I just got a baby arowana, 2" long, does he eat blood worms or something smaller? I forgot to ask, every thing else in the tank eats blood worms, but I did not see him eat, but he just got put in there.
Baby Arowana
- Thread starter Azimiut
- Start date
the big tank is stocked, but waiting for pond. I have a small ciclid pond going now, cool huh? when the big one is complete the oscars, dempsys and a BIG pacu will go in when complete. It is a 75 gal, long and short, bought used, was custom made for a wall tank.
PS how long before the 38 gal he is in now is too small? like how fast do they grow?
thanks
PS how long before the 38 gal he is in now is too small? like how fast do they grow?
thanks
growth depends on water quality, variety and quality of food, etc, and also depends on what type of arowana u have...I am assuming it's a silver as they are the most commonly purchased... I would say it should be a 12 inches in about a year or less if every need is met. And btw, you said it is two inches? Does the arowana still have an egg sac? If so you dont' need to feed until the fish has absorbed it....otherwise you can get him to eat by feeding small live food items such as live brine shrimp and baby guppies...make sure he gets enough, as this is the critical stage, and their metabolism is high...feed small amounts frequently, and eventually try to wean him onto frozen and freeze dried...the more variety the better 
arowana are notorius for not eating after they are brought home. Sometimes they will go two weeks without eating. find out what the LFs was feeding it and try SMALL amounts of that mixed with whatever YOU want it to eat. They become very picky with what they eat if you feed it the same thing to long it will not eat anything else. try to stay away from feeders, not because of the possible diseases but because it will grow fond of the live food and not touch packaged food. I started feeding mine Tetra flakes and freeze dried krill them i stepped up to freeze dried jumbo shrimp and just recently i started whole raw jumbo shrimp he eats 3 a day! At a small size Arowanas are also known for being skittish. for a 2"aro the 38gal is perfect, add some live or fake floating plants and it will break him in quicker and give it a place to retreat to when its scared. 7 years ago i did that with my aro and when it reached 6" i placed it into a 55gal til it was about a foot(which was in less that a full year). after it was a foot long it went into a 180gal and it stayed their until a year and a half ago when it went into a 450gallon. It is now exactly 43" make sure you have a heavy lid they LOOOOVVVEEEEE to jump and when little since they frighten easy will jump right through a glass cannopy without a problem! Ive seen it happen!!
Dont Arrowana spend most of their time near the top of the water? If so couldnt it do well in an 8 foot tank even when full grown?
Luca, yes when they are young the will spend the day up top, thats why i said in my post to add some floating plants to make it feel more comfortable. But, when the arowana is larger it will use all the space in the tank. the become HIGHLY active,at this size i have foundf nothing yet that it wont harass to death or try to swallow. Ive been lucky with my rays so far they are never really still either so i guess that helps and whenthey are still they are resting under some gravel.