2 foot Armatus eating 9 inch Mackerel

[Chicxulub]

I'm actually quite disappointed right now. I expected better from you, rob
Loaches are Cyprinids.. Maybe they contain less/no Thiaminase but they are still Cyprinids!
Just a heads up. I don't know much about characins themselves.

Haha got me! This is true. Heck, no one's perfect.

true. no matter what people say, it the answer for monster characins. I absoltely never seen a monster armatus or ATF vid from youtube that doesn't have comets in their tank. Yes there is thiaminase but those armatus look healthy as H#ll. feeders are the key. lol i'm tempted to fatten up my armatus with either guppies or convict though.

Like I said, I practice what I preach. Just because I won't do it doesn't mean it won't work for others.

 

[doomiedee]

Wow


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[sashimimaster]

You can grow up eating Big Macs and vanilla shakes too, but does that mean it's good for you?

 

[weirdfishlover]

What a beastly specimen

 

[lix.ma14]

You can grow up eating Big Macs and vanilla shakes too, but does that mean it's good for you?

Like I said earlier, those fish didn't look unhealthy. Armatus and ATFs eat live fish in the wild. I know not the comets in the wild, but all the Asains do it and it works. perhaps they were gut loaded feeders.

 

[Push]

Like I said, I practice what I preach. Just because I won't do it doesn't mean it won't work for others.

I can respect that. I am however contemplating doing an experiment very soon concerning the diet of Armatus and the issue of sudden death.

Like I said earlier, those fish didn't look unhealthy. Armatus and ATFs eat live fish in the wild. I know not the comets in the wild, but all the Asains do it and it works. perhaps they were gut loaded feeders.

I have heard it said on here before that the asians take much better care of their feeders than we do, so it would probably be a very good idea to quarantine and gut load your feeders before feeding them to your large predators, and also in doing this it would probably be a good idea to remove any feeders from the main tank that haven't been picked off and reintroduce them at a later date to be consumed.

 

[Chicxulub]

I can respect that. I am however contemplating doing an experiment very soon concerning the diet of Armatus and the issue of sudden death.

I have heard it said on here before that the asians take much better care of their feeders than we do, so it would probably be a very good idea to quarantine and gut load your feeders before feeding them to your large predators, and also in doing this it would probably be a good idea to remove any feeders from the main tank that haven't been picked off and reintroduce them at a later date to be consumed.

I will be waiting on the edge of my seat to see the results of that test.

 

[Push]

Well ultimately I'm a bit concerned in doing this test. I have enough room for one Armatus for a bit in my 360 gallon, and if I'm going to do this right then I believe I am going to need to go out and at the least get a rubbermaid 300 gallon stock tank to hold the second Armatus. Ultimately I was hoping to do a one live feed regimen and weening the other fish on prepared/dead foods ASAP and tracking both fishes progress. I don't know why but I am rather intrigued in why we here in the US are having such a rough time with the mortality rates in Payara where others in Asia seem to have it much easier.

 

[RampageRR]

Well ultimately I'm a bit concerned in doing this test. I have enough room for one Armatus for a bit in my 360 gallon, and if I'm going to do this right then I believe I am going to need to go out and at the least get a rubbermaid 300 gallon stock tank to hold the second Armatus. Ultimately I was hoping to do a one live feed regimen and weening the other fish on prepared/dead foods ASAP and tracking both fishes progress. I don't know why but I am rather intrigued in why we here in the US are having such a rough time with the mortality rates in Payara where others in Asia seem to have it much easier.

Well, I hope you decide to go through with the experiment and get some solid results. I'd love to see a lot more giant ones here in the US.

 

[fc3]

So far what has worked for me is.

Food - mackerel, trevally, croaker, squid, and pretty much any frozen whole fish I can buy at the market. I have fed him live comets and koi but in the 4 years I have had him I only have done this a few times.

Feedings - 2 times a week. Every now and then he will stop begging for food for a few weeks and I will stop feeding him until he starts begging again.

Water changes - 2 to 3 times a week depending on how much waste I can see in the tank. I don't do huge water changes, I normally just siphon all of the waste out and fill the tank back up.

Temp - Stays around 76 to 78 degrees.

I am also curious to find out if feeding live food like gold fish is better in the long run for them as appose to feeding them dead fish. I would also want to know does feeding them salt water fish have any adverse effects on their health. Should you only feed them freshwater fish?