January 27, 2008
What are some of the other food for arowanas?
Hi all,
I have received quite a few emails from readers asking about feeding other live food like meal worms, frogs, crickets, cockroaches, (even baby rats!) etc. Ok I have only one general rule of thumb when considering live food, ie. I will only feed my arowanas food that I buy from the shops. Why? because most of them are usually bred from farms and not caught in the 'wild'. I say 'usually' here because, yes we can never be sure but at least this gives me enough peace of mind. Call me paranoid but I just do not know where the live food caught in the wild has been to in their little quest to find food! (if you know what I mean!) Do not want to take the chance of my arowanas eating live food contaminated by pesticides, insecticides, etc..
I know some of my readers are from places where it is hard to buy live food from shops. In these places, then I would probably get fresh food like prawns. Live food would be a luxury. But having said all the above, I do know of hobbyists who have been feeding their arowanas live food that they caught in the wild and nothing has gone wrong! So there is really no hard and fast rules ya! The main thing is to be aware!
One more thing, no matter what you feed it, if it does not eat within a few hours, (and is dead) take it out because it will stink up your water. I have been guilty of not doing it often enough and my wife is giving me a hard time! 
Since I'm on the topic of food, especially live food, I would like to emphasize some points that I mentioned briefly in some previous posts. Bear with me!
One of my observations when buying live food is that they will be pre-packed in the morning waiting for people to buy them. From experience, try to buy them in the morning because those still in bags later on are usually left overs from the mornings and you have no idea how long they have been in there! I have found that you will find many more dead feeder fish (or frogs) from lots bought in the afternoon or later. Waste of money ya! I actually just bought a bag of 100 feeder fish last Sunday but more than half has died before I could even feed them to my arowanas! (I release them all into my pond in the garden when I get home) Seriously, I thought they looked fine in the bag as well but when I brought them home, it was a different scenario altogether. They were very lethargic and hardly swimming around. Anyway, lesson learned. I never have this problem when I buy them in the morning! Will save you a few bucks with this tip!
Steven
Filed under Arowana Care Tips by Steven
Comments on 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!!!
Atanu,
When it is hungry, it will eat!
You do not need to put antifungal medicine.. as long as the feeder fish are swimming around actively, it is fine. As for feeding it non-live food.. as I always say, you have to be patient!
Steven
Charles,
Anyone with experience, pls chip in here…
I've not heard or anyone feeding pork but again if it eats, then it is fine!
Steven
Aleem,
Why don't you revert back to fresh prawns and beef heart like before. For dry food, if your arowana has not taken it from young, it will be harder to train it. But again, nothing is impossible.. I always say, it will eventually eat if it is hungry. In this case, you gave up first! BE STRONG!!
Steven
Nasron,
A highback is just an RTG with scales probably up to the 5th column. But it will never cross.. not like the cross backs..
Steven
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.
Vince,
My my… I am impressed by your dedication to a 'balanced diet' for your beloved arowana! Keep it up!
Steven
Shankar,
Arowana stick is just a dry food stick.. usually you buy them in containers..
Cross back arowana is the name of the gold arowana variety where their scales cross over the top unlike the RTG.
If you want to know more about the asian arowanas and it's origins, please download the free report that I have on this site http://www.asian-arowanas.com/indodragonbook . (Once you sign up, you will be taken to the report.)
Hope this helps.
Steven
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,
What kind of actual conditions have you seen on your arowana? Appreciate it if you could share with us. Thanks!
I have never thought of it that way. Hmmm Food for thought!
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.
Gin,
I am feeding them only market prawns..
Steven
mach moeun,
Could be something wrong with your water. Have you tried changing it?
Steven
Shankar,
To be frank, I've never seen my arowana's faeces… so I can't really comment..
Steven
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.
Sony,
Did you cut the prawns into smaller pieces..? Usually if it is too big, it will not take it.
Steven
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
Sony,
You will not be able to tell it's gender until about 3 years old..
Steven
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
Hayley,
That's fine…
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?