Which fish food is suitable? My Arowana is just so choosy about it! What can I do as this is driving me nuts!
This problem has certainly driven some Arowana hobbyist crazy when they can't get hold of their arowana's favourite fish food! Arowanas are just like us in that they have certain likes and dislikes when it comes to the food they eat. But again like us, if we are trained from young to eat a wide variety of food, this becomes less of a problem.Four Types of Fish Food
There are four forms of fish food available for you to select from when feeding your Arowana: Live, fresh, frozen and canned. There may be some overlap within these categories. But breaking foods down into these four basic categories makes it easy to organize a varied diet.
Arowanas are generally good eaters and owners would do well to take advantage of that fact. Feeding from a variety of the four fish food types is simple once your fish becomes accustomed to the practice. It may help to offer a small bit of “favorite” food with each new food type initially. Eventually you should have no problem feeding any type of food occasionally.
1. Live Food: Many Arowana owners are most familiar with live food choices. Live food mimics what an Arowana might consume in its natural environment. Feeder fish, meal worms, crickets and small frogs are common choices. It is important to consider the source of live foods to ensure they are parasite and hazard-free.
2. Fresh Food for Arowanas consists of mainly meat. Fish, prawns, chicken, or beef hearts (with fat trimmed) are some meats that may be fed to Arowanas. Arowanas should be fed only quality fresh ingredients. Never feed your fish spoiled fresh food.
3. Frozen Food is a great alternative feeding option when fresh foods are unavailable. Frozen meat or frozen live food sources (cockroaches, centipedes, etc) are examples of frozen food.
4. Canned Food for Arowanas usually come in pellets or dried processed form. Although they are formulated and marketed as a “complete diet,” Arowanas prefer to be fed live foods. Consider canned fish foods another alternative rather than a sole source of nutrition. The more varieties of canned food your Arowana will accept, the better. This helps ensure a healthy appetite when live or fresh foods are unavailable.
Appropriate Feeding Practices
Most Arowanas respond well to a regular feeding schedule. Adults need only be fed once daily or every other day. Overfeeding severely compromises water quality, and can do much more harm than good for your fish. Feed no more than the amount of fish food your Arowana consumes in five minutes.
Young Arowanas must be fed much more frequently. Begin feeding them as soon as their yolk sac disappears. Baby Arowanas will generally start to feed on baby mollies or guppies. A variety of fish foods should gradually be introduced at feedings 2-3 times per day. Once an Arowana is approximately 10 inches long, feeding can be reduced to once daily.
If you find your Arowana is reluctant to try a new food type, keep offering it on occasion and it may eventually be accepted. When offering a new type of food along with a known favorite, alternate the order in which the fish foods are fed. In general, the more you mix up the types of fish food you make available, the more likely your fish is to accept whatever is offered.
I would also like to reiterate the point I made at the beginning of this article. If you train your arowana from young, you will see much less resistance when offering them a variety of food. Many hobbyist tend to try varying the diet when their arowanas are much older and this can be much more difficult.
