Armatus sizes & diets

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
keepinfish

keepinfish

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Jun 29, 2007
7,398
709
174
47
In God We Trust
So last years batch of Armatus is 14-16 months old now. The sizes seem to range drasticlly.

sizes were around 2" and now are 10" - 20" that is a big difference.

What is the deal? It seems that calisux's are the biggest, and mine is one of the smallest... :)

Mine just recently have learned to eat smelt by the boatload. I wonder if by feeding smelt instead of shrimp makes a huge difference on growth rates?? Since shrimp is not something that is usually eaten in the wild.
 
#1 factor..... Group.

Most Characins will eat much more aggressively in a group.

Peer pressure is just too much..... lol

My Dorado have grown an inch since I put them all together. Took them months to do that when kept solo..... Growing about 3 times faster now.

Mine all really seemed to like smelt over shrimp....
 
mine is eating better now that he is w the bass. he still wont eat smelt though...

i used to put massivore pellets in the shrimp but he was going on eating strikes alot. im thinking of trying flintstone kids vitamins because im sure hes not getting the nutrition he needs eating shrimp all the time... he hasnt been growing much since he hit 20"

there are alot of things that influence how fast they grow... i had one that grew alot slower then fang... maybe its a sex thing, males grow faster....
 
I know the next batch I get a hold of I will be feeding UNcleaned head on smelt to.

Thier diet consits of 100% fish in the wild right? I think aside from feeders this would be the best bet.

What are your thoughts Trev?
 
DB, i bet you hit it on the head with the group thing...

Vamp, i wondered if sex playes a role like rays and other fish. Mine has only grown from 8- about 10" in the last 5 or so months. I fed feeders for about a month in that time the rest was shrimp until last week.

I agree that there diet in the wild would be fish...100% i have been feeding Whole smelt head and all.
 
Mine are around 13"... I have not come anywhere near power feeding them. Right when I was getting them off live the seam busted on the tank. Once this happened I really cut back on their feeding once a week or so. Never any more than that. Their diet consisted of shiners from the local bait store. Clean and nutritious. Shrimp was the only other thing I got them to eat when I was working off of live.
Sorry I had to chime in becasue this is an extrememly interesting thread.
I would always feed the head on the fish. The nutrients in the head is something imo the rest of the body can not supply. also the group deal does make a huge difference. As stated before peer pressure is a powerful thing :)
 
BlackwaterFL;3357930; said:
Mine are around 13"... I have not come anywhere near power feeding them. Right when I was getting them off live the seam busted on the tank. Once this happened I really cut back on their feeding once a week or so. Never any more than that. Their diet consisted of shiners from the local bait store. Clean and nutritious. Shrimp was the only other thing I got them to eat when I was working off of live.
Sorry I had to chime in becasue this is an extrememly interesting thread.
I would always feed the head on the fish. The nutrients in the head is something imo the rest of the body can not supply. also the group deal does make a huge difference. As stated before peer pressure is a powerful thing :)
Click to expand...



you think that once a week is enough? i was thinking to feed every other day now he is eating smelt so rapidly.
 
Well my time is very poor at this very second and the 2 I have are housed in a 75 Gal tank for one more week till new tank is ready. I do not want to take the chance to dirty up the water too much and I only have the time for once a week water changes att his moment.. As for health concerns I think once a week is ok for sure. They are abosultely flawless at this moment.

When they are back in their big tank every other day will be their schedule :)
 
I believe the monster across seas (That was like 30+ in and housed with a couple monster Leos) was only eating once or twice a week as well.... Huge feeders.
 
I allow them and they do gorge themselves with these feeders. Everything has been ok for awhile now on this diet.
Actually my one is breathing pretty heavy right now and I have no idea why..... Kind of scaring me.. the water params are fine , temp is fine. He just got a new "fang" is this possibly common when new tooth is in?
Sorry not trying to change post just kinda freeked out. Especially after talking how healthy they are lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom