Hello, I am just wondering, what do you more experienced arowana keepers feed your aros? Mine is currently eating raw chicken, earthworms, and krill (when I can get him to eat it.) I have considered adding tilapia to the diet, but am not quite sure how healthy that is. I know some may question feeding my arowana raw chicken, but please be aware of the fact that large 2'+ arowana's jump into overhanging trees to catch birds. A chicken is a bird, so I feel this is a fine diet. Any tips on feeding tilapia, the healthiness of it, or any other foods to use?
Feeding arowanas?
- Thread starter Gandalf
- Start date
I know some go with "arowana sticks" but I just don't trust them as a diet. I truly don't believe a fish will get all of its nutrition from a stick. Even if it does, however, I still feel the fish will enjoy whole prey over a stick. As for market shrimp, what kind of shrimp? I hear a lot of people say "market shrimp" but that seems a very vague term to me. Scallops may be good but seems they would be hard to get a hold of...
Forgot to mention, my arowana also eats dried mealworms. I am not sure as to the nutrients of them, because if you break them in half they are just air, but he enjoys them and takes them gently out of my fingers, so its good socialization (call me weird 
)
)
Varied diet is best, and a quality pellet/food stick needs to be part of that diet. I'm sure there is an occasional bird taken, but not likely a staple in any arowana's diet. Go to the super market, that is where you'll find "market shrimp", raw is best, as is fresh if it is available.
Arowana sticks have the most nutritional value so thats your best bet, i feed my arowanas all what i listed. And market shrimp means uncooked shrimp you buy at pretty much every store that sells food, as well with the scallops.
Pellets may be healthy, and may be worth adding to the diet. However, to get him to eat the pellets I would likely have to starve the fish from any other foods, making it probably impossible to have him on sticks included with his diet. I will try the market shrimp though, I know river shrimp can be part of an arowanas natural diet, and supposedly the asian's use them to enhance color. (Off-topic here, but I do believe that birds are more then occasional) in large, wild aros diets. I would think there diet at that size would consist more of shrimp and birds, as I don't see how they could ever get all of the food they need from just insects
Will look for scallops at my next trip to the store, thank you. What does everybody think about tilapia? Pros and cons?
tilapia works fine you just MUST remove the uneaten food within 10 minutes of feeding, it is a very greasy fish and you dont want the grease to break down in the fish and pollute your water.