Bigger home for Aro (and turtles).

Just would like to archive a quick update on my Arowana's tank. My inital tank setup for my XB arowana was the tank given by my dad, with measurements of 3 x 1.5 x 2 ft. It was okay for the juvenile aro, but since i was planning for a 25 years of lifespan for my aro, the tank will definitely need an upgrade sooner or later.

The initial tank setup. The tank that started everything. It has a simple overhead filter, and i run one extra powerhead with aeration. 

So during the last CNY, there was a great offer by my nearby LFS (local fish shop) for a 5 x 1.5 x 3 ft tank. So the opportunity was grabbed, and so my aro gets a bungalow. lol.

New bungalow for my juvenile arowana. Notice my little boy there for a size comparison. 

The new tank also runs on overhead filter, 4 1/2 feet of them. I purposely opt for the overhead filters, as my plan is to have canister-type filters for my tank. Got few bad history with internal overflow sump filters, where it flooded my house before, so not planning to have that again. Plus, i think canisters are easier to manage, and i can carry it out of my hall to clean the filters. 

This time the tank has red colored arowana tanning lamp, with one aerator on curtain airstone in the middle to help promote a better dissolved oxygen in the tank. Notice there's also a barb (Barboides or "Lampam Sungai") fish inside, to help finish off all the leftover food from my aro.

Nevertheless, there's still one problem bugging me, which is the water temperature. The lowest it can go would be 31 degrees at night with all the lights off, 32 in the morning, and 33 - 34 during mid day, which was pretty hot for a tropical fish. I have some plans to improve the temperature level, and will discuss about it on a separate post.

So what happened to my old 3ft tank? Here it is:

My old 3ft tank.

It is now a luxurious home for my map turtles! i have two of them, and previously they lived in a very little aquarium (notice the blue mini aquarium below?). There were 2 turtles in there, one of it was given to my kid from their uncle, and i added another one to make them happy.

The rock tower and flat basking area

I used the same overhead filter for this so-called "terrarium", so i don't need to change water so frequent (once a week now as compared to daily before). I hide the overhead filter pump right behind those rocky hills, to give it a more natural view and because turtles have known to have a very curious instict. They also have a proper basking spot now, totally out of the water. Perhaps i just needed to add some UVB lamps to help promote better basking environment for them. There were also some small fishes, leftover feeder fish from my arowana tank, and they lived happily with the turtles ( i think so, but i think their numbers have been decreasing since).

So now, apart from managing the koi pond, i have a 5ft arowana tank, and a 3ft turtle terrarium to take care for. :)