Smaller pima in 4500 gal, ~16"-18"
- Thread starter thebiggerthebetter
- Start date
The 4 of 5 reached 1.5ft, which amounts to ~13" of growth in 18 weeks / 4.5 months. The little pima looks to be around 8"-10". However, all of a sudden a problem arose yesterday, described in the video. Appetite reduction in 2 and the other 2 are even worse - one is swollen and pineconing a little bit, and the other doesn't feed.
The sickest one, supposed beta male, died. From 4" to 15" in 4.5 months. My front runner explanation is overfeeding.
The arapaima runt that was growing 3x slower than the other 4 has suddenly died. It had fed the day before passing at night at some point. It always fed in moderation, which makes the overfeeding as the cause unlikely at first approximation. Grew only 4.5 inches in 4.5 months. The cause of death is unknown. No foul play. I did cut it open but I'm not trained to know much about what I am looking at.
At 1.5ft and 6 months old, the 3 remaining pima little by little started to throw tantrums / freak out more often and more violently in the 8x2x2ft 240 gal, thrashing, jumping, hitting lids and the euro-bracing, especially the alpha female, the biggest. It looks like they wanted out of the tank, so off to 1800 gal they went.
I transferred the 3 pima from 240 gal to 1800 gal late at night, usually a bad idea but pima left me no choice, I thought they'd kill themselves. Right after the transfer, the 1.5ft Sorubim lima catfish were trying to take the equal size pimas in the mouth tail first, unsuccessfully of course. So I thought the lima wouldn't try again and went to bed. But the next morning there was visible tatter especially on the top of the caudal fins on all 3 arapaima. Looks like lima kept trying more than once.I transferred the 3 pima from 240 gal to 1800 gal late at night, usually a bad idea but pima left me no choice, I thought they'd kill themselves. Right after the transfer, the 1.5ft Sorubim lima catfish were trying to take the equal size pimas in the mouth tail first, unsuccessfully of course. So I thought the lima wouldn't try again and went to bed. But the next morning there was visible tatter especially on the top of the caudal fins on all 3 arapaima. Looks like lima kept trying more than once. Spawning season, I guess. Gotta bulk up.
