How To Care For Silver Arowanas – Tank Size, Price, Diet & More

Silver Arowanas look a lot like a fish that you might catch when you go fishing. But it’s actually an aquarium fish that you can keep. These fish are quite large, so expect to get a large aquarium for these fish. These Arowanas are not for beginners, so if you are a beginner fishkeeper, consider getting another fish.

Unfortunately, Arowanas are very aggressive, which is another reason why they they are not for the beginner fishkeeper. But although they are aggressive, they are sought after among fishkeepers, but for a reason. These fish are beautiful and quite fascinating to watch!

Appearance

As you can see, Silver Arowanas look a lot like a fish that you might end up catching if you went fishing. But believe it or not, they are actually fish that people keep in their tank. These fish are large fish, and have silver scales. Their body is long and slender and their tail fin is surprising small..

Usual Behavior

Silver Arowanas are very aggressive and make sure that you remember that. These fish are notorious for eating other fish that fits in their mouth, so be cautious when you’re picking tank mates for these fish.

Lifespan

These fish can live for about 10-15 years! Make sure that the fish are in good conditions though. Make sure that pH, hardness, and the temperature are all in the ideal range to ensure that the fish are healthy.

Other things that can kill a fish include over or under-feeding a fish or not cleaning the tank enough. Fish are real animals and need a clean tank as they do live in it for the rest of their lives.

Size

These fish can get up to 3 feet when they’re full grown! That’s the length of 3 full-grown common goldfish! In the wild, specimens could even get larger!

Silver Arowana Care

Try to always take care of any fish at the best of your ability. Silver Arowanas need to be cared for well and are not for beginners. Make sure to keep these fish in the conditions that they were made for.

Tank Size

Saying that they’re so large, it’s recommended to keep these fish in about a 250 gallon aquarium. As these fish can get 3 feet in length, so they need a large aquarium to be comfortable.

Tank Mates

Saying that these fish are quite aggressive, finding good tank mates can be pretty hard. Make sure that the fish you want to keep with the Arowanas are slightly aggressive and not too small. Some fish you could consider keeping include …

Silver Dollar Fish
Jaguar Cichlid
Bichirs
Parrotfish

Diet

These fish are mainly Carnivorous, but will also enjoy some veggies as well. Try to give them primarily protein filled foods so that they’re healthy. You can feed these fish foods such as …

Crickets
Flake food
shrimp
feeder fish such as minnows

Some great additions to their diet include bloodworms and brine shrimp. Make sure that these fish are on a high quality diet so that these fish can thrive.

Water Parameters

These fish are sensitive to changes in water conditions, so try to test the water more often. Try to keep the water with these water parameters.

pH: 5.0-7.5
Temperature: 75-82 degrees Fahrenheit (around 23.9-27.8 Celsius)
Hardness: 1-8 dKH

Tank Setup

These fish need to have a tank with plenty of lush plants throughout the tank. The substrate could be lined with a fine gravel and driftwood can also be throughout the tank. As you may know, Silver Arowanas are very large fish, so they will need a large area to live in.

Possible Diseases

Silver Arowanas generally get the more common freshwater diseases such as Ich, Fin Rot, Dropsy a so on. Ich is a parasite that eats away at the fles of the host and create a white capsule around themselves. If you’re fish is covered in white dots and looks like salt was sprinkled on them, then they most likely have Ich.

Typical Price

Silver Arowanas are typically anywhere from $60 to over $500 US! Always have a large budget before you start trying to care for these fish. Not only are they expensive, but they will also need a large tank, live plants, driftwood and so on.

Breeding Silver Arowanas

Arowanas, in the wild, breed during December to January. Arowana eggs are fairly large and red or orange in color. The male will carry the eggs for about 50 days. After 5 weeks after they hatch, the male will release the fry. There are not a lot of cases who breed these fish successfully, and those who did kept them in tanks that are larger tank 500 gallons!

Is The Silver Arowana for Me?

Unfortunately, these fish aren’t for beginners. So if you are one, consider getting another fish. But if you’re an experienced fishkeeper, have a large aquarium, and willing to work to keep your fish healthy, then consider the Silver Arowana. Silver Arowanas are great fish, but do require a bit of work. They are also aggressive, so always be cautious when you’re choosing tank mates for these fish.

Silver Arowanas are great fish. They are beautiful and great for the experienced fishkeeper who wants a neat fish for their large aquarium.