Hello everyone,
First off I want to say that I am a new member so I want to thank everyone on this website for all the great work they do. This is one of the most extensive websites that I've researched and its really great!
For some background info., I have previously raised silver and black arowanas and I really enjoy them. I've raised them from 1-2" babies to over a foot long and notice that they are a very confident and aggressive fish after a few weeks of adapting to me being around the tank and feeding them.
Now for my dilemma. I have recently purchased a 4" Australian arowana ("aussie") and I am currently raising him in a 30 gallon tank with an amazon bichir as a tankmate. I have had the fish for over a month and I notice that this fish is never comfortable with me around the tank or the feedings. I literally have to slide up to the side of my tank to dump in the crickets and then slither away to watch aussie feed. I don't mind feeding him this way, but lately I've noticed that aussie is growing more and more skittish. I can't even sit in front of the tank to watch him swim around or feed him from the side of the tank without him freaking out and bumping the walls, sometimes so violently that it scrapes off his scales.
As for the bi-weekly water changes, fuggettaboutit! He goes insane and swims like a maniac and ends up hiding on the bottom of the tank in a corner. He stays there for a minimum of 30 minutes after I'm done, and I've done at least 10 changes so far so he hasnt grown used to that either.
I am not sure if this type of arowana is by nature this skittish, but it is starting to worry me. I've tried to use blackwater, stress coat, no sudden movements around the tank, and even leave the tank light off so that he doesnt get crazy but he's not adjusting as well as I thought. (I do notice that when the light on the tank is on, aussie swims mid to bottom of the tank, but when the light is off he swims closer to the water surface)
I thought that getting a tankmate would help and introduced an amazon bicher ~4" (who I call "piggie" since he eats anything and frequently). This has just made feeding more difficult since piggie goes after the crickets and usually gets the cricket first. I have adapted to this by dropping in a small rosey red goldfish to distract piggie while I try to feed aussie crickets. only a 50-50 chance piggie doesnt give up on the feeder and head for the cricket!
Any and all comments, suggestions, and information are appreciated. I have read many of the posts on the topic of arowanas but I havent seen too many on specifically on australian arowanas.
First off I want to say that I am a new member so I want to thank everyone on this website for all the great work they do. This is one of the most extensive websites that I've researched and its really great!
For some background info., I have previously raised silver and black arowanas and I really enjoy them. I've raised them from 1-2" babies to over a foot long and notice that they are a very confident and aggressive fish after a few weeks of adapting to me being around the tank and feeding them.
Now for my dilemma. I have recently purchased a 4" Australian arowana ("aussie") and I am currently raising him in a 30 gallon tank with an amazon bichir as a tankmate. I have had the fish for over a month and I notice that this fish is never comfortable with me around the tank or the feedings. I literally have to slide up to the side of my tank to dump in the crickets and then slither away to watch aussie feed. I don't mind feeding him this way, but lately I've noticed that aussie is growing more and more skittish. I can't even sit in front of the tank to watch him swim around or feed him from the side of the tank without him freaking out and bumping the walls, sometimes so violently that it scrapes off his scales.
As for the bi-weekly water changes, fuggettaboutit! He goes insane and swims like a maniac and ends up hiding on the bottom of the tank in a corner. He stays there for a minimum of 30 minutes after I'm done, and I've done at least 10 changes so far so he hasnt grown used to that either.
I am not sure if this type of arowana is by nature this skittish, but it is starting to worry me. I've tried to use blackwater, stress coat, no sudden movements around the tank, and even leave the tank light off so that he doesnt get crazy but he's not adjusting as well as I thought. (I do notice that when the light on the tank is on, aussie swims mid to bottom of the tank, but when the light is off he swims closer to the water surface)
I thought that getting a tankmate would help and introduced an amazon bicher ~4" (who I call "piggie" since he eats anything and frequently). This has just made feeding more difficult since piggie goes after the crickets and usually gets the cricket first. I have adapted to this by dropping in a small rosey red goldfish to distract piggie while I try to feed aussie crickets. only a 50-50 chance piggie doesnt give up on the feeder and head for the cricket!
Any and all comments, suggestions, and information are appreciated. I have read many of the posts on the topic of arowanas but I havent seen too many on specifically on australian arowanas.
