Any suggestions on feeding a BIG Arowanna?

[Jeanna]

I have an Arowanna, he's about 16-18 inches. Currently he's eating small walleye, and pearch from a bait shop. I don't like feeding him that because he eats sooooo many of them and still seems hungry, plus, I'm worried about what kind of desease they could be carrying. He looks at my Convicts like they're dinner. They've always gotten along, but I'm worried he's not getting enought to eat. I need to figure out something BIG to feed him. I live in a small town, so there's not alot of places to choose, the only fish store around is 45 minutes away, so I can't go for feeders there, too far, plus they want like .25 for just one feeder. Don't wanna do the brine shrimp or anythinbg like that cuz I'd be going through like one package a day.
Any suggestions???????
Thanx, Jeanna

 

[phOOey]

quite a few people actually breed convicts to feed predatory fish. convicts are probably one the easiest fish to breed, you can grow the fry up to a decent size and then just put them in with you arrowana and let him have dinner whenever he feels like it.

 

[Jeanna]

O.K..... What do I do the second day???????, LOL
Thanx for the suggestion, I appreciate it.
Jeanna

 

[FroggyFox]

Yeah...I heard that they'll pretty much eat whatever will fit in their mouths...even though they're not particularly aggressive, just big eaters

I bet that is a cool fish...you have any pictures?

As for the problem of feeding him...whereabouts are you? Could you start a new project and have a pond outside? Or are there any fish hatcheries anywhere near you that you might be able to get stock from? I would think that if you could breed your own food for him (using the convicts or whatever kind of fish) that that would be the best way not to introduce those nasties that you're worried about. You have the convicts in with him right now? What are the chances of setting up a seperate tank just for the convicts to breed in and raise to a good enough eatin size? I bet buying feeders could get rather expensive...

 

[Jeanna]

Hey there, thanx for the reply. Unfortunitly I don't have a picture of him. My camera cord is ruined. He is such a cool fish, very proud of him. If I ever get around to picking up a cord, I will post some pictures of him.
Anyways, right now the bait shop that I get the walleye and pearch from, comes right from the fish hatchery, but the problem that I'm having with that is. I go to buy a couple dozen of each,the guy even gives me like 50 of them becuase they themselves have a hard time keeping them alive, so I do get a great deal.(if they stayed alive) and before I get home, at least half of the buggers are dead. I have a 10 gal. tank that I keep the feeders in, but it's just unreal on how fast they die. Not hardy at all.
I have 2 Convicts in with my Aro now, plus a few other fish, and I do have a seperate 29gal. tank, (and also a 75gal, that I need to get my butt working on)but I would think it would take too long for the fry to grow big enough to feed my Aro. Plus, one batch of fry would maybe last for just 1-2 feedings. So, I'm thinking that really wouldn't work.
I think Iv'e heard some people feed them real meat. Now, I'm very leary of doing that, becuase of all the grease or whatever else is in it, wouldn't be good for him or the tank.
I'm sure there's got to be something else that I could feed him, I just can't really think of anything.
I've also heard of someone building a birdcage over the tank, and having finches in the cage, and when the Aro. is hungery, he would jump and catch the finches..... Now that is out of the question, first I don't think I could do that to those cute little birds, second, there's not alot of room above my tank. Someone else said maybe the feeder mice that they freeze for feeding snakes and stuff. That seems kinda scary too. I don't know of anyone that actually did that, so I'm not gonna be the one to try it, unless someone else tried it first.
So, if ya could think of anything else, please let me know. I appreciate all thought and suggestions.
Jeanna *celebrate

 

[nautix24]

Well feeding arowana live food is ok. gives him or her a lil excercise trying to chase the food. But i never feed my arowana live fish cause of deases. I mostly feed my arowana beef heart with fat trimmed out, market shrimp with no head and tail, and some pellets. Also u can feed arowana crickets/grasshopper earth worms with soil squeezed out of it, meal worms and centipede. Feeding arowana insects is good due to the transfer of desease is very minimal. just make sure u dont feed arowana insects that might have been sprayed with pesticide.

