Feeding an Arowana

[matty150]

does anyone know if silver arowanas can be trained to accept prepared foods like pellets??? if so how long does it take to convert them from live to prepared???

[travelinman1969]

Mine will take pellets if it hasn't had live for a few days, but I've found that this isn't enough for them. Depending on the size (mine is about 20 inches), goldfish are the way I go. I read someone was feeding his pinky mice but I ain't goin there, unless I want to live alone, lol. If there is nothing else in the tank, I'm sure you can convert him, but there is no way I could with 4 oscars also. The oscars eat the pellets too fast for him to get enough pellets. Why are you trying to get him away from live?

[blitzen25bm]

you have to starve him a while and it helps if he is younger. try a lot of different pellets to see what he likes mines only takes hikari carnivoure that stuff is pretty expensive though. feeding goldfish should be avoided because they are fatty and they contain an enzyme that could be bad for the fish if he is fed just goldfish. one of the best food is raw shrimp from the grocery store i also feed it pieces of chicken breast.

[travelinman1969]

Blitzen, Do you cook the chicken first or raw. First I heard of chicken so excuse the duh factor.

[blitzen25bm]

raw chicken, i checked they dont get ecoli and stuff. have you seen the videos of the arowana and arapaimas jumping out of the water to grab birds off the tree branches? -john

[travelinman1969]

Will the oscars eat it too? Gonna give it a try today. By the way the arowana tried to eat the balas at first, but they were too quick so he gave up. There are usually a few goldfish in there and he goes after them instead.

[blitzen25bm]

oscars will eat anything you havent noticed that!!? :eek: is your arowana aggressive at all, mine would hit the glass so hard i thought he was gonna break it. the ones i had caught tinfoil barbs too a while but he did that surprised me. maybe i should try balas.

[travelinman1969]

Wasn't sure if it's good for them or not. No he's not aggressive, unless he thinks he can eat something. When I put my 2 albinos in he chased em and nipped a couple times. He doesn't hit the glass at all. He's actually pretty laid back, until the light goes out. Then he moves to the bottom to get the goldfish. Gonna try the chicken and shrimp tomorrow. Should I feed em seperate or can I mix the meats? He nipped the balas at first, now they just stay away from him. They're pretty quick.

[blitzen25bm]

i dont think thers a problem but you could alternate meats on different days so its kind of like he gets new stuff everyday. you can also get crickets and mealworms as treats i used to handfeed the meat until i got bit and it was hard bled a little so now i hang it from some string. -john