What are some of the other food for arowanas?

Hi Steven,
I have been reading your mails thoroghly for the last six months, & I sincerely thank you for the useful tips you provided. I have one golden asiatic arowana which is six months old. The fish is healthy & keeping fine. At present I am purchasing live small fish from the local market & I quarantine them in another aqurium for 2 days & I also apply some anti fungal on them. I want to know whether this process is right. Also I would like to inform you that my arowana was feeding quite comfortably on dead frozen fish few months back. But for the last two months it stopped taking frozen fish the reason for which is unknown to me. Can you please help me. I also purchased one Arowana sticks pack made by azoo but my arowana never touches it. As I have to be out of ststion for some time based on my job assinments, feeding my arowana on packeged food would help me a lot.Please send your valuable advice how to do it.

Regards,

Atanu

hi steven,
thnx for all the advices i have a silver arowana shes five months old.can i feed her frozen pork?i hope u can help me?

regards,
charles

better you see my crazy arowana at http://www.youtube.com/khangyong, sure you will benefit from it.

hi steven,
i have learnt a lot from this site and my husband considers to be a expert now. thanks to you. my arowana is about 10 months. Earlier we used to feed it with gold fish as the guppies were not available in the market. But now we give it the food sticks from Hikari which it has been taking regularly from past 4-5 months.

regards,
sandhya

Hi Steven
Thnks for the suggestions – varieties of live food for Arowana. Once before I raised the question for feeding small cockroaches as I could hardly find sufficient supply of live (Feeder Fish)especialy in Saudi Arabia. I am getting regular supply of small gold fishes (thou very costly & expensive)I feed her Arowana Sticks and she seems to be very happy with those Arowana Sticks. Whenever I find small cockroaches…. I never miss them… but my Arowans .. taking all of that with no hesitation!!
Regards
Bala

Dear Steven

Thank you very much for your valuable advise and tips regarding Arowana. I have a green arowana for 2 1/2 years now and is around 22 inches long. The arowana is in an aquarium of size 48"x24"x24". I would like to know if I can keep the arowana in the same tank till he is alive.
I was feeding my arowana beef heart and frozen prawns for the past 1 1/2 years and then I began to feed him feeder fish which I caught from the wild. My arowana now eats only feeder fish. Last month he got something like white spots on his back of around 1mm long and refuse to eat anything. I treated him with medication bought from shops and get well 1 week later. I tried to starve him for 1 week onwards so that he will accept pellets (Novo Stick M – JBL products) and dried shrimps but to no avail. Then I gave up and offer him feeder fish again. Now he has got the white spots again.

I would like to know how can I train him to accept pellets & other dried foods because I have noticed that by giving him feeder fish now is leading to the disease mentioned above.

Thanks & regards.

Aleem

I have Indonesian Golden Highback. What does highback mean.

Hi steven.I'm sadra.your friend.I deleted my last website,but now,i'm making a website and I will give it to you to use it;and I hope it will be useful.about live food that you said,I think it's good to to feed our arowanas in different ways,not only live food.you know here is hard for me get different kinds of live foods.but I give my arowanas small special fish.The other things could be harmful,sometimes.My suggestion is that you should give your arowana different kinds of foods and when they grow,they eat those things again and you don't have to feed them just live food.Now I'm busy I can't write any more.Your website was very useful for me.Thanks.Goodbye!!!

hi steven…thx for ur useful & valueable tips…i'm hav my own lived food feeding time table such as below…
1)monday – bullfrog or wild froggy
2)tuesday – mealworm or superworm
3)wednesday – cricket
4)thursday – baby koi or gold fish
5)friday – centipede
6)saturday – shrimps or frozen prawns
7)sunday – pork cube
using this feeding table ard 6 months already…thx gods…
my super red aro grow up to 45cm within a year…with spoon head & muscular look…ha-ha-ha

Hi ! Steven,

My Arowana is about four years old. It has only frozen prawns. I buy one week's stock. When it rejects the food, I know the market prawn is stale or has lost its taste inspite of the freezer. So, I discard it and get fresh stock.What baffles me is that my Arowana, eats only Tiger prawna. I tried with dries worms for it, but failed.

