Feeding Tips: I feed my Arowana live fish, shrimp, pellets, and crickets. I usually give him the crickets first then the shrimp with pellets inside and then I put in the live fish. This way, It will eat everything I give it.  Soak pellets, crickets, and freeze dried krill in liquid vitamins since it absorbs it really well. The two most basic things you need when owning an Arowana are a very large aquarium, and lots of food. Serious arowana owners suggest putting your arowana in a 125 gallon or even in a 200 gallon. But that's a little to expensive for a college student like me so I have mine in a 75 gallon. But hopefully soon I'll do what the others do and buy a 200 gallon aquarium. Arowana's can grow really big, really really big. Around 40 inches if allowed to mature. If you really want to get an arowana but you're just starting out, I guess it would be okay to keep one in a 50 gallon. But this will stunt your arowana's growth and it might not be too happy in a small home. But don't worry, as soon as you start enjoying your arowana and see how fast it is growing, you'll be saving up for a bigger aquarium in no time. :) Arowanas are large, rowdy fish-but they make great pets. If properly cared for an arowana can live for over 16 years, if you can afford the food bill. Rule 1: Keep all arowanas and their relatives securely covered. Over the years I have owned over 40 arowanas of various sizes and kept contact for several years with the people to whom I sold them. I raised one arowana myself for a period of 8 years, and another for 2 years. In all of my discussions with hobbyists, dealers, wholesalers, importers. and exporters, the only cause of death I ever heard mentioned was jumping out! When my own arowana grew longer than 20 inches, I began placing bricks on top of his tank hood. In some instances, when he became startled, he came close to knocking off the hood, bricks and all. The best solution I have heard is to clamp the hood down with a C-clamp. Arowanas are exceptionally strong, and the more secure the top, the longer your arowana will survive. Rule 2: Be careful when working in your arowana's tank. One thing I learned the hard way is that arowanas are terrified of anything towering over them. I suspect this is related to natural enemies, both animal predators and man (the ultimate predator), who strike from above. My 20-inch arowana jumped out one day while I was standing on a ladder cleaning algae off the glass with a long handled scraper. Fortunately. the fall did not break his back and he survived the ordeal remarkably well. I didn't. It shook me up thoroughly. A 5-pound wrestling/flopping arowana is unnerving, believe me. After that experience. I used magnetic algae scrapers to clean algae off. My arowana then took great delight in biting off the inside magnet scraper and knocking it out of my reach. Fishing out the magnet was a real challenge, but none-the-less much easier than rescuing a land-locked 5-lb. Osteoglossum! Rule 3: Remember that arowanas bite. I don't know to what extent tropical fish can show real affection. I've had dozens of oscars act as though they were affectionate and beyond doubt recognized me from others. I suspect, however, that they associated me with food, I became convinced of this when a 12-inch oscar swallowed my index finger up to the knuckle one day and didn't want to return it. My arowanas were also very intelligent, like oscars, and acted as if they might be affectionate. And when they were small, I hand fed all my arowanas. But large arowanas have some respectable dentition and I recommend that care be taken to avoid being bitten when working in their tanks. I am skeptical of arowana affection because I know of at least one prominent aquarist who received some lacerations due to I an arowana bite. It was his pet. Of course, the arowana meant no malice or harm. A hand looks like food to a fish. Actually, the aquarist who tempts the arowana by dangling fingers and hands in the tank is the one who is at fault. Rule 4: Don't overfeed. A lean arowana will live a long time. Try to feed only as much as the fish will eat in five minutes. It is a rea1 job cleaning a large arowana's tank. You will most likely procrastinate as I used to do. Procrastination leads to pollution in the tank. Pollution leads to a abortened lifespan or death. If you minimize overfeeding, you can extend the time between cleanings, and your arowana will live longer. Rule 6: Use plenty of filtration. In the early days of undergravel filters, a lot of them had snap-in uplift tubes. Arowanas love to snap them out. When a large Arowana does this, you will have a problem trying tn get it back in, and an even bigger problem trying to kept it in. It soon becomes a game to the arowana. So, If you use undergravel filters in tanks housing arowanas, use only those which fasten securely in place. Power filters are best for arowanas, preferably those without siphon tubes. Typical power filters use siphon tubes, and arowanas love to bump these, causing them to lose their siphon prlme. This can be avoided on "back-pack" filters by designing your own siphon tubes with extra long out-spouts and by keeping the water level in the tank high. Rule 6: Make frequent partial water changes. Big arowanas don't like to be disturbed. Cleaning their tank is a real nuisance and dangerous to the arowana when you must move him. To minimize this, weekly water changes help. Although arowanas have an almost unbelievable tolerance to nitrates/nitrites, polluted water lowers their resistance to disease and makes them irritable. Rule 7: Treat all diseases with water changes. Arowanas are exceptionally hardy. Diseases rarely, if ever, strike captive specimens. If the water quality deteriorates, however, a few diseases may strike. Since these diseases are due in large part to poor water quality, it makes good sense to correct that causative factor before treatment is attempted. Subsequent treatment should employ traditional medicatlons available at any good pet ahop or aquarium store. Rule 8: Keep only one arowana per tank. Arowanas fight. They are large fish. Combine these facts in a 60 to 70 gallon tank and you double trouble. Breeding attempts aside, two arowanas should never share the same tank, at any age. Most young arowanas which die in captivity waste away because they cannot comlpete with stronger siblings in the same tank.     ©1999                                                     HOME