 

[Jeanna]

Beef Hearts hey???? Sounds like Bee-farts, lol.....
Anyways, do you cook it ? I know Iv'e heard about some kind of meat. I'm in an excellent place for that too, because there are alot of farms here with cattle, so I'm sure I can get that real easy. But if you could just let me know what to do with it before I feed him it, that would be sooo great.
How big is your Aro? How often do you feed him the Beef Heart? I give him all the little buggies too, but that's more like a snack for him. He's got a HUGE appetite.
Thanks soooo much for the suggestion, you really helped me out!!!!!!
Jeanna

 

[nautix24]

I got a 15" blue arowana 22" silver arowana and a 8-9" green asian arowana. i mostly feed them raw beef heart. chop it into a small pieces make sure u trimm out the fat because it will make yur water dirty. i kinda freeze them so they float when i give it to them. if your arowana is about 18", try not feeding him every day. feed him twice a day then dont feed him the next day. over feeding an arowana that size can give him drop eye due to the fat that get stored behind their eye. and its not a pretty thing. i feed my silver twice a day for 1 week and the next week i dont feed him. it will be hard for your arow to accept this new food.. so try starving him at first and try giving him new food if hes used to live food.. hope it helps

 

[Jeanna]

Hi, and thank you for the info, I will try somethings that you suggested.
Do you have any pictures of yours?
I don't feed him everyday, I try to skip a day here and there, but he just seems to ALWAYS be hungry, plus I really like to watch him eat. But I skip one to two days a week.
Just wondering what size tank do you have yours in? And they're not together are they? I've always heard that you can't keep 2 of them together, I guess cuz eventually, they will kill eachother? Do you believe that?
Anyways, thanx again for the info, I appreciate it very much!!!!!
Jeanna

 

[nautix24]

I got a 180 g tank which my green and my silver lives. They dont really show agression towards each other. But sometimes they fight over food. I raised both of them in a 40 g tank and they grew up together at the same tank, when they were really small. AS for my black/blue aro, i never tried to put him in with them cuz when i got him, the 2 are already big. But i wouldnt consider putting another arowana with an adult 1 u got now. cuz they become really territorial toward other arows and might kill each other. silver,asian or black arowana u can raised together in 1 tank when their young and move them into a bigger tank all together when they grow up. But i had no luck on puttin jardini together, they just too agressive . i cant even put any other fish with a jardini, even a pleco he attacks.

As for their picture. ill try to post 1 up when i get a chance

 

[nautix24]

This show arow can be put together

 

[Sandtiger]

I get catologs from That Fish Place and in it they sell this frozen food called Fun Feeders. They're these pieces of frozen food shaped like a fish that have transparent fishing line-type thins embeded in them that you can tie onto a small plastic fishing pole and you put them in the water and wve them back and fourth to make it look like a real fish. I don't remember how much they are but you could order a couple boxes of their sight, I bet your Aro would love them. And of course there's the classic sticking a thawed silverside or sand eel on a feeding stick and shaking it infront of him.

 

[Jeanna]

Great pictures. I gotta figure out how to take good pictures and upload them. I remembered that I can just take out the camera thingy and put it right in my printer, so I don't need my cord. Now just gotta figure out how to take such great pictures like I've seen many people do....
Also, thanx for the suggestion on the "Fun Fish", they do sound fun!!!! I'll have to check into that.
Jeanna

 

[radamsk1]

Since arowanas are carnivorous by nature, in the wild they eat insects, fish, prawn, and small amphibians. Live foods are generally preferred by this species, although it is possible to train them to eat other food. However, they really do need to be fed a variety in order to prevent nutritional deficiencies. They really do love live foods though, and will often prefer these when fed both.

As far as feeding them insects, they will eat crickets, cockroaches, and centipedes.

For live fish, any fish that is bite size will be eaten. Fresh fish meat can also be fed. Prawns/shrimps are also graciously accepted and will enhance their color from their high vitamin A content. These are very nutritious. They also eat krill.

They also like bloodworm, tubifex worms, mealworms, and earthworms.

When they attain a large size, they will also eat small amphibians such as frogs and lizards and geckos.

As a warning, all live foods carry a risk of introducing parasites or other infections to your fish. *GOLDFISH*

 

[Sandtiger]

You're welcome Jeanna. I haven't used them myself but as soon as I get my dream 75-gallon tank and bicher I'm definetly going to use them!