My Arowana!?!?

Question

I just got a baby Arrowana, but for some reason, it won't eat! Is this something I should be worried about? And will it blow over soon?

Okay, more info. I only got him last night. 12/09/07. I give him pellets, but he won't eat it. No tankmates, no plants. All alone.

More info. I've fed it crickets, live fish, and pellets. I'm going to try to feed it bloodworms now. When I find it, I'll tell you the result.

Answer 1

How long ago did you get the fish? How big of a tank is it in? Are there tankmates? As much info as you can provide would help please.

Edit: With the fish being this new it is going to take it a little while to acclimate to it's new surroundings. You need to keep offering food, but if it is not eaten after a little while you will have to remove it and try again. As copperhead has already said, you can try live foods to try to stimulate the fish, trying live crickets that are small, but when it comes down to feeding them there are many choices. Below I will post a list for you to look at about what food choices you have and the preparation of these. I got this list from a site that I am unable to post you a link for, so don't think that this is all info from me. Good luck, and don't panic, you don't have much to worry about just yet with it only being a day.


Like I said I did not type all this, it came from a link that I am unable to post here for you for some reason.

Live Prawns/shrimps:

Prawns/shrimps are rich in vitamin A which enhance arowana's color. They are very nutritious food. Avoid feeding baby arowana shrimps as thier shells are hard to digest and may cause intestinal injury. Do not leave live prawns/shrimps in arowana tank as they encourage arowana to search downward constantly for them and hence may precipitate drop eye. Once again, there is also a potential risk of disease transmission.

Prawn Meat:

Use only fresh prawns. Avoid frozen prawns unless you are very sure of its freshness as denatured protein may lead to liver and internal problems in long term. Removal of head is recommand as it is hard to digest and also the gill may have high concentration of germs/toxin. Prepare the prawn in bite sizes and wash it before use.

Krill:

Krill is a nutritious food and it is readily available. Use appropriate size krill for diferrent size arowana. Crush the shell then soak the krill to soften the shell proir to feeding baby arowana as hard krill may cause intestinal injury.

Worms

Bloodworms:

Bloodworms are mainly used to feed baby arowana. They a nutritious food. Rinse away impurities before use. Do not feed it when frozen as it may cause intestinal upset. Avoid old age bloodworms as it is hard for baby arowana to digest. Live bloodworms is preferrable but commercially available bloodworms are equally good when fresh. Freeze dry bloodworms may also used.

Tubifex Worms:

Tubifex worms are collected in highly contaminated drain and should be avoid unless properly treated. Commercially breed tubifex worms claim to be cleaner but its source are sometime questionable. Remember the golden rule: "If in Doubt, Don't Use It". This goes to frozen tubifex worms too. Freeze dry tubifex worms are cleaner but possibility of germs survived through very low temperature cannot be ruled out. High heavy metal content in the source is also a worry.

Mealworms:

Mealworms are healthy and nutritious. Avoid feeding them to baby arowana as thier hard shell is difficult to digest and may cause digestive problem or/and intestinal injury. Use worms that have just shed its shell. Darker color mean older shell. So choose pale looking mealworm. Drowning the worm proir to feeding is recomanded if the fish accept dead worm. Head can be removed to minimise digestive problem.

Earthworms:

Earthworms are very healthy and nutritious. Risk of disease transmission is minimal. Squeezing the soil out before feeding is recommanded. Or better still, feed the earthworm with nutritious food to clear the soil and transfer the nutrient. This is a highly recommanded food by most aquarist.

Pellets/sticks Food

There are many commercail pellets/sticks food available. Their nutritious value varies. Choose reputable brand. Pellets/sticks food specially formulated for arowana is recommanded. However, this should not be the only food of arowana.

Amphibians

Frogs:

Frogs are very nutritious food for arowana and are commonly used in Asia. You should be certain that the frogs are not poisonous before feeding them to arowana. Frogs should be quaranteen for a few days before use as they are often collected in Padi(padi)field where insecticide is frequently used. Do not feed death frog to arowana. Frogs are believed to enhance arowana's color.

Lizard/Gecko:

Lizards and geckos are also very nutritious food for arowana and are often loved by the fish. They are usually not commercially available or demand a very high price. Geckos is found in almost every house in tropical region. Catching them is hard work but often rewarded as they enhances arowana's color. Quarenteen is also recommanded as they might have eaten insecticide contamination insects, eventhough the probabilty is small.

Answer 2

I like the input here from copper and monster. I've kept about 10 or so of Arowana over the past year of all different size ranges. The problem here is like they said as well, a new Arowana in a new tank, much like a new puppy in a new home, it just takes some time to get used to it's surroundings before it establishes a comfort level. Arowana do not really have any natural enemies either, so if your Arowana does not try to stay at the top of the tank for the most part, that is a sign your Arowana may be sick. Give it about 5-6 days and then see how it acts.

As far as food goes, when breeding, Arowana will go without food for several weeks. They are a fraternal mouth brooder so the male will carry the eggs for about 4 weeks in his mouth and not eat. A younger Arowana may not eat in a new tank for 4-5 days, and this is not uncommon. If your tank is not mature in terms of the nitrogen cycle, that will be a strong factor as well in terms of appetite.

The diet menu Monster gave is outstanding, but you really need to temper that against the size of your arowana as well. Clearly at the size of the Arowana you have now, do not use adult insects. They will not be able to get the insects in their mouth and have to struggle to eat. Instead, use baby crickets and grasshoppers. Start them with that first. Worms are a great choice, but you need to drop those in when your Arowana is looking, otherwise, it's not going to work. If the food goes to the bottom, he wont touch it. Worms work better with Arowana at about 8 inches in legnth and up. Frogs would be out of the question at this point due to size. Great choice of food for a bigger arowana though. I actually got this one from copperhead many months ago, but if you can find any, termites are an outstandning source of protien. email me if you need, I have extensive dealings with this species.

Answer 3

It will take him a while to get used to being moved to the new tank. And young aros can be a little finicky about their food. I don't think you've got anything to worry about this soon.

Try giving him something that moves to stimulate his feeding - buy some crickets that are small enough for him to eat - that should get him started. Also try bloodworms (frozen) or live mosquito larvae, or small earthworms (dangle these near the water's surface).

I would avoid live fish - there's always a chance they could introduce parasites that could infect your fish. If you want to give him feeders, it's better to breed them yourself. Also, they can dive to avoid being eaten, and it's not natural for aros to look anywhere but the surface for their food.

Answer 4

Its probably just stressed out from being introduced into a new enviroment. How big is it if its still under 4 inches he can be enticed to eat live crickets but if your the adventursome type you can try hand feeding him live fish (fatheads or feeder guppies)
Good luck with that i have been looking all over the place to find arowanas

Answer 5

baby arowanas prefer live foods like baby guppies. they prefer it if their food is swimming just below the surface or right at the surface and will also be happy to have a couple of floating plants to hide in since they're quite timid when they're alone. once you get him used to you there'll be no stopping him and you'll soon have to buy a 200 gallon aquarium

Answer 6

ok arrowanas usualy like live food and give him a few days to adapt also check the PH if it's 8.0 use a PH down solution to get it about 7.2-7.0 . if you want to put another on in think about it two will fight over space if you are going to put more in use plants something that floats on top of the water anacarus or hornwart

Answer 7

it could be sick or you might not be feeding it the right food they like meats and live fish but seeing as it's a baby try things like shrips and other possible foods like freezedried beef-heart.....there is alot of possibilities on this one.

Answer 8

what size tank is he in, and where did you get him? did you cycle the tank?