Arowana not eating, request advice

[Subhashish Paul]

Dear Friends,

I am facing a problem where my silver 11inch Arowana is currently not eating for the last 3 days now.

To give you a quick background, I have had this Arowana for a couple of months now. Earlier it was in a 2Ft X 1.5Ft X 1.5 Ft tank. I recently moved it to a bigger tank (4Ft X 1.5Ft X 1.5Ft) as I was getting another Arowana (Green). So my green Arowana which is around 10 inches in size arrived on Sunday last week and I placed it in the new tank with my Silver Arowana. During the first 2 days I noticed that the Green Arowana seemed a bit disoriented (I am guessing it was because of the transport) and during that time my silver Arowana used to swim alongside the Green. The silver Arowana was eating normally at this point in time.

However once the Green Arowana adjusted to the tank it started going after my Silver Arowana and I witnessed some missing scales on my Silver Arowana. I was advised to place some Silver dollars in the tank by the local fish store in an attempt to distract the green Arowana. I did that too and thought the fights between the two arowanas seemed to decrease the Silver Arowana now is not eating for the last 3 days. To be clear the green Arowana still goes after the silver Arowana but it is not as much as before. I am guessing its because the Silver Arowana is stressed and I wanted seek your advice on how best to proceed from here.

I have been considering an option of placing one more Arowana in the tank as I have read that Arowanas do better when placed in odd numbers. Request advice from other members to proceed. If possible I would prefer not to part with the Green Arowana and also retain my Silver Arowana. I have tried to feed pellets, Dried shrimps and even Live feed to the Arowanas. Both the Arowanas do not show interest in eating as of now.

 

[Jennilyn]

Ya they not eating cause they are stressed. You have a 11" fish and a 10" fish in a 4ft tank. Easier for them to get along if they were younger. At this point, I would separate them. With a small tank there really isn't anymore room to add any more fish. Even though a third aro might help I don't think you have room. If you are desperate and no other tank to separate them, add a powerhead for current. The current will help stop fighting so much. I don't have experience with green aro but I heard they are the hardest to put in a comm.

 

[Subhashish Paul]

Ya they not eating cause they are stressed. You have a 11" fish and a 10" fish in a 4ft tank. Easier for them to get along if they were younger. At this point, I would separate them. With a small tank there really isn't anymore room to add any more fish. Even though a third aro might help I don't think you have room. If you are desperate and no other tank to separate them, add a powerhead for current. The current will help stop fighting so much. I don't have experience with green aro but I heard they are the hardest to put in a comm.

Thank you, I will try the powerhead approach. Want to really give this a good try before I decide to take out one of them as I currently dont have a spare tank.

 

[Jennilyn]

Do you have a pic of setup? Maybe I can offer more to help.

 

[Subhashish Paul]

Do you have a pic of setup? Maybe I can offer more to help.

Well I was trying to share a youtube video link of my tank setup but unfortunately since I am a new member I do not have a the rights to post the video link. But if you can (and if its not too much trouble) I would request you to search for my name on Youtube (Subhashish Paul) and I have uploaded the same with the playlist name - Arowana Jan 13, 2017.

In the meantime let me share the picture of my tank with you.
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Thank you for the help here again friend!

 

[Chaos32]

Your Aros aren't eating due to stress, new environment etc. Whoever has been giving u advice has got to be mad given your tank size. Green Aros given the right condition can grow very big, even bigger than reds sometimes. The silver Aro is also prone to grow to very large sizes. Adding a third would be tantamount to suicide. Introducing fish could have also cause a imbalance in the water chemistry.

Divide the tank if you can as a temporary solution. I am sure as a owner you would want your fishes to attain maximum growth potential hence your 4ft tank is the absolute bare minimum per fish and even that unless you are skilful I wouldn't recommend it. The fishes could take some time to start eating and also heal from damages inflicted. Whatever other solution in my opinion is a stop gap measure given the tank size is too small for 2 Aros yet alone a third.

 

[Subhashish Paul]

Your Aros aren't eating due to stress, new environment etc. Whoever has been giving u advice has got to be mad given your tank size. Green Aros given the right condition can grow very big, even bigger than reds sometimes. The silver Aro is also prone to grow to very large sizes. Adding a third would be tantamount to suicide. Introducing fish could have also cause a imbalance in the water chemistry.

Divide the tank if you can as a temporary solution. I am sure as a owner you would want your fishes to attain maximum growth potential hence your 4ft tank is the absolute bare minimum per fish and even that unless you are skilful I wouldn't recommend it. The fishes could take some time to start eating and also heal from damages inflicted. Whatever other solution in my opinion is a stop gap measure given the tank size is too small for 2 Aros yet alone a third.

Hi Friend - Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately I do not have a separate tank at the moment and hence I will look to place a separator in the tank if things dont improve. They do seem to have calmed down a bit but I guess its a wait and watch situation at the moment. By the way the 4Ft x 1.5Ft x 1.5Ft current tank is just a temporary solution for a year. I plan to upgrade that to a 7Ft x 3Ft x 2Ft tank hence I thought maybe if I add a 3rd Arowana of around 10 inch then maybe that would break the constant 1-1 fights that are going on currently. I have an Eheim Classic 600 and an internal filter currently and I am also doing a 10-15% water change every 5 days. Think the 3rd Arowana would work if its a smaller size of 10 inch (as mentioned the tank would be upgraded). Thank you for the help here again.

 

[Chaos32]

If it's a temporary solution, then perhaps you would consider not waiting a year for the upgrade. Aros grow very fast when conditions are right. At the risk of damage and stunting the fishes not to mention sickness due to water chemistry, you might want to change up faster. As a guide with that many fishes in a 4ft tank, I would be doing up to a 50% water change weekly. Use good quality anti-chlorine and it will help greatly with the fishes during big water changes. Good luck and happy fish keeping.

 

[Subhashish Paul]

If it's a temporary solution, then perhaps you would consider not waiting a year for the upgrade. Aros grow very fast when conditions are right. At the risk of damage and stunting the fishes not to mention sickness due to water chemistry, you might want to change up faster. As a guide with that many fishes in a 4ft tank, I would be doing up to a 50% water change weekly. Use good quality anti-chlorine and it will help greatly with the fishes during big water changes. Good luck and happy fish keeping.

Thank you Friend - Will try my best to upgrade my tank as fast as I can but it will still be a 6- 8 month wait at least. In the meantime will start with the 50% water changes. Not separating them as they seemed to have calmed down... maybe in a week or two we might just see them eating again? Trying to be optimistic here and have my fingers crossed as I am hoping for the best. Thank you for the help here.

 

[Timmy]

Have you tried different food sources?