Smart Aro

My Aro's been a picky eater ever since I got him. Now, he even knows when I'm trying to feed him pellet ingested shrimp pieces. He definitely watches me whenever I'm prepping his food (that's why i try to stay away from his vision when prepping his food lol). I don't like to spoil him. So if he doesn't take the food, then he doesn't get food for that mealtime of the day. He's definitely going to be disciplined with feeding, now that he's starting to show stubbornness with meals (at about 10-12 inches now). I will adjust his meals to 2 times a day every other day and maybe include a 2 day break just to get his appetite going. I might even try to reduce mealworm and cricket feeding as he's addicted to these.

But man, a totally smart and interactive fish all in all

Bderick67 said:

...Would take the shrimp and work it in it mouth until he spit the pellets out...

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definitely one of their smart traits. Mine does that as well. I might try to do that softening trick, see if it works. I might even try to give pellet training another shot since he's big enough to survive starvation.

I might be crazy but I tried mealworm ingested shrimp (yes, a drowned live mealworm inserted into shrimp) and aro instantly gulped down food as it hit the water. I wonder if I can do kinda like a shrimp/mealworm/pellet roll, as that would definitely provide the fish balanced nutrients and increase his appetite

Yup very stubborn. I've already planned to feed my aros mp as staple but he's very picky with what he eats, with the exception of mealworms and crix. The other thing thats stopping me from starving it completely is its very aggressive attitude. At one point that i didnt feed him for a day and a half, he bit anything that hit the top of the water surface (he even bit my delhezi accidentally while it was floating to move to the other side of the tank, the delhezi just dusted it off lol). I'll probably try to starve it for a week, see how he reacts as i also noticed when his "i need to survive" instincts kicks in, he does try to pick up a few pellets thrown in the tank.