How long should i starve my Armatus?

[vamptrev]

great info..

i might try the gar if i can find a huge one.

i want something that swims mid level to top because i have plenty of rays on the bottom.

i heard its hit or miss with bichirs and rays.

i got him to eat some more shrimp this morn

 

[marmot]

Well just keep starving it. Longest I have heard of them surviving from not eating was 60+ odd days. You'll be fine. Now that he knows what you're dropping in is food, he'll start to recognize you as his food source.

Are you waiting for him to come to the surface, or just dropping it in and hoping he goes after it? Mine took a while to wait at the surface for me. For a week or so I was getting tired of him hitting the shrimp only part of the time when I just dropped it in, so I started holding it right above the water surface, and now he knows what I'm doing, and what I'm holding.

I also stuffed the large size floating pellets into the shrimp, which helped them float longer, which made mine go after the shrimp a higher percentage of the time until I got him to wait for me to drop it in.

 

[vamptrev]

Well just keep starving it. Longest I have heard of them surviving from not eating was 60+ odd days. You'll be fine. Now that he knows what you're dropping in is food, he'll start to recognize you as his food source.

Are you waiting for him to come to the surface, or just dropping it in and hoping he goes after it? Mine took a while to wait at the surface for me. For a week or so I was getting tired of him hitting the shrimp only part of the time when I just dropped it in, so I started holding it right above the water surface, and now he knows what I'm doing, and what I'm holding.

I also stuffed the large size floating pellets into the shrimp, which helped them float longer, which made mine go after the shrimp a higher percentage of the time until I got him to wait for me to drop it in.

ya mine is starving every day when i go to feed him

sometimes i get scared hes gonna get my hand

the pelets are a good idea!

he likes floating food alot better

 

[Scandi]

Oops (I read the comment wrong, if you seen what I posted before)

You starve fish that eat live foods to get them off of live foods and shower them with the foods you want them on. They will eventually take the foods you give them (it can be a long process thou)

Na-ah missed what you wrote before. (tell me! lol) and.. oh, now I get it! thanks ;D Hope it goes well and doesn't take to long then . It's a absolutly gorgerous fish you have, and I'm totally loving the rays too. *swoon*

 

[vamptrev]

Na-ah missed what you wrote before. (tell me! lol) and.. oh, now I get it! thanks ;D Hope it goes well and doesn't take to long then . It's a absolutly gorgerous fish you have, and I'm totally loving the rays too. *swoon*

thanks

 

[channarox]

hope he gets greedy w those shrimps.
maybe you could try handfeeding.

 

[marmot]

hope he gets greedy w those shrimps.
maybe you could try handfeeding.

JD started it with mine, and I still handfeed it. The fish is extremely smart, and as soon as he sees me walk up to the tank at night (around 8-10 PM), he knows he's getting fed before I turn the lights off.

He'll sit there looking up at the surface until he sees me dip a shrimp in, and then he bolts up and grabs it out of my hand. The scariest part is that both his tusks just grew back, so they look massive for his mouth right now.

JD has/had a video on youtube of the armatus grabbing a shrimp from his hand, but he dropped it and the Datnoid snatched it.

 

[unknownuza13]

great info..

i might try the gar if i can find a huge one.

i want something that swims mid level to top because i have plenty of rays on the bottom.

i heard its hit or miss with bichirs and rays.

i got him to eat some more shrimp this morn

Nicely done man!!

 

[vamptrev]

i can tell hes not fond of the shrimp. after 2 or 3 he wont eat anymore. he wont fill himself up.

he wont touch a smelt to save his life either. he always spits them out.

all i know is he isnt gettin anything else.

ill prob be able to hand feed after he gets used to the shrimp a little more. i might not though, he scares me when i have to put my hand in the tank

 

[marmot]

Mine is at ~12 inches, and his tusks have to be close to an inch long. Yours at 18 inches are probably like 1.5 inches long. I'd be careful too.

Like I said in an earlier/different thread, when they first grow the tusks back after losing them, they look huge in their mouths as compared to when the tusks start dying. Just something I noticed.