Please explain, what is (a) Arowana stick (b)Crossed back Arowana. Is it the dark line, I see I see running from head to the tail of the Arowana ?

Steven, all that you say is drawing even non Arowana to get attrated to Arowana. Keep it up. My hotmail does not entertain "You tube". Only for your info.

Hi Steven,

I feed my 1.5 red with mp,sw and chicken heart. he really grows fast and the body is wider.

Hi Steven,

I have issues with feeding mammalian food like pork and beef heart here. Fishes' digestive system are not meant to digest warm-blooded mammalian food because they'll find it harder to digest and may lead to fatty-liver degeneration. Once in a while is ok but not too often. Cheers.=)

Ahhian

I have some issues regarding the feeding of mammalian food to arowanas. A fish's digestive system is not adapted to process warm-blooded mammalian parts and if fed in the long term it may suffer from fatty liver degeneration, indigestion (constipation), as well as intestinal inflammation. I strongly discourage feeding food like pork and beef hearts to arowanas too often. Cheers. =)

Ahhian,
I have never thought of it that way. Hmmm Food for thought! What kind of actual conditions have you seen on your arowana? Appreciate it if you could share with us. Thanks!

Steven

great!

wonderful

Hi Steven,

It's not just arowanas. It applies to all fishes. Silver arowanas in the wild may be seen leaping out of the water to grab a bat from the branch but that is only very rarely. Their natural diet consists mostly of insects which provide the necessary roughage to aid digestion. So far I haven't seen any arowanas suffering from any digestion related problems but it is best to avoid because you never know what is going on in it's digestive system! The intestine may be full of flagellates and are kept in check by the immune system. All it takes is for the immunity to drop when the fish is under stress! For discus feeding heavily on beefhearts, indigestion is a common sight, with a heavily bloated tummy and semi-transparent faeces. It's ok to feed once in a while and only lightly with mammalian food as a treat, but definitely NOT daily. Still, variety is the best option. Yep, that's all I have to say.

Have a great cny!

Ahhian

Dear Steven

Thank you very much for your advice. Good News, my arowana has finally taken Hikari Food Sticks today.

Regards.

A.Aleem

Dear Steven,

What should be the colour of the faeces of Arowana. I found it to be pink, then some time I find it greenish. Whats the difference ?

Dear Steven, i have to 3 inch silver arowana thats doesnt want to eat nothin i give them. I tried flakes,pellets,fish,and crikets and it dont seem to work plz help me thank you

hi steven,
although i don't usually post anything about my arowana, i am learning a lot from your e-mails that i received.
anyway, i have a super red arowana with a dragon fish as a tank mate.
All the food that my super red does not eat and falls at the surface of my 48×24x24 aquarium is eaten by my dragon fish. no need to take out uneaten food that makes the water stink.
gin

hi steven,
in the video, what are you feeding your arowanas? are the foods that fall down and passes the arowanas still being eaten by them from the surface?
thanks
GIN

sure you can feed pork to your arowana just make sure you change water regularly because the water will become oily.

Hi Steven,
I have a 6 inch black arowana.It was 4 1/2 inch when I got it a month back. It has been growing really fast.I feed my arowana with frozen bloodworms,guppies,Zebras.Yesterday I fed fresh prawns but it went right to the bottom of the tank and became a feast for my discus.But the arowana was not intrested in the prawns.Do you think I should try one more time feeding prawns?I have four Discus in the same tank and they all are happy together.

Steven,
Thank you for your reply. I did cut it. May be it was not hungry.Yesterday I got it some zebra and guppies.
Please tell me how do I know the sex of the Arowana?

