# Moving 20" to 34 1/2" fish from my 15,000 to my 52,000 gallon tank



## arapaimag (Dec 6, 2007)

A look at a few more fish that were caught in my 15,000 and moved to my 52,000. 




The fish moved:

11 year old 33" Pterodoras granulosus (Armando, Bacu, blind cat) bought at Big Al's Aquarium Services on Dundas St in Mississauga Ontario in 1999 at 7" for $26.95.

12 year old 20" and 23" Paratilapia aureum? (Tilapia like you see in the grocery store) given to me by a fellow player on my basketball team Bret Patriquin of Ajax/Pickering Ontario in 1998 at 3".

10 year old 34 1/2" Lepisosttus osseus (Long nose gar) a rescue fish given to me by Jerry Draper owner of The Tropical Fish Room in Brantford Ontario in 2000 at 11".

11 year old 28 1/2" Scleropages aureus (Red tail golden arowana) bought at Dragon Aquarium on Dundas St in Mississauga Ontario in 1999 from Steve and Shelley at 5" for $1,300 (a good price at the time but since the 2007/2008 they have dropped to the $500 range).

The fishermen/women include:

Nikki my daughter and Richard my son in law.

Terry Clements (Fever) from Fergus Ontario an african cichlid breeder, motorcycle hobbyist and moderator on the Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society cichlid threads on their forum.

Jeff Mountjoy from Midland Ontario a hobbyist with Pangasius sanitswongi and large cichlids, a member of the new Barrie and Region Aquarium Society and works for Martin Mills Inc a pet food manufacturer and source for my trout and koi pellets.

Noel Nathaniel from Brampton Ontario a hobbyist and former Hamilton Aquarium Society president.

Anthony McAslin from Brantford Ontario a hobbyist, Discus importer and president of the Cambridge Aquarium Society.

Simon Luffman (SimonL on MFK) from Oakville Ontario true monster fish keeper, a University student, works at Aquatic Kingdom in Mississauga and former fish room manager at Big Al's Aquarium Services in Oakville.


----------



## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

28 1/2" RTG! That's impressive! Can't wait to check out the video when I get home.


----------



## arapaimag (Dec 6, 2007)

gucci17 said:


> 28 1/2" RTG! That's impressive! Can't wait to check out the video when I get home.


I have two of them.

The one that was already in the 52,000 is actually about 1" longer.


----------



## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

WOW! I just watched some of your youtube vids, you have a HUGE TANK! Pretty cool fish in there too, great work!


----------



## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Wow that was freaking amazing very beautiful fish and tanks nice job.


----------



## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Hey there, amazing video! Are you the somewhat notorious fellow from a small Ontario town who saved up and built the amazing underground massive aquarium? I ask because I figure there aren't too many folks in the world, let alone Ontario with that kind of setup . I saw a very long build thread for it at MFK a while back. If so, great to see you on the forums; your tank is an inspiration for me .


----------



## arapaimag (Dec 6, 2007)

Cory said:


> Hey there, amazing video! Are you the somewhat notorious fellow from a small Ontario town who saved up and built the amazing underground massive aquarium? I ask because I figure there aren't too many folks in the world, let alone Ontario with that kind of setup . I saw a very long build thread for it at MFK a while back. If so, great to see you on the forums; your tank is an inspiration for me .


Thanks for the kind words

Yes it probably is me you are thinking of. A lot of the tank is actually above ground (I have a walk out basement).

Quaoar is not on any Ontario map actually but if you are ever near Pluto you might have a better chance of seeing it.


----------



## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Definitely you then ! I remember thinking I had never heard of the town before and that the name was a bit unusual. Great stuff! My fiance and I dream of having a tank like yours one day . 

Do you know how old your pimas are? They can live as long as we can iirc.


----------



## arapaimag (Dec 6, 2007)

Cory said:


> Definitely you then ! I remember thinking I had never heard of the town before and that the name was a bit unusual. Great stuff! My fiance and I dream of having a tank like yours one day .
> 
> Do you know how old your pimas are? They can live as long as we can iirc.


The Arapaimas will both be 5 years old in October (period I've owned them) They were 6 to 8 inches long when purchased. I bought 3 but my Wallago leerii ate one when it was 33" long (He was the runt).

The 2 remaining (Sedna and Nemesis) fight often and one has a couple of ugly wounds. They are about 6 feet long and weigh approx. 150lbs each. The tank rocks when they go at it and I get waves 4 to 6 inches high.

There has been revisions in the genus and mine are the species Arapaima arapaima (not Arapaima gigas as all of them were lumped under before).


