African Arowana

[Ash_water]

Hi All,

This is my very first post in this thread and I am excited.

To be honest I am somewhat experienced fish keeper and kept all sorts of fish.

Recently I purchased about a 3 inch African Arowana.
I feel I'm not experienced enough to handle this fish at this age.
I know this is a very demanding fish to raise and I think the challenge is worth it considering the end result.

Therefore I would be grateful if all expert African Arowana keepers help me on this.
I also browsed through existing threads and gathered a lot of valuable info.

In addtion, if anyone can asnwer these questions it would be highly appreciated.

1) How long can a 3-4 inch African Arowana last wirhout feeding?

2) Is frozen brine shrimp and crushed Massivore pellets be enough with sponge filteration?

3) Are African Arowanas bottom feeders or can they feed on water surface as well?

4) How much food can a 3 inch African Arowana consume in 1 meal?

Thats all for now. Ty guyz!!!

 

[Hendre]

Hi and welcome

1) How long can a 3-4 inch African Arowana last wirhout feeding?

It shouldn't go more than a few days without food at this size, they don't store much fat and need constant feeding

) Is frozen brine shrimp and crushed Massivore pellets be enough with sponge filteration?

Should be. Can add frozen krill pr bloodworm too if you want. Just keep up on water changes

3) Are African Arowanas bottom feeders or can they feed on water surface as well?

They filter feed and eat all over if I recall correctly.

4) How much food can a 3 inch African Arowana consume in 1 meal?

This I don't really know.

All this info is what I've gathered on MFK, Josh's Fish made a very nice video on these fish:

Good luck!

 

[tlindsey]

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/baby-african-arowana-feeding.250203/

Hi All,

This is my very first post in this thread and I am excited.

To be honest I am somewhat experienced fish keeper and kept all sorts of fish.

Recently I purchased about a 3 inch African Arowana.
I feel I'm not experienced enough to handle this fish at this age.
I know this is a very demanding fish to raise and I think the challenge is worth it considering the end result.

Therefore I would be grateful if all expert African Arowana keepers help me on this.
I also browsed through existing threads and gathered a lot of valuable info.

In addtion, if anyone can asnwer these questions it would be highly appreciated.

1) How long can a 3-4 inch African Arowana last wirhout feeding?

2) Is frozen brine shrimp and crushed Massivore pellets be enough with sponge filteration?

3) Are African Arowanas bottom feeders or can they feed on water surface as well?

4) How much food can a 3 inch African Arowana consume in 1 meal?

Thats all for now. Ty guyz!!!

Welcome aboard

I think they were once believed to be filter feeders at one time but not certain here is another thread.

 

[Josh's Fish]

Hi, most has already been covered, but I'll go in to detail a bit more

1) How long can a 3-4 inch African Arowana last wirhout feeding?

As said, due to not holding any fat reserves at this time, they will become lethargic and die within a matter of days (sometimes hours) as they are still incredibly active looking for food.
They need a near constant supply of food. In the wild, they have an abundance of micro creatures and detritus they can feast on, whereas in the aquarium that is limited, so we have to keep on top of this unfortunately.

2) Is frozen brine shrimp and crushed Massivore pellets be enough with sponge filteration?

Yeah should be fine, just clean the sponge in tank water every day to every other day as the amount of food going in the tank will be substantial.

3) Are African Arowanas bottom feeders or can they feed on water surface as well?

Mostly mid to bottom, however they will still feed off the surface, albeit at an awkward looking angle haha

4) How much food can a 3 inch African Arowana consume in 1 meal?

Don't look at it like you're feeding it meals, as they constantly sift for food. They can only eat a very tiny amount, but the body utilises it and burns it off incredibly quickly, so shortly after they need to eat again. You need food to transfer to energy faster than the body uses the energy, this will help them gain size and fat. To do that though, you need to keep on top of feeding. Put in a couple cubes of brine shrimp. Monitor how fast it eats the food, don't worry if there's excess over an hour, it will be eaten. Then from there, work out if you need to add more or less every few hours.

I think they were once believed to be filter feeders at one time but not certain here is another thread.