Sony

Hi can you tell me if its ok if my arowana only eats live mealworm as everything else i give him he spits out again.
and what is the best thing to feed the worms on

Hayley

hi steven,

i found your advices very helpful.we have an around 10 month old silver arowana here in Saudi Arabia. We changed to a bigger aquarium last night, and while doing so, the aro jumped and hurt itself, causing a red spot near the mouth/nose and removing some scales. Now, i noticed that it's not swimming as much like before. must have hurt him. is there anything we could do?

my silver dont eat feaders dried shrimp please help me

any help will be greatfull

hey steven..

i have a silver aro about 6.5-7inch long but it doesnt eat much.. i tried to buy beef heart but couldnt get it. i bought ox heart beacause i was told it was the same as the beef heart.

is there anything that i need to do to prepare the ox heart before putting it into the tank like cook it or that??

i also have 2 small green asian aros about 2inch long. whats the best food to feed them on to make them bigger?
i curently feed them frozen bloodworm.

thanks

sukhwinder

got a ? wat do you feed young arowanas

hi mine also eat pork. but i like to look for another food for my aro. i have 5 yr old austrialan golden

Hi Steven,

I would like to ask if we can feed arrowana with only dried pallet and fresh prawns? As I don't like to feed back with live food.

FYI, I'm new to keep arrowana.

Please advise me,

Thank you

I have had my silver arowana for 6 months, and it is approx 9". Initally when I got it I had to use guppies to get it to eat, then switched to Hikari food sticks. That is all it has been fed for past 5+ months. Great color, fast growth. I just wonder in a year will these small sticks be enough.

Hi Steven

Your replies are much helpful,

Reading several articles, im confused now to feed live gold fishes or not, is that healthy for it ? any other type of fishes can you recommend ? coz in india its hard to get frogs, worms and all live things,

Hi Steven,

I just purchased a 1.5 inch golden arowana and not quite sure what it should be fed at such a young stage. Should I start giving it dried foods and insects OR feed it live foods such as baby guppies so it can reach a certain size where it isnt as delicate. Please share your thoughts and opinions. Thank you.

Ray

If I would feed my aro shrimp or chicken should i boil it?And could i feed my aro guppies that were bred by myself?

hi,steven
I wanted to ask u that i have a perl arowana which is 5 to 6 inch long and about 1 yera old i give shrimp-e and my arowana eats it but i gave hikari food stick the first time i gave my fish ate that but now she is not eating . she had onse only but very nicely n if i put shrimp-e dried she eats but not nicely what should i do how to train her to eat hikari food sticks please help thanks

hi,

i have 4 X 1.5 X 1.5 ft tank and recently i bought 8 inch RTG. i want to know can i keep discuss with it. if yes how many of what size and what is the ideal feeding for both

hi there sir steven,

if i may? i just stumbled upon this thread in google. i would like to ask of you some advice on my new arowana he/she is around 8" long and the pet shop told me that they have fed him/her feeder fish (guppies and goldfish). my delima now is that i would like to train him/her on eating pellets but he/she doesn't swallow them instead he/she spits them out after a quick tasting. currently i still haven't given him/her any sort of live feed for almost 36 hours. i'm actually planning to get some superworms or hikari stick food. may i humbly ask of you for some help on how to train him/her to feed on pellet or stick food.

thank you very much for your time sir.

Thanks Steven!My arowana is now 3 years old!

Steven

Great responses and advise. thanks.

My aquarium is about 120 X 30 X 60. I have a silver Arowana that is about 15 inches in length. Also in the same tank I have a couple of Gouremi's and about 3 Parrot Fish (this is what they call in the market – bright orange colored) Are they all togehter OK?

Hello Steven,

I have just bought tow young arowana both are the same size about my two fingers body size, one is Blood Red and other Golden both from Malaysia. I put them in the same tank with 3 other oranda similar size. All the tank mates seem cope woth each other quiet well, i note. My new tank is L1520 X W480 X H696 with no decoration except Oxygen 2 pumpers.

I turned the lights off at night for first night and in the morning they all are okay. On 2nd night my Blood Red Arowana has 3 Frayed Tail and one of her scale was dropped while i woke up and looked to the take at 2pm. Somehow she looked frighten to something which lead me to believe that she was frighten to the darkness of the tank and she is new to the tank. So i turned on the tank lights overnight. I repeat that both arowana did not fight with each other they cope and swim along together well. My concern is that why tail frayed happened ? Is that advisable to put 2-3 young arowana in the same tank mixing with few other oranda ? This is 3rd day today and the fack is tha both arowana like each other and also with other oranda, they all seem to enjoy the tank well. Do you think i still need to separate them to avoid biting each other ? One other thing 5 days now that my two young arowana have been delivered from Malaysia i tried to feed them with small fresh shrims but they seem not hungry, the Golden one did not eat at all, do you thing they are alright ? when are they going to eat ? what is the bet food at this stage for them to eat ?

