Thoughts on Arowana...

amandasmile

There is an Arowana the the LFS I went to today. My first time seeing one was at this store. No sub-species listed, just Arowana. It's about a foot long and $61. Amazing looking fish. Between him and the ropefish, my mama was ready to LEAVE LOL! They had the poor guy swimming around in about a 20g tank. He was there the last time I went about a month ago. I'm beginning to feel sorry for the thing.

kitten_penang

is it the long-ish type.probable a silver aro they are one of the most common aro in the market.poor this is stuck in a 20G that's cruel. do you have a tank large enough to house him?

ozarks bullies

I know previous posters have stated that arowanas will not eat pellets and need to be fed live foods, but my arowana, Rockstar, has been eating mostly pellets since the day I brought him home.

I have a question though... What is the best pelleted food I can give him that's readily avaialable? I've had Rockstar for about 6 months and he's grown from about 6" to about 18". I've been giving him small Hikari cichlid pellets, along with some dried mealworms and dried crickets as treats. The small pellets are getting too small, so I bought him some Omega One medium cichlid pellets. I noticed quite a difference in the ingredients in both foods. Hikari has a lot of wheat and other grain in it, whereas the Omega One has a lot of fish meal and protein. Would this be an ok food to continue feeding on a regular basis?

Hallyx

I would suppose that any predator appreciates a high-protein food with less filler. Have you checked the ingredients of Repashy Meat Pie for carnivores.

ozarks bullies

No, I've only looked at foods I can get at work (large chain pet store). I think I'll stick with the Omega One pellets with lots of supplementary goodies like crickets, worms, and pinkie mice... He's obviously doing well and growing like a weed

kitten_penang

high protein is a very good way to go when it comes to feeding aro's just like hallyx has pointed out.they need the added protein.MP also does them good once being added to their diet.meal worms are good on lower quantity it causes fat to be stored around the eyes and the eyes becomes droopy

ozarks bullies

Thanks, will do... Rockstar only gets a few mealies here and there since the 2 big Bala sharks usually gobble them up right away...

scottydoesntknow00

Can anyone who has some experience with arowanas advise me on tank size for a arowana. I have a 90 gallon tank and the aro will be the only thing in there besides a pleco. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Erimikos

My LFS has a tank that is probably a 55 gallon with 3 full grown Silver Arowana's swimming around in it. . . I said something to the clerk about it while I was about to walk out as its extremely cruel to have them in a tank that size. They are obviously extremely squished in there. Theres no way I would do business with a place doing that.

However, she pointed out to me that they were actually the owners pets, and the tank was only a very temporary holding location. She then pointed to the MONSTER tank in the front of the store and said they were setting that up to house them, and a few other huge fish they had. She didn't say the size of the tank, but I woul dimagine its probably close to 1000-1200 gallons. It is about 6 foot x 6 foot square, and about 4 feet high. She said that empty, the tank weighs around 1000 pounds. . .

So it sucks that they are there temporarily, they have one hell of a home coming for them soon!

ozarks bullies

I think a 90 would do fine for quite a while.

My 20-24" arowana is in a 125 gallon tank with 2 big bala sharks, 2 small clown loaches, and a bristlenose pleco. Everything I've read says this is an ok (but not great) sized tank. If he grows to 3' and I feel like it's not big enough for him, I'll build something bigger for him.

By the way, I found some cheap freeze dried chicken treats for dogs that Rockstar LOVES to eat. 80% protein!