Few questions on Arapaima.

Roberto G

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2008
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Start offering pellets every day even if he refuses, remove the uneaten after a while ...hell figure it out eventually... Most young pima die because they are not fed enough. They have a very fast metabolism at this size and thats y some consider them fragile. My pair accepted sinking pellets immediatly and id feed them 2-3 times a day. Grew them from the size of urs to 28" and 30" in less than 6 months on pellets. Super active fish and very rewarding to watch grow so quickly. good luck! Cute at this size... they start gettin scary as they grow lol... Very smart/aware specimen.... once they know u have food theyll follow u around as would any other "wet pet". Sooner u get ur guy on pellets the better, shouldnt b as hard as u think considering it was probably farm raised.
Thanks for your reply! The feeder fish that live inside the Arapaima's tank are the ones currently eating the sticks, so there's no need to remove any un-eaten since there's none haha. I really hope I'll be able to make this baby monster grow! So far it looks very healthy and it's eating like a pig. I'll keep you guys updated.

Cheers!
 

Roberto G

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2008
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Some more pictures, I know you guys like this.IMG_1030.JPG IMG_1031.JPG IMG_1032.JPG
 

enjetek

Candiru
MFK Member
Dec 14, 2012
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l.a. - sfv
Sweet looking little guy. Store around me had 2 of them around 8" for $120 each but no super tank/lake do it was a no go. Man I can't imagine how much they would need to eat too to be that big.
 

Betta132

Jack Dempsey
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Oct 18, 2015
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Your tiny wiggle has a very big mouth. Any chance we can get a video of him hunting? His pointy little face expands nicely, and he's a cute little thing.
 

Roberto G

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2008
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Sweet looking little guy. Store around me had 2 of them around 8" for $120 each but no super tank/lake do it was a no go. Man I can't imagine how much they would need to eat too to be that big.
Thanks man! I got mine for $100 more or less (I bought it in a local coin)... You'll definitely need to have a lot of preparation before even considering buying a fish like this, not only in space but you'll also need to know a huge amount of things on keeping carnivorous fishes, specially baby ones! And regarding the amount of food, I guess I won't really "feel" the amount of food it's eating until it gets huge, I've had some Amazon Leaf Fish before, and they eat pretty much the same as the pima at this age.

Your tiny wiggle has a very big mouth. Any chance we can get a video of him hunting? His pointy little face expands nicely, and he's a cute little thing.
It'll be very difficult to get a video of the Arapaima eating since it eats whenever and not at a specific time. But I still managed to take some slow-mo video of it swimming, fully extending its jaws and breathing, it's still pretty cool to see! I hope you enjoy!


Here's some pictures as well.

IMG_1083.JPG IMG_1080.JPG IMG_1093.JPG

Cheers!
 

Texasrockwell

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 6, 2015
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Is that normal for the pima's to "extend" there gills like that? Mine does the same thing, and was worried something might be wrong.
 

Roberto G

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2008
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Is that normal for the pima's to "extend" there gills like that? Mine does the same thing, and was worried something might be wrong.
No, there's nothing wrong... Fishes yawn too.
 

Betta132

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Oct 18, 2015
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Yep, fish yawn. It's really cute when it's tiny fish, but when you get into larger fish, it ends up being impressive more than anything else.
 
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Roberto G

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2008
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Yep, fish yawn. It's really cute when it's tiny fish, but when you get into larger fish, it ends up being impressive more than anything else.
True that! Nothing compares to see what a true predator is made of.
 
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