Baby Silver

[tracyb]

I have a little problem with my baby 4-5 inch arowana that I bought a few weeks ago. It has not eaten very much since I bought it. Sorry in advance for the long story.

My 180gal arowana tank is about 4 foot from the floor on a metal stand and when I reach up to open the glass and put in the food(I’m quite short) it seems to spook the little guy and it swims to the opposite side of the tank. If I leave food in the tank and walk a short distance away, the bigger silver arowana has eaten all the food before the little guy even knows it was there. The little guy is not scared of me walking infront of the tank only when i reach up to feed.

The other fish I have in this 180gal tank is 8 - 6inch Silver dollars, a gibbicep, a featherfin catfish and a couple of male convicts.

I used the same introduction process for this arowana that I used for my other silver a few months ago and my bigger arowana is eating anything and everything and even eating out of my hand. :D I could see an improvement in confidence each day.

What I did first of all for both was I had them in a 75gal quarantine tank for a couple of weeks for obvious reasons and to try and get them eating before introducing it to my larger 180gal tank. Originally the bigger arowana started eating after a couple of days but I have not seen the smaller arowana eating yet at all. My partner said he had seen the little guy eating meal worms though.

The little guy looked miserable so I transferred it to the bigger tank with my other arowana. It is not scared of the size of the 180 tank or the other silver, infact it seems a lot happier in the bigger tank and with the company. Its just that it is very scared of me when I open the glass lid, this causes a problem when feeding.

I have tried bloodworms, whitefish, beefheart, mealworms, cichlid sticks, flake food, My beefheart mixture, shrimp, prawns, crab, earth worms anything i can think of.

Do I need to start worrying or do you think it will come round? I feel so bad for the little guy although he is swimming around quite happily.

[ethnics]

try feeding through holes in the back where the filter goes in at. mine spooks sometimes but ever since i started feeding through already existing holes, he stopped. now he only spooks when my arm is in the tank for cleaning! lol

[tracyb]

Thanks, there are small square holes at the edges. I'll try feeding through them.

I'm sure its got something to do with the sound of the glass lid opening but also probably my shadow as i'm trying to reach over to open the lid.

Thanks

[dacox]

If it were me, I would probably separate the two silvers again, at least until the smaller one starts eating more aggressively. He may look alright swimming around in the tank, but still might be getting bullied by the bigger one. Once he's eating well and is calmer when he sees you approach the tank, I would try re-introducing the two again. Until then though, I think it would be best to keep them separated.

You could also try feeding some crickets. I've found that their movement on the surface usually entices problem silvers in to eating.

[ethnics]

i have a 24" silver and a 12" silver, there in the same tank. when i first added the smaller one he didnt eat for a week. took him a lil time to get used to the new tank, and get used to the fact that the big one eats so damn much, if he dont eat quicker he won get any. resulting in the smaller one eating faster n quicker over time. give him a week or two or my suggestion of feeding through holes, and feed more then u normally do. over feed the big guy a bit so he dont eat anymore, then more floats around for the smaller one to eat...

[hazmat101]

yeah same here, my lik 3in wouldent eat agressively with my biger 9in arow, i didnt feed them for 2 days, then feed them, and they and the lil guy figured it out. then i had to do it again 2 weeks after cuz the big arow bullied the lil. now they get along fine.

[tracyb]

Thanks for all the advice

I have moved the little arowana back into my 75gal, but it was not really my choice it was its choice.

Last night I was sitting watching tv when i heard something hit the top of my smaller fish tanks. I then seen the little arowana on the floor. :eek: It had jumped out of the square corner holes in the tank that i was using for temp feeding. I had no idea he would be able to fit through the hole. Anyway luckily it did not hurt itself too much with the 6 foot drop.

Amazingly I have now seen it eating today. I was cooking a chicken dinner tonight and had some tiny little bits of chicken left that i sometimes feed to my lobsters. Well i decided to drop a peice into the 75gal and the little arowana gobbled it down. Surprised i tried earth worms and bloodworm. It started eating nearly anything i dropped into the tank. it does not seem to be too scared of me now either. :screwy:

[tracyb]

Thought i would show you a picture of the little guy

[GooDyboy420]

Thought i would show you a picture of the little guy

Arownas are kinda funny when there smaller ive seen a javoi but silvers are jsut kinda werid lookin

[Snakemanstu]

:) He's real sweet...good luck with him.Mine hardly ate for a few days when I got him but can't stop him now!

[dacox]

He looks good. I'm glad to see that he's doing better. That's a sweet pic too. I like the way the surface of the water looks.

[Red Devil]

Maybe somehow he knows you saved him from that horrible fall {6 feet} That is terrific news to hear he is eating like a trooper now. He is a really cute guy, and best of luck with him.