Rebuilding a Monster Fish

[Opiate]

He's probably had a lack of food (Introduced maybe?) and the cold water would make him prone to disases and infections. Raise temp to 80-82 and treat with melafix. Doesnt look very well at all. If he dies, eat him. Or let your other fish consume him.

i wouldnt eat a fish that's been treated with melafix!! make u sick as a dog!!

 

[Master Zero]

Yes, I understand the risk that I take with my Sliver Arowana, and a larger, potentially more aggressive fish. I already face that with my late 12 inch Smallmouth…except it would only attack its own kind, meaning my younger Smallmouth and baby Largemouth. I transferred it to the pond. It was doing great until it caught fungus and died. I wish not to repeat such events…so I want to make sure he is healthy enough first. But I will keep a close eye on him, just in case…

Its doing great as far as I can tell. The LMB became more active when I opened the tank lights, which I think it was just trying to get away from. After I took a couple of shots, I turned it back off. I currently have the tank unheated, because the oxygen levels are high at low temps, so I don’t think aggression from tropic temps would be a factor. I also leave the basement window right behind the tank opened to let the cool breeze blow through and cool down the tank.

The more and more I look at it, the more prehistoric it looks, especially in the third photograph. Its scales look like leather, huge thick body, and a huge mouth…also in the form of a beck…

 

[Bluegill]

When I added 3 5 inch bluegills to my 55 gallon tank with Larry the bass at first Larry was scared of them he was about 11 inches at the time. Then two days go by and one bluegill ends up on the floor dead another one died from getting rammed into the filter and the third one has a huge scar on the side of his fin (7 inch crawdad did this). The Arowana is going down my friend.

 

[ShadowBass]

Smallmouth aren't as aggressive.

After seeing the 2nd pics your arow is actually smaller than I thought. That bass could fit him halfway in his mouth.

You can watch closely but it won't do any good if your LMB decides to beat up your arow overnight. Plus, think about it. Your arow looks kind of like a big fishing lure. I can see your arow spooking and swimming across the tank really fast with a trailing largemouth. Not good. Largemouth are really reflexive and will chase anything that's moving fast and try to swallow it.

In any case, perhaps your LMB will be the exception. Hope everything works out for you

 

[Master Zero]

The thing is, aren’t Bass opportunistic and cautious predators? It just seem to be kind of logical that he would first go for the smaller Minnows and Crayfishes over any larger prey. I could see him doing damage if he was territorial or hungry (without smaller prey in sight). Maybe I should transfer everyone else instead...after all, fish can be very unpredictable sometimes.

And yes Smallmouth Bass can be very aggressive towards their own kind. I guess they’re just territorial.

 

[tunerX]

I have never seen an LMB or SMB get very aggressive to other species, unless the other fish is food. Then the other fish get beat up from decorations while trying to escape their impending doom.

Other than that the LMBs and SMBs that I have kept showed only conspecific aggression and that was the occasional chasing and not actual fights. The are pretty boring fish and relax until it is time for dinner.

 

[Master Zero]

It was never a fight, there were plenty of Minnows in the tank, but my late 12 inch Smallmouth would chase my smaller one around (half his size) doing serious damage in the process. I must state that the Smallmouth NEVER attack anyone else…it’s kind of ironic cause that never happened when my Oscar was in my tank. The Oscar was the aggressive one so I gave him up, that’s when the Smallmouth took over.

 

[ShadowBass]

It just seem to be kind of logical that he would first go for the smaller Minnows and Crayfishes over any larger prey

Probably. That doesn't mean if the arow scares that he won't reflexively chase and grab it. He won't necessarily try to swallow it but just grabbing it hard could do quite a bit of damage, since like I said, he could fit about half of that arow in his mouth. My 7 1/2-8 inch LMB just ate one of my 4 inch shadow bass the other day, and he is WELL fed on pellets and other stuff. His belly is quite round most of the time. They don't always have to be hungry to chase or try to eat something.
That's part of the reason lures work so well on LMB. They will chase and reflexively grab stuff even when they're sometimes not hungry, whereas if you fish with a worm or something slower moving they'll probably ignore it unless they're hungry. Though I have to say, I'm not sure what it takes to get them full since mine will eat and eat and eat until he's about to pop.

I have never seen an LMB or SMB get very aggressive to other species, unless the other fish is food.

I have, and so have others, so it's not that uncommon. LMB are usually pretty docile up to about a foot then they start getting more territorial. Personality may vary between male and female but I'm not sure. I would guess the males are more likely to show aggression since they'd be more territorial.

 

[jojo_nature]

Just wanted to say how much this thread made me smile.The fact that a guy goes fishing ,catches a fish and see's it's not to good and look's after it , you deserve a pat on the back.

 

[meepster]

That bass looks fairly healthy to me. The faded colors often occur when the fish are stressed. When that bass gets a feel for it's surroundings and find it "home", I think your aro will take a beating.

The bass looks large enough to swallow your hundred dollar arowana.

When it's settled in, you're going to have a couple dead fish on the floor of your tank and a very happy and very full largemouth bass.

The tank seems a little small for the bass though. And with the other fish in there, the bioload must be huge.