Floating arowana food

[Ohnoitstfloyd]

hi. I’ve been feeding Sarah floating sticks, all that good stuff. Not working. Smells like ass when uneaten and she deserves better. However. SPL is slow. Unmotivated. Gives a couple less ****s than she probably should. So when I throw shrimp or something in there EVEN IF I DROP IT LITERALLY A CENTIMETER FROM HER FACE( I’ve tried all different distances) she just looks at me, and if she could talk, she’d say “you’re a dumbass.” So I need either fish that floats, somebody to say “live fish from fish stores aren’t full of disease and won’t kill your second most prized possession in life” or a way to make fish float. But like homegirl eventually needs to eat.

 

[tlindsey]

hi. I’ve been feeding Sarah floating sticks, all that good stuff. Not working. Smells like ass when uneaten and she deserves better. However. SPL is slow. Unmotivated. Gives a couple less ****s than she probably should. So when I throw shrimp or something in there EVEN IF I DROP IT LITERALLY A CENTIMETER FROM HER FACE( I’ve tried all different distances) she just looks at me, and if she could talk, she’d say “you’re a dumbass.” So I need either fish that floats, somebody to say “live fish from fish stores aren’t full of disease and won’t kill your second most prized possession in life” or a way to make fish float. But like homegirl eventually needs to eat.

I actually would press peices of Tilapia against the aquarium glass and the Arowana would pick it off. Would rotate floating Hikari floating food sticks with Tilapia.

 

[Ohnoitstfloyd]

I actually would press peices of Tilapia against the aquarium glass and the Arowana would pick it off. Would rotate floating Hikari floating food sticks with Tilapia.

Is there anything else i can feed her to get away from floating sticks all together?

 

[islandguy11]

Is there anything else i can feed her to get away from floating sticks all together?

Well of course there's things like crickets and cockroaches if you can get them from a reliable source (or raise your own) -- but just curious why do you want to get away from floating sticks entirely? They're quite helpful to give your fish a more balanced diet. Also did you try Hikari Food sticks? I tried a variety of pellets with my Aro and at first HFS was the only one he would eat (I'm pretty sure because they soften up faster). Now he's eating HFS and Sianlon Arowana pellets (both of which are served alongside some frozen foods). Was lucky with my Blue Base, she came from the farm (Sianlon) already eating pellets (one reason I selected her).

Btw, how long have you had her in that tank?

Also depending on your current water temp you might consider to slowly increase it a bit, it might stimulate her metabolism. Good luck with getting her to eat! (she'll come around).

 

[Ohnoitstfloyd]

Well of course there's things like crickets and cockroaches if you can get them from a reliable source (or raise your own) -- but just curious why do you want to get away from floating sticks entirely? They're quite helpful to give your fish a more balanced diet. Also did you try Hikari Food sticks? I tried a variety of pellets with my Aro and at first HFS was the only one he would eat (I'm pretty sure because they soften up faster). Now he's eating HFS and Sianlon Arowana pellets (both of which are served alongside some frozen foods). Was lucky with my Blue Base, she came from the farm (Sianlon) already eating pellets (one reason I selected her).

Btw, how long have you had her in that tank?

Also depending on your current water temp you might consider to slowly increase it a bit, it might stimulate her metabolism. Good luck with getting her to eat! (she'll come around).

I feed her hikari now, it just makes my tank smell like ass if even one piece goes uneaten and I miss it and don’t take it out. She’ll eat, she just won’t go to the bottom of the tank to do so. I’ve had her in that tank for a month and a half. (Brand new big girl tank)

 

[tlindsey]

I feed her hikari now, it just makes my tank smell like ass if even one piece goes uneaten and I miss it and don’t take it out. She’ll eat, she just won’t go to the bottom of the tank to do so. I’ve had her in that tank for a month and a half. (Brand new big girl tank)

I suggest just shaking a the food sticks in your hand and just drop one or two at a time until you think Arowana is satisfied.

 

[islandguy11]

I feed her hikari now, it just makes my tank smell like ass if even one piece goes uneaten and I miss it and don’t take it out. She’ll eat, she just won’t go to the bottom of the tank to do so. I’ve had her in that tank for a month and a half. (Brand new big girl tank)

Yeah one of my Aro's is ok to pick up food that's dropped down to bottom and one acts uncomfortable to do so. And like mine your fish is younger, so maybe still lacking confidence.

But Thomas' suggestion is spot on and what I always do: feed only a couple of pieces at a time. Yes it takes longer to feed but it pretty much ensures there are no leftovers to mess up water parameters/make tank smell.

The only possible downside to this method is that your Aro may get a bit more aggressive, esp. around feeding time, because instead of lazily floating around and eating a pile of food thrown in on their own time, IME they kind of 'strike' the individual pieces thrown in (becomes more of a natural hunting game for them I think).

 

[Lsey81]

Something I've done for my stubborn aro's was feed krill (freeze dried) and live nightcrawlers...they'll even go down and grab them out of the substrate if they miss them on the way down, as far as the water stank...I've had the same issue with hikari...I'll kill the flirtation on all the tanks Im feeding...immediately remove remove any uneaten sticks...gets tricky with my Oscars and flowerhorn and they are messy eaters...my silver the jardini and other chiclids are fairly neat...hope it helps!