Help! black arowanna swimming strangely

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C

Cakilla

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 2, 2009
1,953
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Illinois
he will swim around and then just stop and then he will sink tail down and lay on the gravel, I can get closer to the tank and he will swim back up to the surface and is fine for a few minutes acting like nothing is wrong.... then down he sinks again.... I just bought this little guy last week and he is 3-4 inches arrived perfect and acted normal the whole time till this afternoon and he is doing this, I have done 3 water changes since I have had him and the tank he is in has been cycled for over a year now, he has no tank mates at all, tested the water and it came back fine... I just do not understand, I feed him tetra sticks that are broken up into manageable peices ( I tried feeding him hikari gold, staple and even flake and the only he would touch is the broken up sticks) his water temp is at 80 also ...


I am at a complete loss, I keep the water level at the 75 - 80 % mark just because I read they can be jumpers , but I am begining to wonder if he did jump and hit his head on the lid or damaged his swim bladder , I just checked on him again but he was up swimming around normally, there are no visible marks on him ... so any advise is greatly appreciated .
 
he is laying on the gravel alot more now, but when he swims he looks healthy... I am really worried about him, but do not know anything else I can do...

Anyone have any advise Please????????
 
not so sure. sounds like you are doing the right things. but i do think they recommend warm water for them around 86
 
Thanks so much JW ! I am uping the temp up slowly now and see if he starts doing any better.
I just hope he pulls through otherwise its going to be awhile before I try my hand at keeping aros again.
 
he is swimming around really quick acting really weird swimming in circles and twisting and rotating 360 degrees and then on the bottom he goes.... then after a bit he will get up and do it again....

I have a feeling that I am going to loose him, it really sucks I have wanted a black arowanna for a few years now and finally took the money and this happens... still the only things that I can come up with is he jumped and hurt himself :(
If I do loose him maybe I will give them another try next year .
 
Does he have any tank mates? You might be right that he's spooked. I'd up the temp like JW said, add aquarium salt & leave the lights off for a few days.
 
with the spinning i'd say its done...it could have jumped and hit its head...sometimes young aros will lay on the bottom...the spinning is i think do to damage from jumping...i don't think it will make it, but i hope for the best...
 
When you say spinning, do you mean in a circle or barrel rolls? Sounds to me like he is panicking. I'd keep the tank dark for a few days, up the temp like you are doing, and make sure there is plenty of aeration. Best of luck to ya.
 
Thanks so much everyone , when I checked on him just a second ago he was dead :(

I am not ready to get another just yet but someday I will attempt to keep another, am I better off buying a larger sized black arowanna ?

This just really bites though, I only had it a week but he was my favorite and this happens, should I of kept the water lower to say 60% so maybe the next one doesn't wind up hiting the lid ?
 
When my aro was that size I kept lights off 24/7. I felt that it didn't like the lights at all. It would begin to panic everytime I turned the lights on. I just relied on the natural sunlight that came into my house. (Not in direct sunlight). It still panics now at 21". But she's getting used to it now. Sorry to hear
 
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