Hey everyone I'm having a ton of trouble with my Jardini, its so skittish its making me wonder if it will ever get better. I'm a pretty experienced fish keeper while this is my first arowana. I know many people with arowanas mostly Asian and they are just a joy to look at.
So here's some back ground of the arowana.
I saw him in a LFS and I had to have him. The LFS did not allow holds so I had to get him or the person also looking at the fish next to me would have picked him up. At the moment I did not have a tank suitable for him but a established 10 gallon. I had a dried 50 gallon tank that I would cycle and put him in when its fully cycled. So long story he stayed in a 10 gallon tank for about a week.
So here he is in his little baggy from the LFS. And ps, he was 75 bucks and about 5 inches? Not to sure..
Once I got him I rushed to get the 50 gallon tank set up and cycled for this great looking fish! I have a fluval 304 and a aquaclear 300 or now as aquaclear 70, in the 55 gallon tank along with some sponge filters. Water quality is very important to me and I will not have nothing but the best quality water I can possibly have for my fish.
So I started the cycle process and emptied one of the canister's filter material from my jag's tank and left the water looking like a beneficial bacteria soup! Here's a day one shot of the biomax in the aquaclear,
It cleared in a couple hours and the waste was at the bottom, the biomax had reached a mature beneficial bacteria level and it was cycled in the next few days. Here is an after shot of the biomax.
And here is a picture of my 22 inch jag if anyone wants to see him. And that is a 300 watt heater so you can get size comparison.
He was then moved to the 50 gallon tank where he still stays to this day. It has been about a month and he is still very skittish and scared of nearly everything.
Are there any tricks that will help this fish grow out of this phase? He does eat but he doesn't eat in front of me and its very heart breaking. I have one half blocked off to allow a dark spot and turn off the light at night. All he does is chill at the dark spot near the bottom swimming into the glass which is affecting his barbs as you can see. Its really starting to get me to think he will never grow out of this phase... Any advice is welcome.
Things i have tried,
-Gave him time
-No sudden movements
-Allowed him a quite place where water flow is minimal
-Made sure of no reflections
-Spent time in front of the tank
-Great water quality with a 10% water change a day.
-Dark place
He doesn't get too scared when I'm changing the water. When I'm pouring fresh water in he will often swim into the stream and "play" in it. He accepts all kinds of foods but I have been spoiling him with blood worms, raw shrimp, and occasional feeders so pellets don't attract his attention. The feeders could not have given any disease as I quarantine the feeders for about 2-3 weeks before feeding any of my fish with a daily water change of 50% and a high quality fish food.
Any advice is welcome. I think I'm just being paranoid and need more time, but I have never owned an arowana so any advice is welcome. Thank you.
So here's some back ground of the arowana.
I saw him in a LFS and I had to have him. The LFS did not allow holds so I had to get him or the person also looking at the fish next to me would have picked him up. At the moment I did not have a tank suitable for him but a established 10 gallon. I had a dried 50 gallon tank that I would cycle and put him in when its fully cycled. So long story he stayed in a 10 gallon tank for about a week.
So here he is in his little baggy from the LFS. And ps, he was 75 bucks and about 5 inches? Not to sure..
Once I got him I rushed to get the 50 gallon tank set up and cycled for this great looking fish! I have a fluval 304 and a aquaclear 300 or now as aquaclear 70, in the 55 gallon tank along with some sponge filters. Water quality is very important to me and I will not have nothing but the best quality water I can possibly have for my fish.
So I started the cycle process and emptied one of the canister's filter material from my jag's tank and left the water looking like a beneficial bacteria soup! Here's a day one shot of the biomax in the aquaclear,
It cleared in a couple hours and the waste was at the bottom, the biomax had reached a mature beneficial bacteria level and it was cycled in the next few days. Here is an after shot of the biomax.
And here is a picture of my 22 inch jag if anyone wants to see him. And that is a 300 watt heater so you can get size comparison.
He was then moved to the 50 gallon tank where he still stays to this day. It has been about a month and he is still very skittish and scared of nearly everything.
Are there any tricks that will help this fish grow out of this phase? He does eat but he doesn't eat in front of me and its very heart breaking. I have one half blocked off to allow a dark spot and turn off the light at night. All he does is chill at the dark spot near the bottom swimming into the glass which is affecting his barbs as you can see. Its really starting to get me to think he will never grow out of this phase... Any advice is welcome.
Things i have tried,
-Gave him time
-No sudden movements
-Allowed him a quite place where water flow is minimal
-Made sure of no reflections
-Spent time in front of the tank
-Great water quality with a 10% water change a day.
-Dark place
He doesn't get too scared when I'm changing the water. When I'm pouring fresh water in he will often swim into the stream and "play" in it. He accepts all kinds of foods but I have been spoiling him with blood worms, raw shrimp, and occasional feeders so pellets don't attract his attention. The feeders could not have given any disease as I quarantine the feeders for about 2-3 weeks before feeding any of my fish with a daily water change of 50% and a high quality fish food.
Any advice is welcome. I think I'm just being paranoid and need more time, but I have never owned an arowana so any advice is welcome. Thank you.