Update. So he does not eat alot. He has ate maybe 1 or 2 sticks in the past 3 days. I've been doing this hobby for awhile and this is by far the most frustrating fish I've ever kept. He's been in the tank for about 10 days now and has been acting the same since he's been in..I blacked out all the walls for him, water is tested every two days. And is perfect. Temp is 80-82.. all he does is hide behind a filter all day. Doesn't want talapia , krill, can't feed him red worms bc they don't float, he is scared of everything that touches the top of the water . I tried holding it with tongs he's just scared of everything. My luck to get the worst one outta the 30 my LFS had lol its getting very frustrating and extremely boring keeping this fish its unfortunate and don't know where to turn with this guy.
Arowana frustration
- Thread starter Nyrkorey
- Start date
Baby Arowana are instinctively skittish give a little time as it grows it will not hide.
I read somewhere If I try crickets, I gotta take the shell of or something?? Same with MW, is that hard shell ok?
Pinhead baby crickets would be better for a small arowana to swallow. Arowana have a bony tongue so a cricket will be no problem.
Meal worms should be no problem but would only offer size appropriate as I stated earlier for crickets.
Large crickets are easier for any predator to swallow if the large pair of rear jumping legs are removed. Mealworms are best used right after they molt, when they are still soft and white. And a small arowana that is already skittish should be fed only items that it can swallow quickly and without difficulty.
Does the tank contain floating plants and/or perhaps a couple small pieces of floating driftwood? Surface cover will.go a long way towards calming a nervous young arowana. Low levels of water movement are preferred, no jetstream/wavemaker nonsense with these fish.
And really, if your fish is eating pellets, what do you expect to gain by trying bugs right now? I can appreciate the possible value of adding some variety to the diet with a larger fish; it's good to know they will eat other foods so that you can fall back on something else if your primary food runs out, and of course with big fish it can save some money if their diets can be supplemented with local seasonal foods. But at the moment, I think you should stick to a quality, nutritionally-complete pellet diet until your fish puts on some growth and also loses its shyness. A single can of pellets will last you at least a few weeks or months, depending upon size. Plenty of time then to play around with alternative foods, and believe me, your arowana will be a completely different fish at that point, easy to feed and completely tame and relaxed.
Does the tank contain floating plants and/or perhaps a couple small pieces of floating driftwood? Surface cover will.go a long way towards calming a nervous young arowana. Low levels of water movement are preferred, no jetstream/wavemaker nonsense with these fish.
And really, if your fish is eating pellets, what do you expect to gain by trying bugs right now? I can appreciate the possible value of adding some variety to the diet with a larger fish; it's good to know they will eat other foods so that you can fall back on something else if your primary food runs out, and of course with big fish it can save some money if their diets can be supplemented with local seasonal foods. But at the moment, I think you should stick to a quality, nutritionally-complete pellet diet until your fish puts on some growth and also loses its shyness. A single can of pellets will last you at least a few weeks or months, depending upon size. Plenty of time then to play around with alternative foods, and believe me, your arowana will be a completely different fish at that point, easy to feed and completely tame and relaxed.
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Young arowana sometimes can go through the phase of shock and stress, they're shocked at a new place and stress the new owner by not eating at all.
I went through this with my red, took me nearly 40 days before he even got comfortable to swim in front of me.
I just went to the tank everyday and gave him freshly moulted meal worms, if he would not eat, then try again the next day
I went through this with my red, took me nearly 40 days before he even got comfortable to swim in front of me.
I just went to the tank everyday and gave him freshly moulted meal worms, if he would not eat, then try again the next day
Well update time! He is doing so much better, he seems to really eat at night after the lights go out. He is zooming around the tank. When the lights are on he is definitely so much better then he was. Also got him flaoting water wisteria and boy does he LOVE to hang out in the plants it's cool. He is on nothing but a pellet diet, takes pellets without a issue so I may just keep him on pellets for good. Overall he definitely has gotten alot more comfortable and the definitely underestimated the benefits of floating plants. Specially with the awesome nitrate reduction you get from them and added oxygen into the water!
