African arowana at Fish Story

[Egon]

I have an AUL (Genius) that’s 20 years old I’ve had him 16 years. 3 feet and 25 pounds! Never had a problem feeding him!!!
But I agree my Aro is probably just not getting enough food to grow. It’s a very very active fish. I’m going to double the frozen food feedings. Currently I just feed frozen in the morning. I’m going to start right now and feed at night too.

 

[Hao]

I have an AUL (Genius) that’s 20 years old I’ve had him 16 years. 3 feet and 25 pounds! Never had a problem feeding him!!!
But I agree my Aro is probably just not getting enough food to grow. It’s a very very active fish. I’m going to double the frozen food feedings. Currently I just feed frozen in the morning. I’m going to start right now and feed at night too.

Very nice! Sounds normal for an Australian lungfish. From what I've seen the average size for them at 5-20 years old is usually 3 to 3.5 feet (of course, some stay smaller or get bigger).
As for the Aro, keep us posted!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

That arowana probably caused me a few gray hair but it feeds now. Took it 2 weeks. I was sure it was a dead fish swimming.

 

[jjohnwm]

Is it possible that the folks who seem to have success with small Afrowanas (I love that term and am stealing it from Egon ) are just barely carrying the fish through its earliest delicate and tough-to-feed stage?

The fish scrapes through a long period of near-starvation, growing very slowly until it reaches a larger, easier-to-keep stature. At that point it can easily be fed as much as possible, but it's already somewhat stunted from its food-deprived formative youth.

I've seen plenty of fish that had very lean times as youngsters, sometimes for years...due to lack of food, poor water conditions, etc...and when they then received better care and feeding, they still never achieved a size that would be considered normal. Are Afrowanas an extreme example of this?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

It had been aggressively sifting and (supposedly) feeding until about yesterday, when it behaved unusually, seemingly almost completely ignoring the feedings.
Today sat in one unusual for it spot with high current and seemingly uncomfortable about having to cope with the current.
Moved to a different tank. Hasn't fed in it for the first half a day.

 

[Egon]

It had been aggressively sifting and (supposedly) feeding until about yesterday, when it behaved unusually, seemingly almost completely ignoring the feedings.
Today sat in one unusual for it spot with high current and seemingly uncomfortable about having to cope with the current.
Moved to a different tank. Hasn't fed in it for the first half a day.

After moving the fish it might take a day or so to calm down to feed.
My Afrowana has the exact same spots on the side. Initially I thought it was scratch from rubbing on decorations in the tank but now I think it’s normal coloration

 

[Egon]

I love all those clown loaches in the tank! That’s a great looking set up.
Good idea moving the fish. I think all that current was exhausting him. Also the competition for food wasn’t good.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Thank you, Egon!

The current is stronger in the new tank. Same flow and 10x less furniture. But both tanks have at least 1/2 of the tank being quiet.

Overall, this specimen worries me. It hasn't been acting and behaving as expected, including the initial couple weeks of lethargy and no appetite, then seemingly feeding well but not growing at all or very little, and now having no appetite again.

It does have some girth on the top, in the torso, so it must have been eating. Why it stopped cold turkey, I've no clue. It hasn't restarted eating yet, been 3-4 days.

 

[Egon]

hopefully it’s just temporary. Mine is constantly eating and swimming. I have a sand bottom and the fish always has a mouth full of sand, sifting for food.