----------



## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

Awesome!


----------



## Angelic (Sep 13, 2010)

Those tanks a HUGE! Never seen ones that big in someones home! Thats like a zoo display size =o I'm also pretty surprised someone from Ontario has a tank that massive 0_0


----------



## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

Wow those fishy are monsters I quess your WC will take a few gallons


----------



## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

I always find your tank fasinating. It's kind of funny, but every time I look at your tank, I keep thinking that it's missing one kind of monster fish, pleco. But then again, plecos like to hide, so once it's in your tank, it will probably disappear forever. 
Thank you for the update, it's always a pleasure to look at your videos. We only dream, you made that a reality.

*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## Holidays (Apr 18, 2010)

I was tensed when I saw the arowana  not sure why hehe


----------



## bcarlos (Nov 19, 2009)

Zebrapl3co said:


> I always find your tank fasinating. It's kind of funny, but every time I look at your tank, I keep thinking that it's missing one kind of monster fish, pleco. But then again, plecos like to hide, so once it's in your tank, it will probably disappear forever.
> Thank you for the update, it's always a pleasure to look at your videos. We only dream, you made that a reality.


Indeed, a big adonis would look pretty awesome in this tank. If you're looking for an XL pleco that's NOT common (royal, blue eye, etc.), I can arrange that 

A very inspiring project you've taken on, arapaimag. I am a big fan. It takes true dedication to a hobby to invest this kind of money, time and space.

Do you grow some of your own food? I know how long it takes me to feed my stock; I can't imagine the time you must invest on feeding alone.


----------



## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

wow, wow, wow! impressive! and I like that you put lava rock in the tank, it's not just ugly flat tiles.

Good work!


----------



## arapaimag (Dec 6, 2007)

Zebrapl3co said:


> I always find your tank fasinating. It's kind of funny, but every time I look at your tank, I keep thinking that it's missing one kind of monster fish, pleco. But then again, plecos like to hide, so once it's in your tank, it will probably disappear forever.
> Thank you for the update, it's always a pleasure to look at your videos. We only dream, you made that a reality.


I'm not sure which tank you are referring to but both have plecos. Probably over a dozen in each of the tanks. None of the plecos in the big tank are over 18-20". They do get killed and eaten by the big catfish from time to time.


----------



## arapaimag (Dec 6, 2007)

dl88dl said:


> Wow those fishy are monsters I quess your WC will take a few gallons


I normally either have a constant water change or do 3-4,000 at a time in the 15,000. In the big tank I also either have a constant water change or do about 7,500 gallons at a time.

It changes overtime depending on the fish/food load.


----------



## arapaimag (Dec 6, 2007)

bcarlos said:


> Indeed, a big adonis would look pretty awesome in this tank. If you're looking for an XL pleco that's NOT common (royal, blue eye, etc.), I can arrange that
> 
> A very inspiring project you've taken on, arapaimag. I am a big fan. It takes true dedication to a hobby to invest this kind of money, time and space.
> 
> Do you grow some of your own food? I know how long it takes me to feed my stock; I can't imagine the time you must invest on feeding alone.


Thanks for the kind words.

I seldom buy or acquire large fish to put into the tank (Less than one big fish 24"+ rescue every 2 years) because I prefer to raise them from young.

I don't really use a lot of feeders but those I do (goldfish/rosy yellow fat head minnows) I do collect from my outside ponds to reduce the chance of infection. Guppies and cichlids are common in many of my tanks and are self sustaining populations.

I do have a few Plecos (Royals etc). But my water is very hard and not all species do well. Among fancy plecos I only have a few over 10 years old.
Common Plecos and Bristlenose do well as has my oldest fish, a 30 year old clown pleco all of about 3".


----------



## arapaimag (Dec 6, 2007)

BettaBeats said:


> wow, wow, wow! impressive! and I like that you put lava rock in the tank, it's not just ugly flat tiles.
> 
> Good work!


Thanks for the kind words also.

I only have lava and local rock in the big tank. In the smaller tank I have no lava rock just local rock.


----------



## arapaimag (Dec 6, 2007)

Angelic said:


> Those tanks a HUGE! Never seen ones that big in someones home! Thats like a zoo display size =o I'm also pretty surprised someone from Ontario has a tank that massive 0_0


Because of my love of Red tail catfish and Arapaima I saved for the large tanks in order to house them properly. Along the way the Wallago leerii came along and also needed the big tank and the rest is history.


----------



## redrobster (Mar 3, 2010)

*Thought it was a mistake*

I didn't believe it , till I saw the video. Nice Job


----------