Your advise is appreciated !

Many thanks
Doc

Sadeesh,
Guess it's ok for now but bear in mind that they will grow larger overtime and it could be too crowded in that tank.

Steven

Doc,
A few comments here.
1) I believe when you mention oranda, you mean oranda goldfish right. This is my take.. never put goldfishes or kois together with your arowana because all goldfish and kois do is eat and 'let go'. These are really 'dirty' fishes and your arowana might catch something bad unless you change the water often enough.

2)As for food, I personally think that baby guppies would make a better choice. Also if they do not eat initially, it is pretty normal because they are not used to the new environment yet.

3)As for the tail and scale issue, one reason I could think off is that it could have jumped against the tank top cover and injured itself.

Hope this helps.

Steven

Hi Steven

I have 24" long silver Arowana with 8 other similar sizes carp fish as companion. I decided to add a 6" Arowana into the big tank, and some 5 hours later and to my horror the small Arowana just disappeared! Did the big one swallow the small one, can this happen? I blame myself for my ignorance by mixing up these two. Please advise.

Hi Steven,

I have a 6" Arowana (Qty 3)so could u pls suggest me some good foods for them I m really very worried abt them.

Hi

I have a 6 inch arowana and i've kept it in an approx 4 ft tank (45 x 21 x 15 inch). However I need to know upto what size could it grow in the present tank.

TK,
Yes.. That looks like the case. You should never mix arowanas together if they have not grown up from young together. They will fight and can be fatal. In this case, since the other one is so much smaller, it got eaten.

Steven

Honey,
You can start with baby fishes that you can probably buy from aqurium shops. Mix them with some market prawns to get them use to different kinds of food.

Steven

NJD,
It will grow as big as your tank. I personally think that a 4" tank is too small and will probably only last you for about 1-1.5 years before it become too cramped for it.

Steven

I have been feeding my aro minced pork and i havent had a problem its been a while since my aro had this diet. the only thing i notice is that he is hungry all the time i guess its natural for aro to be hungry most of the time.

Hello, I have a 4 month old arowana (kinda greenish) its been fed live fish from the beginning and is about 8 inches now. I was away for a week and returned to find the tank quite dirty and the arowana's tail frayed at the edges. how do I attend to it? its also lost appetite

Shirish,
Every 2-3 days change about 25% of water until quality becomes better. It will heal itself eventually.

Steven

Hi Steven,

I got a HB Gold 6", used to take superworm, now I am trying Hikari Stick Pellets. It do not eat for 6 days ald. I can see the mouth opening like Yawning once a while.

Should I carry on to train pellets? What is the days the HB can survive without eating? What are the maximum day I should go, before giving up on pellets?

Thanks

I have a 6 inch arowana and i've kept it in an approx 4 ft tank (60L x 30W x 30H inch). However I need to know upto what size could it grow in the present tank.whats the correct size of tank for mine.

Hey I have a pearl arowana n I am feeding him live food currently.appreantly he only like tomen(it is a kind of fish).I am quite shocked that he is fussy with food so now currently i am staving him n feeding him dry food.I am feeding frozen krills,I remove the tail and a bit of the head of the krill as I was told that it might poke his heart,but he does not like to eat,I need seriose help I don't know wat other dry food to feed him I tried pellets n that's worst.pls anyone tell me wat to feed him.thx

My Pearl Arowana is about 10", living with red parrots and mono angels for last 1.5 year.. I am feeding tetrabits and blood worms only.. Sometimes arowana looks a bit hungry.. thinking ab't feeding more solid, right now arowana looks friendly with others thats why just feeding the same food.. Am I doing right?

Steve thx for replying but when I feed prawns he sometimes eat n don't n if I feed him prawns then change it to fishes will he eat prawns still

I have a gold arrowana that I've had for almost a year and wanted to know what other fish can I keep with it because it seems to be so aggressive?