They are filter feeders, but not exclusively. They have a filter feeding mechanism, but they also have a gizzard, meaning they can even consume things with a hard carapace, like some molluscs, crustaceans and even seeds. They do have a very thin esophagus though, so they are limited on the size of food they eat (which is why some believed them to be exclusive filter feeders). An African Arowana over 20 inch can easily eat whole small fish. Mine is around 20-21" and can now eat whole pellets and shrimp.

 

[Ash_water]

Hi All,

This is my very first post in this thread and I am excited.

To be honest I am somewhat experienced fish keeper and kept all sorts of fish.

Recently I purchased about a 3 inch African Arowana.
I feel I'm not experienced enough to handle this fish at this age.
I know this is a very demanding fish to raise and I think the challenge is worth it considering the end result.

Therefore I would be grateful if all expert African Arowana keepers help me on this.
I also browsed through existing threads and gathered a lot of valuable info.

In addtion, if anyone can asnwer these questions it would be highly appreciated.

1) How long can a 3-4 inch African Arowana last wirhout feeding?

2) Is frozen brine shrimp and crushed Massivore pellets be enough with sponge filteration?

3) Are African Arowanas bottom feeders or can they feed on water surface as well?

4) How much food can a 3 inch African Arowana consume in 1 meal?

Thats all for now. Ty guyz!!!

Thank you very much

 

[Ash_water]

Hi, most has already been covered, but I'll go in to detail a bit more




As said, due to not holding any fat reserves at this time, they will become lethargic and die within a matter of days (sometimes hours) as they are still incredibly active looking for food.
They need a near constant supply of food. In the wild, they have an abundance of micro creatures and detritus they can feast on, whereas in the aquarium that is limited, so we have to keep on top of this unfortunately.



Yeah should be fine, just clean the sponge in tank water every day to every other day as the amount of food going in the tank will be substantial.



Mostly mid to bottom, however they will still feed off the surface, albeit at an awkward looking angle haha



Don't look at it like you're feeding it meals, as they constantly sift for food. They can only eat a very tiny amount, but the body utilises it and burns it off incredibly quickly, so shortly after they need to eat again. You need food to transfer to energy faster than the body uses the energy, this will help them gain size and fat. To do that though, you need to keep on top of feeding. Put in a couple cubes of brine shrimp. Monitor how fast it eats the food, don't worry if there's excess over an hour, it will be eaten. Then from there, work out if you need to add more or less every few hours.



They are filter feeders, but not exclusively. They have a filter feeding mechanism, but they also have a gizzard, meaning they can even consume things with a hard carapace, like some molluscs, crustaceans and even seeds. They do have a very thin esophagus though, so they are limited on the size of food they eat (which is why some believed them to be exclusive filter feeders). An African Arowana over 20 inch can easily eat whole small fish. Mine is around 20-21" and can now eat whole pellets and shrimp.

Great. Thank you for the info.

At the moment, I have but of trouble trying to get my fish to eat a lot.
When I give him/her brine shrimp and crushed pellets he/she takes few bites but does not completely clean the food from the tank.

Should I be worried?

 

[Josh's Fish]

When I give him/her brine shrimp and crushed pellets he/she takes few bites but does not completely clean the food from the tank.

Should I be worried?

That's quite unusual for an African Arowana, they're normally sifting through very often and readily accept anything. Might just be a case of not being worth the energy exerted sifting for ages for minimal food particles? You could presoak the pellets whole and place them in, that way all it does is juggle the soft pellets in its mouth til they break apart.

 

[Ash_water]

That's quite unusual for an African Arowana, they're normally sifting through very often and readily accept anything. Might just be a case of not being worth the energy exerted sifting for ages for minimal food particles? You could presoak the pellets whole and place them in, that way all it does is juggle the soft pellets in its mouth til they break apart.

Great!! Thanks to you guyz I manages to keep him alive till now. I got him last Saturday 7th April. For tomorrow its complete week. The fish is active and seems to be eating.

Also a 3 inch juvenile can't surive for a week if they don't get enough food right?

 

[joserruiz]

where did you get it from?? I´m looking for one...

 

[andyroo]

Is there anywhere that young AshWater might buy daphnia, amphipod or ostracod (eggs?) to seed the tank, or bucket-grow to add by the scoop?
How about fairy shrimp eggs - I know they're on Amazon, and easy to hatch & raise though with only a single generation maybe not better than live brine shrimp...

Yes, I do appreciate that few of us go for the "ecosystem" approach...