ARAPAIMA GIGAS

[RedTigrinus]

Does anyone know the secret to keeping arapaima gigas? I have had 2 and they only last me about a month. I was keeping them in a 40 breeder seperately at about 78 degrees and 6.8-7.0 ph. I was feeding them feeders, I really didnt want to but thats all they would eat if they ate. I'd like to try again but I'm sick of losing them. Any tips for me? Oh and while we are on the subject how do people get that red color in their arapaimas?

[YOULOOKLIKEAFISH]

they couldof eatten bad feeders... Read on what the feed on in the wild and try that. Those guys need humongo tanks

[fishyboi]

how big where they? My lfs told me there hard to raise and very sensitve when young.

[RedTigrinus]

They were about 6". I was thinking that it could've been their age. The next one I get I'm going to try to get a 12" specimen. I dont think it was the feeders. I got them from a lfs I used to work at and we were very anal about having good feeders. Plus I dont believe that I've ever lost a fish that way, in addition to that I kept them on two seperate occassions. But that was something I though about at first.

[michael]

Very sensitive when young! Make sure it is at least a solid 6" specimen and make the store hold it for a few weeks upon arrival!

[Vince]

Sounds like they came in weak. I have five and so far, all are still alive. I have the tank treated with PraziPro Hikari, before I placed them there, and a day or two later, I made a water change. They are still alive. They are in feeder heaven...I put about 200 roseys (fatheads) in the tank with them....How did your fish die? fungus?

[fishyboi]

I actually have one and its about to die since my alligator gar try to eat him. treating mine rite now,

[Miles]

:arapaimag <-- Not for Everyone.

[USMCtanker]

i would say some bad feeder. i only feed feeders every now and again. and if i do i put them in a sep tank with some salt in it and make sure they dont got anything. try not feeding feeder all the time

[koliveira]

:headbang2 Feed them lots of frozen blood worms when there 6"-10". There not that picky they will usually accept pellets. Hikari Rocks :headbang2

[RedTigrinus]

Ok thanks everyone for your input. I think this will really help.

[Zoodiver]

Like what was said, at 6" they are very hard to ship, so they tend not to do well.

Tank is too small. Even at that size, they need room to swim and develop. Young are ten times as active as full grown adults. That constant swimming aides in muscle development and will shape the rest of their growth. I'd start them in at least 150 gallons at 6" - if not more. How much circulation does the tank have?

78F should be bumped up into the low 80s. I run mine between 82-84F when they are young. (Of course I keep them above 80 as adults, too.) Warmer temp helps them metabolize the food they are consuming and aides in proper growth.

Feeding may have been an issue. Even when young, I fed 6 days and fasted one. I never let them gorge feed, it was always a controlled amount. I've seen young get over stimulated with live food and eat too much causing various issues in the GI tract, leading to death.

[reddragon343]

the red colour is obtained through genetics......technically the females have a thicker line of red compared to males......besides.....most arapaimas out there are sold with the red colour

[gomezladdams]

Seems the secret is not to stuff those baby monsters in a tiny tank :(

[Vince]

Seems the secret is not to stuff those baby monsters in a tiny tank :(
To the contrary. I've observe the little ones I purchased are very slow to eating live fish. I placed them initially in the 240 with the ATF's, and the Coreoperca whiteheadi (other chinese perch aka flower perch), and the Hephastus Carbo (coal grunters), and the baby peemas' couldn't compete with the food. This reason, I had to separate them and put them in their own tank, 30 gallon, temp at about 78-80, with lots of water flow, but not powerheads. These little monsters (keep in mind, they are still babies), are flimsy and clumsy and sometimes are not very good hunters. But once they get to 10-12 inches, watch out. Any food in the tank gets chomped down with an explosion on the water level. Fun fish, but gets way tooo BIIIGGGG!!!! The biggest I've seen in an aquarium (not public) is a 24inch specimen in a 240g tank . Beautiful to watch. I was told that fish was two years old...so it's quite awhile before you start to worry about having to find a larger home...

[milk_and_mallard]

Yeah, ppl here ask all the time about the water and ph and all that crap. Sometimes it's just the stress of being shipped overseas, the stress of limited o2 and varying temperatures during the shipping processes along with the starvation can be very traumatic for many fish. By the way, ph has virtually no effect on fish. I don't care, discus, arowanas. Ph is way overrated. I live in san diego where the ph is 7-8 and my discus are doing great and very big.



Sounds like they came in weak. I have five and so far, all are still alive. I have the tank treated with PraziPro Hikari, before I placed them there, and a day or two later, I made a water change. They are still alive. They are in feeder heaven...I put about 200 roseys (fatheads) in the tank with them....How did your fish die? fungus?

[Zoodiver]

Then you've been lucky.
Improper pH with a lot of fish will result in major issues.

[michael]

Also from the wild a lot of times they come with an internal parasite that needs to be taken care of to ensure survival. this parasite should not go to your othyer fish but needs to be removed from the pima

[Zoodiver]

Panacur is a good way to clear a possible internal parasite. I've used it with a lot of success in arapaima.

[Vince]

pH is another topic. it is mostly dangerous when it fluctuates. sudden changes, whether it is pH, temperature, or any other element in your tank can cause stress, disease, and fatalities.

[amazonfishman]

Ph isn't that critical that its what is recommended, its more important that the Ph is constant. My Ph is at 7.6-7.8 in my amazon tank and my baby Pbass are thriving. Onto the subject of growth, at 2 years old and only 24" that arapaima's growth was being stunted big time by only having a 240 gallon tank. I have a 240 gallon tank and you would need to move that fish to something much much wider if nothing else after probably 12". At the dallas world aquarium they have some that are about 2.5yrs old and over 4ft in length. I've also heard from many people that this fish grows 3" a month give or take a little, so it grows like a red tail catfish but doesn't slow down after 2ft. Feeding bloodworms or krill something thats high in protein would be the best bet over feeders if possible. ~Trent