# Arowana kept with small fish like Neon tetra, etc..?



## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

How is this possible? This guy is keeping a large Arowana with small fish like neon tetras, black tetras, rummy nose tetra,etc... 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQFFYTPOQE#t=72.904561


----------



## geisterwald (Jul 18, 2016)

my guess is there's enough cover / they're fast enough to keep out of its mouth and the person probably doesn't mind losing a few every so often.


----------



## abrooks12376 (Nov 5, 2015)

He makes a lot of visits to the lfs. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk


----------



## John Wong (Dec 2, 2015)

From the way they swim I think they coexist for quite some time. Although this may be rare but not impossible.. My cat and mouse sometimes sleep together

Sent from my MX4 using Tapatalk


----------



## vinz (Mar 20, 2003)

I kept an Arowana in a planted tank with small fishes like SAEs and Tiger Barbs before. I currently have another one, also in a planted tank with SAEs.

@geisterwald is right. Plenty of cover is the key. The Arowana will not blindly chase the small fishes. It knows what it has a chance catching and it doesn't. The small fishes also know how to stay safe. They don't hide all the time, but are alert like in the wild. They aren't panicky even when the big fish is nearby, but will move away once they notice the Arowana making a beeline for them.

Personality seems to play a part too. My first Arowana hardly bothered to catch any of its tank mates. My current one doesn't chase them actively, but will make a try if it spots an inattentive SAE. New fishes are always targets because they still haven't figured out how to stay safe (being captive bred, I guess). They learn quickly from their elders in the tank.

Edit: Yes, some fishes new and old do get caught and eaten once in a while. An LFS here used to keep a school of a few hundred Neon Tetras in the planted arowana tank. I asked the salesperson... They do have to replenish. More so then I because that many fishes are a lot easier to catch.

I feed my arowanas with non live food... Market prawns for the previous one, and pellets for the current one. Just so they don't get used to chasing for food.

~ Sent from Moto X Style via Tapatalk ~


----------



## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

vinz said:


> I kept an Arowana in a planted tank with small fishes like SAEs and Tiger Barbs before. I currently have another one, also in a planted tank with SAEs.
> 
> @geisterwald is right. Plenty of cover is the key. The Arowana will not blindly chase the small fishes. It knows what it has a chance catching and it doesn't. The small fishes also know how to stay safe. They don't hide all the time, but are alert like in the wild. They aren't panicky even when the big fish is nearby, but will move away once they notice the Arowana making a beeline for them.
> 
> ...


Very useful first hand information! Thank you for explaining in such detail. :laugh2:


----------



## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

In the wild, predator and prey often live within eyesight of each other..sometimes predators will even exploit this by imitating prey species. So, it shouldn't be an undue source of stress.


----------



## vinz (Mar 20, 2003)

@Nordic, it depends on whether the prey feels it can avoid the predator. I watched a video of a planted arowana tank in which there was a school of very nervous neon or cardinal tetras. The tank had a lawn of short hair grass and just a rock and a moss "tree". Nothing significant to hide under/behind.

The school kept dashing back and forth between the rock and tree to keep either items between them and the Arowana. The Arowana wasn't even chasing them.

Neons/cardinals tend to be jittery, but these were outright panicky and appeared stressed.

~ Sent from Moto X Style via Tapatalk ~


----------



## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

In nature, fish would hang out where there is suitable cover for their colouration or shape. So, yes, it would be less than optimal in a very empty tank.


----------



## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

vinz said:


> @Nordic, it depends on whether the prey feels it can avoid the predator. I watched a video of a planted arowana tank in which there was a school of very nervous neon or cardinal tetras. The tank had a lawn of short hair grass and just a rock and a moss "tree". Nothing significant to hide under/behind.
> 
> The school kept dashing back and forth between the rock and tree to keep either items between them and the Arowana. The Arowana wasn't even chasing them.
> 
> ...


I have seen videos on youtube where people have had to work hard to get their Arowana to eat. Using live food and putting it right in front of its face. The Arowana seem like its designed to get things on the surface of the water so maybe this might be another reason why these fight might survive vs a predator fish that is used to catching other fish like an Oscar.


----------



## vinz (Mar 20, 2003)

@SpaceLord, you are right. My Arowana has to go almost vertical when it tries sneaking up on a drowsy SAE that's partially hidden. Definitely not optimal for him.

The SAEs go to the surface to nibble at his floating pellets during feeding time (when his back is turned). He usually tries his luck to catch them when they do that. I noticed he swims towards a point a few inches below where they are before striking upwards. They know the risk they're taking, so they're on full alert. They always bug out just in time.

~ Sent from Moto X Style via Tapatalk ~


----------



## Fireweed (Oct 11, 2016)

But why add so much stress to the aquarium?


----------



## SpaceLord (Feb 29, 2016)

Fireweed said:


> But why add so much stress to the aquarium?


Should he have a 300 gallon aquarium with only 1 fish?


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

I've kept my Jardini arowana with small community fish. I had him in a community tank since he was just 2 inches. He would not eat any of the fish and none of the fish were stressed by him. Even kept them together with no cover for small fish to hide, and believe me, the Aro could easily catch any of the fish.

Now I've also kept many other Arowanas in the past, but they would eat small fish.

Most often, Arowanas will naturally eat fish. I believe to successfully keep an Arowana with small fish, you need to raise it with small fish from a young age/size (associate other fish are not food) and be sure to keep it well fed (no meat protein starvation to trigger natural predator instincts). Not only that, but fish do have individual personalities. Like I said, I've had other Aros, but this one Aro was more of a peaceful guy, especially for a large Jardini (most aggressive Aro).

Most cases this likely would not work out, so I'd not recommend anyone trying (especially if you don't have a large enough tank for the Aro itself).

You may see other videos where there are a school of small fish with Arowanas, but often times those fish are just feeder fish put in the tank in large amounts and are picked off whenever the Aro is hungry. The fish in the video above are not stressed out.

Oh, and Arowanas have no trouble eating fish lower in the water column (even if they are on the tank bottom), even though their mouths are oriented upward for catching prey above water.


----------



## vinz (Mar 20, 2003)

Reminds me of a friend who kept an Asian Arowana that was fed live feeders. There were 2 gold fish that it never ate and became its tank mates for years.

~ Sent from Moto X Style via Tapatalk ~


----------

