Ok most of you that know me ,,,know i have two aros...one 15 inch black and almost a 30 inch silver....well on saturday it was feeding time so everyone got fed... normally the silver eats about 6 or 7 raw shrimp... and the black about 4... well all was great ...usual feedings etc... Now Monday rolls around and its feeding time again...so i defrost some shrimp and start feeding.. i notice everyone in the tank is eating except the silver aro... sometimes this is normal ...so i didnt pay attention... but i did notice that the silver was very hungry... darting at the shrimp but just bumping it with his nose and then going about his business... well i finally found out that something wasnt right so.. i put in a some Hikari sticks and he couldnt open his mouth to eat that either.. so i was like ... oh S$$$ this is a problem... I then tried feeding him by hand ... he would just sit there with his nose on my finger and couldnt open his mouth... so my thought was something was in his mouth and causing him not to open it.. while examining him further i noticed that his whole head and length of his back was turning black... now i really knew there was a problem... tested the water.. everything is perfect... so my only option was to remove him and try to open his mouth... yup... anyone try opening a 30 inch arowana's mouth.. he's gotta be about 10 pounds and thick as a house.. but wouldnt let him suffer.. so i netted him... threw a towel over his and place this crazy fish on the floor... got a spoon and opened his mouth.. to my surprise there was left over shrimp from saturdays feeding stuck in his mouth.. two pieces... that stunk to high heaven... i was able to get them out with all my fingers in tact! I then put him back in the tank and watched him totally stressed with tail hanging to the bottom of the tank and his head at the top .. gasping for air... but after a few moments he was back to swimming and THANKFULLY swimming while his mouth was open.. So all in all if I didnt play doctor ... i would have most likely lost my 4 year old 30 inch aro ... my one and true baby... All i can do now is hope that he clears up with all his black and blues i would guess from lack of oxygen and possible old fish in his mouth that he couldnt remove... Will update and let you know what happens.. right now he is swimming well so all i can do is hope.... Has anyone every encountered ANYTHING like this?? I also have a feeling i am getting away from shrimp altogether and going to something else... anyone have any ideas of what else? I dont like the aro sticks ... they dirty up my water... no feeders... not dealing with ICK... what else? Thanks all and pray for the 30 incher to make it through the night... hmmmm what a stressful evening...
vinny
vinny
