Just a warning.

If you keep Arowana, make sure you have a lid, and if it's not heavy weigh it down with some bricks or something else heavy, I just happened to have bricks.

For Blinky's (the one eyed silver aro) tank, we have the plastic lids that came with it, with the lights sitting on top. We normally keep a brick (a regular old 2"x8" red brick) on top of the flap lid, and another on the other side of the light just in case.

Yesterday as we were feeding him, one of the kids tripped and got cut on trash can near by. In the following near death experience that only a small child can manage with a tiny barely bleeding cut, I forgot to put the brick back on the lid flap part.

Band-aids were applied, dinner was ready, good food and times were had. Four hours later on that evening after the kids went to bed, I went back to his tank to find the lid open and no Aro. A frantic hunt immediately took place, to find him still alive, but had launched himself near 14 feet from his tank.

As an aside, I'm not sure if it would have been better for him on not (definitely not the goldfish) but he overshot the goldfish pond by a foot. I wonder if that was his target.

I quick scooped him up off the floor, and put him back in his tank, fearing the worst, since he didn't thrash of flail once picking him up. In the tank he was laying on his side, kinda floating sorta not. I gently brushed off the bits of crud that were stuck to him and he went from laying on his side to laying vertically tail touching the bottom, head facing towards the surface.

His gills were still going but I had assumed death was near imminent. Then the best I can describe it is like what happens when they show those people on tv shows that survive drowning. He thrashed some, then gagged a few air bubbles out and started feebly swimming around the tank some. I completely left him alone figuring any further intervention would just stress him out more, and as of this morning you wouldn't even know anything had happened besides the bruise on the lip where he busted through the lid flap.

*whew*

The moral of the story is make sure you lid is heavy, Aro's are stronger than you think.

Yep and good advise....Glad to hear the Aro is alright. I used to keep Piranha and they would jump tank all the time even with glass lids on the tank. Never had any deaths but those big bastards would jump out at least every couple weeks or so.

Yea. I'm amazed and very glad he survived. I'd have been pretty bummed if he died.

Yes Aros like to jump when scared. KEEP IT COVERED

Woah that was a close one! I didnt know they could jump that far.

I imagine there was some flopping around involved as well. He had bits o' crud from the carpet stuck on him too.

Wow! Glad to hear he is OK.

I forgot to say hope he's ok.

BUMP......
I think he was aiming for the pond, I guess he overshot it?

Got me, I have no idea how good their eyesight is.