Arowana won’t eat Northfin

[Taminik]

I have a 11 inch silver arowana and he eats almost anything but the only pellet he’ll eat is Hikari carnisticks and I wanna transition him to Northfin.
I thought since he was already pellet trained he would just eat the northfin but no. Sometimes he would go for it but he wouldn’t swallow it. I thought maybe it was because northfin is harder and he isn’t use to it so I soaked it but he didn’t care for it. I heard garlic guard was good for picky eaters but it didn’t work. So I resorted to shoving the pellets inside market shrimp and tilapia. He enjoys these and eats them well. Any tips to speed up the process of transitioning him to eating the Northfin arowana pellets without the shrimp or do I just need to have my patience.

 

[Midwater]

Many members here might have suggestions.

But consider that your aro is a carnivore that naturally eats live food. IMO pellet training is not in the best interest of your fish.

 

[Taminik]

Many members here might have suggestions.

But consider that your aro is a carnivore that naturally eats live food. IMO pellet training is not in the best interest of your fish.

I think it would be in the fish’s best interest to pellet train as feeder fish can do more harm than good. I feed him a variety of foods like Market shrimp, tilapia, and chicken and beef heart, dried krill, mussels, meals worms ect. I think it’s good to have it eat pellets because it allows them to also have a variety of different nutrients in their diet. I also travel for long amounts of time and it would be easier for the person taking care of my fish for a month to just feed pellets and not have to thaw food.

 

[Midwater]

I feed him a variety of foods like Market shrimp, tilapia, and chicken and beef heart

Shrimp and tilapia are great. Chicken and beef heart are not natural foods. This will harm your aro.

 

[Taminik]

Shrimp and tilapia are great. Chicken and beef heart are not natural foods. This will harm your aro.

Is it really? I’m relatively inexperienced when keeping aros. In the end protein is protein and chicken and beef heart is really lean which ik is good because fish can’t process mammalian fat well.

 

[Midwater]

 

[tlindsey]

I have a 11 inch silver arowana and he eats almost anything but the only pellet he’ll eat is Hikari carnisticks and I wanna transition him to Northfin.
I thought since he was already pellet trained he would just eat the northfin but no. Sometimes he would go for it but he wouldn’t swallow it. I thought maybe it was because northfin is harder and he isn’t use to it so I soaked it but he didn’t care for it. I heard garlic guard was good for picky eaters but it didn’t work. So I resorted to shoving the pellets inside market shrimp and tilapia. He enjoys these and eats them well. Any tips to speed up the process of transitioning him to eating the Northfin arowana pellets without the shrimp or do I just need to have my patience.

Welcome aboard
I suggest keep feeding the Arowana what it will eat but toss a couple of Northfin pellets in when feed it the carnivore sticks. Chicken and Beef Heart aren't healthy as stated by Midwater .

 

[aroijuana]

I read this as "arowana won't eat nuffin" for some reason lol. In all seriousness tho, switch over to hikari floating sticks if you want to pellet train. I've never seen an aro not eat them after a short time.

 

[neutrino]

In the end protein is protein

Nothing could be further from the truth. If this were the case the answer to the ongoing search for a sustainable alternate protein sources in fish feed could be ground up poultry feathers, technically high in protein.

Digestibility and amino acid and lipid profile matter, and differ according to protein source. This is nutrition 101-- and since amino acid requirements vary by species, this is fish nutrition 101. Differences in the quality of protein sources for fish feed is a frequent mention in aquaculture science articles such as the two below, the second dealing with ongoing research into alternatives to fish meal for fish feed-- note the absence of beef, chicken or other mammal based protein in such research.

FA144/FA144: The Concept of Ideal Protein in Formulation of Aquaculture Feeds (ufl.edu)

Fish do not have a specific protein requirement but rather a definite requirement for essential amino acids that comprise proteins. In other words, it is essential amino acids in dietary protein that a fish requires and not the protein per se.

...Feeds which are typically formulated with an excess of protein are usually due to one of two reasons: either the protein is not very digestible so more has to be added to meet amino acid requirements, or excess protein is added because specific essential amino acid requirements are not known. The excess protein provides a large margin of safety so that there will be less chance that essential amino acids are limiting in the diet. It is not economical or necessary to increase the total protein content of a feed to a point where excessive amounts of many amino acids are included in an attempt to meet the requirement for one or more of the essential amino acids that are shortest in supply. A diet should be formulated based on digestible amino acid values of feed ingredients and an ideal protein.

The excess nitrogen excreted as ammonia by fish may have a negative impact on the environment because it is a major contributor to water pollution.

Protein Sources in Aquaculture Feed: Quality and Nutrition (burdockgroup.com)

The nutritional value of the protein is dependent not just on its amino acid composition, but also on its digestibility, i.e., how much of a nutrient in an ingredient can the fish actually digest and absorb (USDA, 2016). High-quality fish meal is an ideal protein source for aquafeed because it has a high protein level (60 – 72%), high digestibility (>95%) and an excellent source of essential amino acids (EAAs) (Table 2). Alternative protein ingredients, on the other hand, may have a comparable protein level to high-quality FM, but might be less digestible and/or deficient in one or more EAA. For instance, FM and soy protein concentrate are highly digestible, but other ingredients, like Zophobas morio (superworm) meal, is very high in protein but low in available protein...

...Not only is high protein digestibility and the 10 EAAs a requirement for fish, but also the levels of amino acids need to be in the correct proportion. If there is an imbalance of amino acids, the fish species can experience health problems.

 

[jjohnwm]

I'm hesitant to tag RD. on this topic, simply because I think he might be really tired of having to explain this, but he does a terrific job of it. His in-depth threads on fish nutrition were one of the main influences that drew me to MFK in the first place and are well worth a read if you care to look them up with the search function.

I've become an obsessive reader of fish-food ingredient lists...I wish I studied the ingredients of the foods I eat myself so thoroughly!...and that, coupled with the fact that it's a Canadian product, makes me steer towards Northfin over Hikari as a general rule. But I must admit that, again in general, my fish usually seem to prefer Hikari over Northfin, going strictly by how readily they accept it. Even the best foods will do your fish no good until they are eaten.

I think that quality pellets should make up the major part of your Aro's diet, although I will never completely eschew the use of natural foods as well. By "natural" foods, I am referring to earthworms, insects, etc. as well as feeder fish. They are whole organisms and are much more nutritionally complete than fish fillets or
shrimp from the grocery store, but a good pellet diet will always be the backbone of my fish feeding regimen.

I'd want my fish to get as large a variety of pellets and commercial foods as possible, just so an interruption in the availability of a particular food doesn't cause me any inconvenience. Ideally, I want them to eat everything I am likely to be able to source.

Beef heart? Really? Beef heart was always recommended for discus and other fish back when I started in the hobby in the 1960's. Even then it made no sense to me as a fish food; it makes even less sense today in the light of all the info available on fish nutrition.