Dreaming of Arowana tank

[madmark285]

My dear wife says it's time to downsize which means no more lawn work and I get a useable basement for my fish tanks. And with no more lawn work, I have more time for my fish tanks! So @NikkiRae got me thinking about Arowanas and I watched this video, Why I Stopped Keeping Arowana Fish. Quick summary of the video, he did not secure the lids and the arowana keep jumping out of the tank. 

So if you could build a tank specifically for an Arowana, why not build one where these guys could jump all they want ie: a huge paludarium with secure glass/plexiglass doors and a solid roof?

I think the round tank would be the perfect but I could not build a round tank. But in my router bit drawer, I do have this: 22.5° Lock Miter Bit . I can make a huge hexagonal box out of plywood. 

So I could 8' wide hexagonal aquarium with a 4' wide hexagonal island in the middle for the paludarium. Put branches hanging over the water, toss in a couple hundred cricket feeded with dry fish food and maybe, just maybe you could see an arowana jump up and snatch a tasty cricket off a branch. 

That would be so cool and alot of fun to build....

Just dreaming today. 

 

 

 

[NikkiRae]

On 4/24/2024 at 10:51 AM, madmark285 said:

My dear wife says it's time to downsize which means no more lawn work and I get a useable basement for my fish tanks. And with no more lawn work, I have more time for my fish tanks! So @NikkiRae got me thinking about Arowanas and I watched this video, Why I Stopped Keeping Arowana Fish. Quick summary of the video, he did not secure the lids and the arowana keep jumping out of the tank. 

So if you could build a tank specifically for an Arowana, why not build one where these guys could jump all they want ie: a huge paludarium with secure glass/plexiglass doors and a solid roof?

I think the round tank would be the perfect but I could not build a round tank. But in my router bit drawer, I do have this: 22.5° Lock Miter Bit . I can make a huge hexagonal box out of plywood. 

So I could 8' wide hexagonal aquarium with a 4' wide hexagonal island in the middle for the paludarium. Put branches hanging over the water, toss in a couple hundred cricket feeded with dry fish food and maybe, just maybe you could see an arowana jump up and snatch a tasty cricket off a branch. 

That would be so cool and alot of fun to build....

Just dreaming today. 

 

 

 

 I can picture what you are describing and it sounds so cool and unique!

 

[NOLANANO]

My only thought is what would keep the arowana from leaping and landing on the island?

[NikkiRae]

On 4/24/2024 at 12:27 PM, NOLANANO said:

My only thought is what would keep the arowana from leaping and landing on the island?

I think the branches in the middle part could be strategically placed to make that scenario unlikely, such as a tall tree that goes to the top the canopy hangs down, but anything is possible. 

[johnnyxxl]

Hmm, maybe acrylic and plywood both.  I have seen people keeping tankbusters that use plywood for the sides and back and acrylic for the front due to the cost making an 8 ft tank

[Biotope Biologist]

There is a guy on YouTube with an enclosed solarium where he has poison dart frogs free roaming. Anyway in the corner he put a 13’x20’ pond and did exactly as you described and built a mesh screen top over the pond that he can drop via pulleys to clean and do general maintenance!

 

Arowana seem to be much happier being able to leap out of the water as most fish do. I think one day I may do a scaled down mesh canopy like this for my creek biotope because egg crate just really detracts from my slice of nature…

 

Keep dreaming maybe someday it’ll become a reality. 

[madmark285]

 +

On 4/24/2024 at 5:14 PM, johnnyxxl said:

Hmm, maybe acrylic and plywood both. 

Absolutely. No way could I make an all glass/acrylic tank. It would plywood frame, 2 layer thicks, with fiberglass strips applied to all seams. i would seal the plywood with epoxy, Being hexagonal in shape would help spread the load better, similar to round vs rectangular pool.

Acrylic would be preferred as it can flex more than glass but would require a more complicated sealing method, silicone does not bond well to acrylic.  With glass, a heavy layer silicone is all you need. 

A more realistic project for a smaller hexagon aquarium, use the Ikea glass shelves. These are 1/4" thick tempered glass, not sure how big of a tank you could make with them. 

[madmark285]

Some number using the Ikea 34 1/2" long glass shelves. This would create a tank with a face similar to a 40 gallon breeder. So using this calculator , With the sides of 3', the would have a diameter of 6' or 5.2' from wall to wall. Using a depth of 16":

Volume: 233 gallons

Volume of hex Island with 17" sides: 51 gallon. 

Water volume with an Island:  182 gallons.

By comparison, the non-tempered glass on my aqueon 75 gallon tank is 1/4" thick. So would the Ikea 34 1/2" x 13 7/8" tempered glass panel hold 182 gallons? The glass from Ikea would cost $99, very affordable. 

 

 

On 4/24/2024 at 1:27 PM, NOLANANO said:

My only thought is what would keep the arowana from leaping and landing on the island?

Using foam, the island would have steep slope up. When you look into the paludarium, you would just want to see plants and branches embedded into the foam. 

[gardenman]

I had a silver arowana about 40 years ago that was 22" long before he died in a jump. His tank had a very thick (3/8") glass lid that was anchored down but hitting that lid in a jump one night with a loud bang killed him. I heard the bang and went to check on him and he was floating on his side, still breathing, but not in good shape. By the next morning, he was dead.

You need a lot of jumping room for an arowana with nothing they can hit that will injure them. Branches above the water or an island might not be ideal.  SiIver arowana typically reach about 30" in captivity and as much as four feet or more in the wild. They're a big, powerful fish. They can jump very high, very quickly. And they do. Something like a largish swimming pool with the mesh around it that they use for trampolines is probably the best option for keeping a silver arowana. Even decor in the tank has to be kept minimal as they can impale themselves on something when they land back in the water after a jump. 

They're a very impressive fish but they have some unique needs that need to be addressed. Mine was the meanest fish I've ever owned. And it wasn't even close. If you put your hand in the tank he'd go after it. I ended up using egg crate to make a divider that I could slide into one side of the tank, trapping him there, very unhappily, as I worked on the other side. Even then he'd try to attack my hand as I put in or removed the egg crate. Neat fish, but they can be a handful. I had one and I have no real desire to ever have another. They are impressive though.

[madmark285]

@gardenman Thanks for sharing your experience, clearly I would not underestimate the complexity of keeping an arowana. Getting another dog may be less work 🙂 I agree on a small swimming pool but that's not for me. I love aquariums for the visual beauty they add to a room and a pool would be quite ugly. Another issue for me is retirement. I am designing my fishroom where i can leave for a couple weeks and just have my kids drop by to make sure the auto feeders are working. I am not sure I could do that with a 3' arowana. 

So a final summary. What is scary about this concept for me. If you could use the Ikea glass shelves then the hexagon aquarium project may be affordable .

The plywood structure would be built similar to cabinet doors. Glue together the corner pieces then use pocket hole construction for the horizontal boards. Then do the second inside layer of plywood.

The island in the middle would just be an hexagonal box from the bottom to the top of the tank. The problem with a 4'-6' hexagon or square aquarium, reaching into the middle of the tank would be difficult. So by putting an island in the middle, the effective width of the tank would only be ~16" ie: just like a normal aquarium.

This could also be a cool looking aquarium with schools of tetra/barbs swimming around. I like the idea where the fish don't have to swim back and forth, just go around in a circle.  Or make it a Mbuna tank, stacks large rock all around the island.   

Anyways, that for listening. This would be a huge plus for me concerning downsizing to a small townhouse. My current basement is a dungeon.