on the intensity of the red. Also many aro owners will have a artificial red light. most animals you see on the net will have artificial light, only when you see the fish under whtie light you can judge hwo red tehy are. My 1.5 red aro can look very red under some light too.... but it is not red at all. Black water conditions does calm the arowana too. And KETAPANG LEAF, terminalia catapa also know as - will brownt he water and contains tannins and salts and trace taht keep a healthy scale for many acidic water fish. I use it, i agree, the colour stands out more when the tank water is darker, but i believe this is because its more of an illusion than an actual biological thing thats happening. Such as background - substrate... all of which i believe merely enhances the colour throguh contracts and illusion given tot he human eye. I found taht when i put silica white substrate on my rtg tank, the colour did get brighter wtih in a couple months. Some have told me this is because the light reflects from the sand and also TANS the bottom of the fish..... Tanning is frequently used to enhance, intensify and increase colour of Red and Gold aros.... I can vouch thsi works, i have tried it also. Tannins in the water is good to mimic the natural ecosystem in whcih the fish is from - but in saying that, i dont believe there are any studies tos ay that the colour actually changes physically when done - more so that it changes from our perception and contracts to the water. but, i love the write up! i just find in asia - there is alot of myth and things when it comes to fish keeping

awesome write up!! you have experience with Asian aros - good to have your feedback! I agree, my RTG got full gold only last 4 to 5 months. 2.5 years old. but patience is key and it does get gold and eat lots so thats ok:D I think most people in NZ would keep aros not for fengshui though - but what ever floats your boat i say! doesnt matter your reasonf or keeping a fish..... its your own reasons. good write up none the less!

sturdy stand. 80width if i can helpit. you can make it shorter, 2100 by 80w x 70h IMO. works well with me.

david is riht, i have seen aros in tanks about 60 cms, and they can turn around but cant jet accross the tank as much just swim up and down. many of people in asia do this - sometimes even in 4 foot tanks!

thats a good sized tank though aros should have more width then height, its stil good and i think sufficient for a large aro. yeah i think save it, and get a good fish!

Sa your tank is 700Litres (i would not recommend any less for a aro costing more than a second hand car!!) i would say the following configuration in order of introduction. Red aro (i would order a chilli red 3 to 4k in price) because i find it would be best value for money in my opinion...some may argue. Pleco tinfoil barbs x3 Parrot chichlid small oscar Clown knife at least 10 inches in size. something like that anyways. I would put fast fish that will annoy and distract the aro.... eventually the aro will kinda lose spirit i found and stop harassing them.... then you can intro other fish. If it doesnt stop harassing tinfoils, then you have an agro aro.... then dont intro anything else.... tin foils are good indicators of the aros potential to be tanked with other mates. Borneo tigers are fantastic aro tank mates. they seem to never have aggression with one another... in all my experiences... borneo tiger seems to go in and straight away get along with aros. video of my tank here so you can get an indication of what i have:

IN my opinion, as you can see with my tank, i have an RTG with about 40 other fish with aros, i find that its either lots of fish or by it self. middle ground does not always work. but reds apparently have a better temprament. I would suggest first and foremost, ensure your arowana is the top dog, any other fish that die, its ok, they dont cost 3k plus. so iw ould set up a tank wtih a pleco and relatively risk free fish (risk free to the arowana) then get the arowana to establish, and bring in fish, from a small age to be in the tank. I find that wtih arowanas, you need CANNON FODDERS. as mean as it may sound, i find this was the key to others survival such as clown knives and BGKs OR even discus fish that get in the aros face but cant harm it like silver dollars, parrot cichlid, tinfoil barbs would definitely be in my top of the list what size is your tank? then i would intro from a small age, an oscar, oscars i found challenges the aro and keeps it distracted as with the tinfoils and silver dollars from attacking things like clown knives and weaker fish. oscars are robust....

i had one, they are agro - but he is battered maybe hes a wuss as an example:D but generally i find them more agro... in saying that, if you have othing else in teh tank, then im sure its fine!