How do i get my new black aro to eat?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
marvinbaker

marvinbaker

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
May 1, 2006
1,281
5
36
47
canterbury
Dan aka tropical imports kindly dropped round an 8" black aro on saturday. It's my first arowana. Got him in a 7' x 2.5' x 2.5' tank. Seems to have settled in well but is quite timid and hasn't taken any food so far. I've offered bloodworm, live mealworms, market shrimp which was what dan fed him on and even a few guppies but he hasn't eaten anything yet. Is this normal? How long before i should get worried? Any advice on feeding and general care would be greatly appreciated
 
Totally normal for a new aro. When I get a new aro, I won't even offer food for the first 2-3 days. I only check him out from FAR away from the tank so I don't scare him. This gives him time to get used to the new tank.
He will come around don't worry.

Great pick up.:headbang2
 
I would believe like stated that is normal.. But Mine from TFD ate right away.. I fed Crickets and meal worms.. Anythign that sinks quik it leaves alone....
 
My baby black didnt have any problems with eating since hour one. I fed him floating stuff cuz fast sinking things he left alone. Try crickets and mealworms or maybe regular worms with air injected. Now that mine is getting a bit bigger he is getting bolder and is even swimming down a bit to pick up something sinking. Not too far, but its a beginning.
Good luck with your new baby, their are superb fish!
 
Don't worry, that's quite normal for a black aro to behave that way, especially when first getting and introduced... just give it some time to settle in. You can try adding some black water extract, or a piece of fairly new driftwood that leaks out some of it's tannins to the tank, this will help in settling and calming it down some. Also keep the lights off for the first couple days or so, add some floating plants if you have to also. This will give the arow some sense or feeling of security. Keep the water level lower than usual, and keep a lid and openings covered at all times.

For food, try feeding some freeze-dried plankton also, never heard of an aro that denied eating plankton for it's first meal. Keep us posted with everything and good luck! :thumbsup:
 
When I got mine at 12" I couldn't get it to eat for a few days as well, in fact i couldn't get it to keep still, so no need to worry yet!
 
8" is a healthy size, he's just getting adjusted. Normal behavior. They like floating food, love insects, crickets. Offer his food then if he refuses it, remove it all and wait 8 hrs and offer it again, give him time if he shows interest, they love to "stalk" their food. If there's no interest, out it comes. So now is a good time to decide what you want his main diet to be, if he ate pellets before, don't spoil his with so much fresh at first he'll refuse them later, but crickets are magic to my Aro's. He'll eat. Congrats on your new Aro!
 
cheers guys, managed to get him to have a bit of frozen beefheart earlier. here's a pic of him

arowana.JPG
 
Purdy fishy!....thanks for sharing pix....glad to hear you black aro is comming around!:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom