I have 4ft tank and he is about a foot long and has hurt really bad.
Lost his barbs and damaged his gills.
2007-02-26 00:41:29 · 5 answers · asked by Shred G 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
He is in a very bad condition and he is floating upside down trying to gasp for air.
He has lost his barbs and hurt his gills.
Please help
2007-02-26 00:56:53 · update #1
To keep arowana properly you need a tank which is at least 6' x 3' x 3' and that is only for juveniles. This fish can grow to over 3' long and can jump over 3' out of the water . In the wild they jump to catch insects from overhanging leaves and branches. The amazonian natives call them monkey fish. Really they should not be on sale in aquatic stores as they grow too big for the home hobbyist.
If your fish has damaged it's gills then there is not much you can do for it. It would be the equivalent of you haveing a punctured lung.
If it does not recover a nomal swimming attitude very soon I would think seriously about euthanising it.
I own a pet store and my web site is
http://www.artsaquaticsandanimals.co.uk
2007-02-26 01:56:51 · answer #1 · answered by stevehart53 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
in a tank that small it sounds like he's paniced and crashed around, or even tried to jump out and crashed into the lid.
these fish need a MUCH larger tank than you have, even the smallest type of arowanas need 180 US gallons minimum. i suspect you may have a silver arowana, the most common, in which case he needs 200 US gallons minimum.
does he have any tankmates? i would personally add a dose of melafix to the tank (double check that it is compatible with arowanas) to help heal wounds, and keep the tank light off and movement near the tank to a minimum to stop him freaking out. but if he's already gasping for air and has damaged gills he may already be too far gone.
make sure all the componants of the tank (heater, filter etc) are all in perfect working order and check water parameters, a water change to make sure his water is perfect may be in order.
2007-02-26 09:57:44 · answer #2 · answered by catx 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That is a fish in bad shape. Most likely he hurt himself trying to jump out of the water or on the gravel thrashing around. Gill damage is really impossible to repair and you can only hope that he will recover. Please seriously reconsider keeping Arrowana. I kept one before they were made illegal to own or import and I would never try that again. Mine was housed alone in a 8' X 4' X 4' tank and always seemed like he needed more room. Luckily a public aquarium about 8 hours from me took him off my hands.
MM
2007-02-26 11:24:27 · answer #3 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A 4ft tank sounds like a 55 or 75 gallon tank, in which case it's only about 18in deep (front to back). If your fish is a foot long, he doesn't have enough room in that tank. You might want to consider a bigger tank, or - if your local regulations and weather permits, an outdoor pond.
2007-02-26 08:51:15 · answer #4 · answered by searchpup 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
have you got rocks in ur fish tank, there should be nothing in there that he can hurt him self on, other then that sorry cant help ,good luck x
2007-02-26 09:30:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