rsfridie

I am 6 months into raising a silver arowana. I has been strictly on Hikari food sticks. Presently the fish is 8-9". My concern, as it continues to grow, is that the small food sticks will not be enough(?). Any suggestions regarding other foods? I am trying to avoid feeder fish if at all possible.

125 gal, tankmates-clown loach, red parrot cichlids (2), synodontis angelicus.

aquatic mouse

At work we feed them crickets. They love them! Not to mention, it's amusing to watch them grab them! We've had one that was about 4 inches that grew to 8 inches and we currently have a 13 incher!

Tony G.

Welcome to Fishlore!

arowanas are really nice fish, but get too big for most home aaquariums. Not sure what it's requirements are, but i think its "ok" in your tank.
I have heard of people using pinks(baby dead mice) but most use feeders(i think)
You could set up a molly tank and raise them to use as feeders
you could let them loose in the tank and let it hunt them down...

aquatic mouse

I wouldn't do pinkies until the arowana is a lot bigger. But in the wild they eat baby monkeys at full size! As for the tank size, Tony that's a really good point! Live aquaria says a minimum of 250 gallons. They get 3 feet 4 inches long!

aquarist48

Hello RS. Welcome to Fish Lore!
As for feeding, Aquatic Mouse mentioned about crickets, you can get crickets at most bait and tackle shops cheap. You may have to buy the container they come in but that is a one time deal. You can reuse the container over and over. It may be $5 at the most. Compare prices with your local fish store (LFS) Too, I'm not sure what size food sticks you are using but I've seen "Arowana Food Sticks" that are fairly good size. You may have to order them on line. Try drsfostersmith.com or thatfishplace.com. I feed them to all of my fish and they love them, even though I don't have an Arowana.

Here is a link concerning Arowana's .
http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_silver_arowana.htm
I hope that you can move him to a larger tank as he ages. They can grow to 40" and really require a much larger tank and what is suggested is 200g or more. Personally I think more. Wow! A long lifespan as well. You're looking at 10 to 20 years

I hope you enjoy the site. We love photos around here
If you ever need any help by all means let us know. Too, feel free to chime in to conversations anytime you like.
Best wishes.
Ken

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!

The best food IMO is to make your own! and its much cheaper

some things you could add are fresh white fish pieces, fresh shrimp, fresh beefheart , carrots, lettuce, zuchinni, bloodworms, spirulina flakes or powder, fresh garlic, with a one a day vitamin...put all that in a blender and mix with 1/4 cup of water ....once mixed up, add 1/2 cup of plain gelatin and freeze in an ice cube tray ... you can add/remove anything and just be creative....dont forget the gelatin or you will have a muddy mess in your tank (been there did that LOL )..crickets are ok foods but unless you gutload them first, theres very little nutrition ....

Gouramiguy17

Hey can we plz get a pic of ur tank

aquatic mouse

Oops. Thanks Shawnie for mentioning gut loading the crickets first! I like R-Zilla Gut Load Cricket Supplement.

sirdarksol

Shawnie's recipe is awesome. In addition, you can feed the fish bits of raw fish/invert, or even chicken or other fowl (they are known to pick birds off of branches). Someone above mentioned mice, they're another good option. The important thing is to continually vary their diet.