How to feed the Arowana?

Arowanas are difficult fish to maintain because of their feeding habits and amount they consume. These fish prefer live food or at least the food should float. They generally don’t go to the bottom for food and this is the reason they can be made to share the tank with bottom dwellers.

Young arowanas feed well on live or frozen brine shrimp, black worms and small fish. As they grow, they feed on larger fish and have been seen feeding on frogs, and low flying bats and small birds.

Suitable foods for arowana include meatworms, crickets, grasshoppers, locus, garden worms, fly, small frogs, small fish (limited quantities), and shrimps with shells. Some arowana may take floating fish food.

Arowana grows almost as quickly as it eats but the more it eats, the more the effect on its color and size. Long-term health of the fish is, however, compromised by overfeeding. You will have to work out a balanced diet that will maintain good health, color and size in your arowana. You must not overfeed your fish.

Parental strains of arowana determine the color potential of the fish but it must be given a healthy diet that will not restrict its potential.

Useful feeding tips

     1. Arowana fed on prawns and bee shrimps develop a nice red color.

     2. Don’t thaw and refreeze food since it loses its freshness.

     3. Avoid contaminated food by using only farm raised crickets and cockroaches.

     4. Quarantine live food for a week before feeding it your arowana to avoid any parasites.

     5. Frogs are very nutritious for arowana but make sure they are not poisonous.

     6. 70% food for these fish must be live to help them with a healthy growth.

     7. Don’t let the food accumulate in the tank, as this will pollute the tank. Use a net to remove the waste.

     8. Drop food gradually in the tank so that the fish catch it before it reaches the bottom levels.

     9. Arowanas should be fed twice a day when they are small and once a day after they become 14” long.

Keeping live food in Arowana tank
Crickets-Hide this favorite food of arowana in crumpled newspaper or folded eggshell, not introducing too many together. Shrimps/Prawns-will kill each other for feeding so avoid overcrowding. Place them at the base and break their sharp pincers before putting them in the tank.

Mealworms (Tenebrio Molitor) –Keep them dry as wetness kills them. You can even breed them at home.

Small Frogs- Remember to quarantine frogs for a week before feeding them to the fish. Ensure that they are not poisonous. Frogs can survive in clean water without food for several days.