I am just curious as to what you guys are feeding your arapaimas when you first got them and what you are currently feeding them now. Also if you guys dont mind posting pictures of your arapaimas. Out of curiosity did anyone get an arapaima that was imported from thailand rather than south america.
Hello DD,
Living and working in Thailand, there's indeed plenty of arapaima being sold here.
I got one by "accident". It got stuck in our factory's storm-drain after the great floods of 2011.
When we found it, he was about 90cm. Initially we put it in a temporary pond of 2x2 meters (sandbags and liner) and then started building his current pond at 10x5 meters...
At that time I fed him small feeder-fish, pellets and occasional shrimp.
He had no problem with pellets and would chase around for the feeders, if only for the 'exercise'...
Having no experience at all with large fish, I really tried carefully on what he would eat and took no risk in building his home 'too small'.
Pond is not the most beautiful one you'd see around, but it's maintenance free and the arapaima loves it.
At the same time, total cost for construction was less than 3000 USD.
Make no mistake underestimating his potential for growth. We are now 1 year later from the time we found him, and my arapaima is now over 150cm!!!
So in one year, he put on a massive 60cm!
If it continues, he'll be at 2 meters length next year, but I expect the growth-rate to taper off a bit, so it might take 2 years to get the 2 meter...we'll see.
At the same time, my house-keeping lady loves him, and...hand-feeds him...lol...she talks to him, strokes his head, bungles a shrimp, he hoovers and opens his mouth and she baby feeds the shrimp in his mouth. Stunning and hilarious to see with a fish his size...
If you want to see some older video's of all this: Search for "MrSchuimpge" on YouTube. Plenty of videos.
There's also 2 threads I started on this here on MFK. Plenty of pictures there..(and links to the YouTube videos).
Diet: Ours went from pellets to mainly shrimp. Occasional hot-dogs (without skin). Tried Chicken Breast today and he loves that too. I am careful to remove fat and grease from the meat.
He still gets lucky every now and then on smaller fish in the pond.
Last couple of days though, I see him going after pellets again as well. We keep his portions of fresh food consistent at the same amount, 2 times a day.
Total intake for him is about 1/2 pound of fresh food per day.
Rest is then added with pellets and his occasional score on a fish.
Cheers,
Luc
