4th failure. 2 treatments of 1/2 dose of MicrobeLift BSDT = dead arowana. Grew to a foot long.
African arowana from Wes
- Thread starter thebiggerthebetter
- Start date
Despite having a frequent access to all you can eat feed, these two perished in a week or two. They looked like they were eating a ton but they take it in their mouth and mouth it and spit it out and take in the mouth again. I offered bloodworms, crushed pellets of 2-3 kinds, flake, and minced fish as a cocktail 3 times a day. The feed laid around for an hour or two each time because everyone was so full. This was NOT enough for these guys. They looked happy and vigorous and lively and aggressively going after the feed. The only thing I can come up with is that they spat all and almost all out and actually consumed very little.
This specimen is far bigger and is thick, so has proper reserves but behaves the opposite of the last pair so far - barely swims, fins clamped, shows no interest in the same delicious cocktail of ingredients, not even bloodworms. It's been 2 days and nothing's changing. Externally it looks good with no visible signs of pathogens.
Updated summary of loss causes:
1. Arrival in an already irreversibly damaged state by pre-shipping fasting of 1-2 days. Around 3"-5" they have no reserves to last ~2 days without feeding.
2. The most common reason is failure to feed properly. Until about 8" they have to have a constant access to feed, which has to be tiny particles. The feeder guppy exception(?) is reported above.
3. Tank overflow causes drowning.
4. Kin territorial violence.
5. Two treatments of 1/2 dose of MicrobeLift BSDT over 4 days resulted in a dead arowana (a foot long).
1. Arrival in an already irreversibly damaged state by pre-shipping fasting of 1-2 days. Around 3"-5" they have no reserves to last ~2 days without feeding.
2. The most common reason is failure to feed properly. Until about 8" they have to have a constant access to feed, which has to be tiny particles. The feeder guppy exception(?) is reported above.
3. Tank overflow causes drowning.
4. Kin territorial violence.
5. Two treatments of 1/2 dose of MicrobeLift BSDT over 4 days resulted in a dead arowana (a foot long).
Man, this is depressing to read. Some few fish make the simple job of getting food inside of them that I wonder why we bother. In this case, here you are throwing tons of food into that tank, having it sit around uneaten after all the other inhabitants are stuffed full, and these things just don't manage to feed themselves. Heartbreaking, and made even more so when you know that all the other fish are suffering...or at least their health is eventually going to be suffering...from such chronic overfeeding in hopes of getting nourishment into two PITA Heterotis.
The two little guys that my friend Steve brought back from Detroit were, as I recall, about the same size as your last two.
Viktor, how about trying the setup that worked for me? Use a clear plastic Rubbermaid-type bin, with one or more small panels cut out and covered with pieces of plastic window screen to allow water flow. Clip it to the top edge of whatever tank you wish. Use an airstone in the bin, not so much for aeration but to just keep the water moving gently, and to encourage water exchange through the plastic mesh. Add all the tiny food intended for the Heterotis into that bin and hope that the close proximity and the high food concentration will allow the little primadonnas to eat enough. I know you don't have time for handfeeding one fish every hour or two, but maybe set up an automatic timed fish feeder to dispense small quantities of crushed flakes, or even powdered commercial fry food, into the bin. Maybe a couple times daily just lift the bin up and down gently to pump the water in and out to ensure it stays clean. Uneaten powdered fry food will slip right through the plastic mesh.
I think your current one is already big enough that this shouldn't be required, but if you start with tiny ones again I think it might be worth a try.
Also...I've meant to mention this about a dozen times after watching some videos of you netting small fish out of buckets to transfer them: You must have dozens of nets lying around. Take a couple of them and bend the wire frame along the leading edge into a curve that matches the curved bottom of the bucket! Easier on the fish, and way easier on the fishkeeper!
The two little guys that my friend Steve brought back from Detroit were, as I recall, about the same size as your last two.
Viktor, how about trying the setup that worked for me? Use a clear plastic Rubbermaid-type bin, with one or more small panels cut out and covered with pieces of plastic window screen to allow water flow. Clip it to the top edge of whatever tank you wish. Use an airstone in the bin, not so much for aeration but to just keep the water moving gently, and to encourage water exchange through the plastic mesh. Add all the tiny food intended for the Heterotis into that bin and hope that the close proximity and the high food concentration will allow the little primadonnas to eat enough. I know you don't have time for handfeeding one fish every hour or two, but maybe set up an automatic timed fish feeder to dispense small quantities of crushed flakes, or even powdered commercial fry food, into the bin. Maybe a couple times daily just lift the bin up and down gently to pump the water in and out to ensure it stays clean. Uneaten powdered fry food will slip right through the plastic mesh.
I think your current one is already big enough that this shouldn't be required, but if you start with tiny ones again I think it might be worth a try.
Also...I've meant to mention this about a dozen times after watching some videos of you netting small fish out of buckets to transfer them: You must have dozens of nets lying around. Take a couple of them and bend the wire frame along the leading edge into a curve that matches the curved bottom of the bucket! Easier on the fish, and way easier on the fishkeeper!
I've had lot of success raising young African Aros on live blackworms to get them to a safe size where they don't require constant feeding. (they grow extremely fast as babies). The thing I would have done differently was introduced crushed pellets and tiny tiny pieces of shrimp/tilapia with the worms at a younger size. They usually will eat everything once bigger as long as the food wasn't too big.
Here's an old thread I had on one of my baby African Aro growout if you are interested in looking through. (Unfortnately rehomed it when it was 22"-23 since gars were bothering it).
Here's an old thread I had on one of my baby African Aro growout if you are interested in looking through. (Unfortnately rehomed it when it was 22"-23 since gars were bothering it).
Hello. I bought a 4" African Aro 2 weeks ago (August 20th,2017). I thought I would make a thread to keep track of its growth. I apologize ahead of time if the pictures are not the best (been lazy to scrub the algae).
08/20/17 (Day 1):
09/03/17 (2 weeks later) grew fairly fast!
Stay tuned for more.
08/20/17 (Day 1):
09/03/17 (2 weeks later) grew fairly fast!
Stay tuned for more.
I’ve have an African Aro for about 3 years now. It consistently sifts through the sand to filter food. I feed it 5 times a day. The first feeding is flakes. I pinch the flakes between flat tipped tweezers I have. Tweezers that I use are the type that pick up stamps or something like that. Then stick the flakes below the surface of the water and let them get water logged so they sink. I do this 3 to 5 times a day. I also feed frozen brine shrimp and blood worms once a day. Then once a day I put some small sinking pellets in the tank. I think it’s important these fish have sandy bottom tanks so they can constantly graze all day long.
I’m happy to post pics of my set up if your interested.
I’m happy to post pics of my set up if your interested.
This 85ish cm (34”ish) African Aro belong to an Indonesian fish keeper. It was raised from 20 cm (7.5”-8”) since November 2022. Tank isn’t really big but fish still grew really well! Main diet was really small pellets.
Thank you, Egon. Good description, easy to follow. Sounds like you go a very long way to feed your arowana a good and diverse diet. What size is yours at 3yo? Are the amounts sufficient for the fish to grow well? Would love to see your setup, of course.
Wow. I'd say this is the biggest specimen I've ever come across in captivity. Thank you for this!
Last edited:
