Arapaima Gigas

kamilusoof

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2011
115
0
0
SriLanka
Hi
i bought a 6 inch paima xactly 2 weeks back
it eats lyk a pig and always begging for food
But today it doesn't want to eat
any reasons?maybe because i overfeed it.......
 

[PIMPIN]

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2009
70
0
36
Malaysia
The way to get them acclimated to you is time. The more time you spend with them, the better off you'll be. They are very smart and will quickly learn who you are.

With animals new to people, move slowly. They do spook easily, and will dart into walls or jump as a natural reaction.
I figured you'd say that. Definitely agree that you have to be willing to put in the time just like with any other pet. Just that having gotten them at 2ft, hopefully they'll learn to be OK with my presence. Will go over tomorrow plus spending most of this coming week at that house so I'll be posting soon to update on how their first week went.

The reason why I can't keep them at my main house is because the pond here is only 11,000L and filled with Japanese Koi and now I've got to worry about this fella who jumps in about 2-3 times a week for some reason. Don't want him to get eaten several months down the road.

 

kamilusoof

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2011
115
0
0
SriLanka
yoooo
my arapiama is eating fine again....
no problems
but i am confused

shud we feed arapaima till itz whole body till the tail getz buffed up, like the pic in this??????
 

[PIMPIN]

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2009
70
0
36
Malaysia
Been very busy lately so haven't managed to post any updates on how the fish are doing. Generally, I'd say they are doing very well and I think they love having what must feel like a million times more space from where they used to be.

I've currently sectioned off about 1/3 of the pond which is 22'x15'x3'. Due to recent schedule, have not been able to get the tilapia from another house so I have to admit that they have been fed cheap baby 'Koi' for now. It's advertised as Koi at just about every LFS but obviously aren't from Japan. Cost about 2-3 bucks each and are roughly 3" or so.

Here are some pictures of the pond. This was just before cleaning so please excuse the mess. I know I should have taken pictures AFTER the pond was cleaned but I didn't have a camera with me and was rushed for time. Spent about 45 minutes feeding them by putting in a couple of the baby Koi every few minutes. After a few times, they both figured out that I was the source of food and they'd come to me for a fish, swallow, swim a couple times around and then back for another helping. I got one of my workers to quietly release a couple on the opposite side while they were facing my direction. The smaller of the two took awhile to realize this and by then the bigger one had already sensed it, turned around and swallowed the Koi.

Anyway here are some bad pictures courtesy of my Blackberry. The first picture is from a slope looking down at the pond. The second and third pictures are of the smaller and larger Arapaima respectively. The last one is just to show what the feeders looked like.

Apologies again for bad pictures and sorry for long post.







 

bmxer4ever

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 25, 2006
1,036
8
68
Glasgow, Scotland
Not been on the site for a while, so it's great to see this thread still up and running. Amazed it has nearly 34,000 views!! Good to see more 'Pima enthusiasts.....
 

Luc70

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 8, 2009
731
359
102
Bangkok, Thailand
Hello,
I recently had an Arapaima swim into my life. Check my tread for more details, but in short, after a couple of days in his temporary pond he is picking up very well. Made a video of feeding, he eats from my hand very easily and looks to be ok.

My question for now is, how many times should I feed him? And how much at a time?
Now feeding daily, 2x about 10 peeled prawns each feeding.
Goes down easily and is absolute fun to see him eating well.

But anybody who can tell me how many times and how much, greatly appreciated.
He is between 3 and 4 foot long, guess about 3-5 years old then.
 
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