Please Help! My Arowana Died!

and you just got played, no offence cos it isnt your fault. let's not talk about 7 inches, or even a feet. even adult aros arent easy to sex, esp in "a tank of a few". if he could, he wouldnt be working in a lfs - big fish corporations would be vieing for his talent.


I see this response quite a bit throughout this discussion. I now fully believe that my fish were not sexable, at such a young age especially.

This really makes me worry about his reliability. The fish appear to all be well-maintained in clean tanks, and he seems to be knowledgeable. The reviews on the internet about his store are good.

What else can I do to ensure that I am buying a healthy arowana? Should I pick the biggest, as they are probably stronger? I wonder if the tank mates that they are housed with at LFS will give me clue as to how healthy they are? (For example, will certain mates stress aros out more?)

Biggest is indeed stronger..
But does not mean that it can survive in poor water parameters..

Originally Posted by KLochhead

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My fish died because there were nitrates in the water. I did not realize just how dangerous these would be, as it does not seem as critical with my other fish. My nitrates were at 0.2, which normally tells me it is time for a water change.

My condolences.
Think you refering to nitrite (NO2) & not nitrate (NO3).
Nitrate at such low level is everyone dream here. Nitrate is not toxic to most fishes at 100 ppm or more.
I would recommend some reading on filtration at the Articles, resources & faqs section.