20" Silver Aro Refuses to eat anything

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Serene_Waters

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2012
7
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Canada
I'm fairly new to keeping an arowana and I'm getting extremely nervous every day that I'll find my aro dead.

I bought him from someone who was upgrading to a salt water tank and had fed him exclusively shrimp.

It's been 4-5 weeks since we got him and he has not eaten a thing. I've tried feeders/crickets/pellets(5 types)/shrimp raw and pink, also both types dipped in Kents garlic. He will not touch anything.

Was in a 300gal tank with pbass and oscars. Wasn't eating so I put him in a different tank alone with no lights and raised the temp. Still nothing.

Questions: - how long have you seen an aro go on hunger strike?
- how long can they go without food before they kick off?
- is there any advice you can give to help me get him to eat?
- Should I offer food daily, every other day? Leave some in the tank for 30 minutes before removing?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks for reading.
 
C

Chizzle

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2011
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Sounds like you are doing everything right. I would try offering food every other day and leaving it in the tank for 30 minutes like you stated before removing it. When I bought a trio of 11" wc black arowanas, one went over 30 days without touching food. I eventually put it in a 150G by itself and one day it finally took shrimp. I threw the cut up shrimp in and watched it sink to the bottom, then I went to wash the dishes and when I came back all of it was gone.

Your situation is a bit different because the aro has been in captivity for a while. Just keep trying, a big aro should be able to go without food for a while, but it is getting to its limit at 4-5 weeks without food. What was the previous owner feeding it?
 
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Serene_Waters

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2012
7
0
0
Canada
previous owner fed strictly shrimp apparently. Can't talk to him anymore as his number changed. But I'll try more often. Is the garlic dip a good idea or just leave it as is? Thanks for the reply!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
T1KARMANN

T1KARMANN

Giant Snakehead
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2005
10,105
127
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London UK
If you have moved it since you had him it will take longer

Go and put in 10 goldfish once he eats them start the offering prawn again

They can go 2 months easy


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J

JayC74

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 9, 2012
1,128
99
81
Massachusetts, USA
I wouldn't be nervous about 4 or 5weeks without eating for a 20inch aro. I would have kept him in the 300. He'll come around unless the other fish are bothering him. The less tank changes for him the better. He's not used to the floating foods that your offering him now cause he's never eatin them before. But i would continue to try them along with his normal shrimp under lowlight conditions. Is he spending the majority of his time on the upper water column like normal aros or is he cruising low alot? I had a buddy that only fed his silver aro cooked market shrimp and he spent the majority of it's time low and resting on bottom. The fish grew and looked healthy but i don't think it really was
 
Bderick67

Bderick67

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Aug 18, 2006
16,813
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Every time you move the aro it's like starting over. Leave it in one tank, takes time to settle in.
 
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Serene_Waters

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2012
7
0
0
Canada
Ok thanks everyone for the help.

I'll buy some more crickets tomorrow and see what I can get him to do. Tonight he looked pretty out of it and when I dropped a pellet in front of his face he took it in his mouth for about 10 seconds but then spit it out. I tried to get some shrimp to him asap but he didn't take anything after that. I'll keep trying.

I'm afraid I have another issue, his fins seems to be degrading/rotting and his eyes are little cloudy. I did an immediate water change tonight and I'm not sure if he is just weak and caught something or what's going on now. Can't seem to catch a break. Water parameters are fine, nitrates are up but nothing critical. Temp is up 26-28 and there is already some aquarium salt in the water. Since he's been without food for so long should I just go straight to a medication to kick this and then refocus on him eating?
 
S

Serene_Waters

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2012
7
0
0
Canada
Cancel that.

It appears I'm not meant to be an Arowana keeper. This morning I went to do another quick wc before work to find him floating. I hate when things like this happen.

Thanks for all the help and advice, truly appreciate it.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
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