# Arowana will not eat



## pind4070 (Jun 7, 2006)

My arowana is about 1.74 ft long and is 2.5 years old. About 4 days ago he just stopped eating. I usually feed him live feeder gold fish he usually eats 100 per week and occasional chunks of frozen blood worms as a treat. I dont know whats wrong he seems uninterested in any kind of food. He doesnt show any swelling, boating or buoyancy problems. He isnt irritable I can still pet him he is a really calm fish. I talked to the lady who I get all my supplies from she said he may have a blockage inside and may need a laxative and if he doesnt eat soon I will have to give him one. How does this laxative stuff work? Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas as to whats going on?


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2006)

im not exactly sure on why he could not be eating...bloating sounds logical however i dont know about giving a fish laxatives.
what i do know however is that you are feeding your arowana the wrong foods. Feeder goldfish make okay treats maybe a few times a month, or once a week, but 100 a week?? 
feeder goldfish are too fatty for a staple diet in arowanas. it would be better to feed it the bloodworms as a staple and the goldfish as a treat. even better would be to get him on some pellets and feed a variety...what i feed mine are two different kinds of pellets (Hikari carnivore fish food sticks and Attack! food pellets which i bought off of a member here), frozen bloodworms, freeze dried shrimp, occasionally crickets and VERY seldom goldfish.
goldfish are basically junk food to an arowana....they're great as treats, but as a staple, it's not good. try changing up his diet and incorporating a variety of different foods.
other problems can arrise from feeding too many fatty foods (goldfish) such as drop or droop eye disease. This is when fatty pockets build up behind the eye and cause the eye to droop. it's not fatal or harmful to the fish but it doesnt look very good. feeding too many goldfish is a strong theory behind this droop eye disease.

this could also be a reason behind your arowana's bloat. 

good luck with this big guy. 

BTW:
what kind of arowana is he?


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## pind4070 (Jun 7, 2006)

*Silver Arowana*

From all I can tell he is silver kind from the shape but he is almost pink it seems. I havent had him since he was a baby. I have tried to get him to eat those exact same Hikari pellets and he wont touch them with a ten foot poll even after not eating for like 3 days previous to the current problem. He does eat frozen blood worm blocks sometimes. I could try the crikets or freeze dried shrimp. Are the crickets dead what should I look for? I think the lady who brought him up only feed him blood worms and then fish. Another thing with feeding him is he only seems to want to eat at night when the lights go out thats when he becomes really active.
Thanks


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## pind4070 (Jun 7, 2006)

Well the supposed laxative worked. The Lady at the fish store who has been doing it for over 25 years said to put about 4 handfulls of epson salts into the tank which is 75 gallons. She said regular salt wont work it had to be epson salt. Now 2 days later there is poop all over the tank and the arowana is eating up a storm again


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Yay!
I'm glad to see it all came out okay in the end.

Goldfish, though... no. They have an enzyme in them which actually makes them of little value as food, working as a sort of anti-food. Swich to something else of a non-cyprinid variety, like guppies or something. Your local creek may have Gambusia livebearers ( mosquitofish ) in them, and while these are worthless for anything else, they do make nice Arrowana food.


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## Guest (Jun 14, 2006)

crickets too. if you ask for live crickets, most pet stores sell them for reptiles anyway. arowanas LOVE live crickets.

also a 75 gallon tank is WAY too small for a silver aro. he's gonna need AT LEAST a 180, but even that is pushing it a bit. he's already a big boy (or girl) .
glad to hear it's eating again.


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## pind4070 (Jun 7, 2006)

He seems to be ok for right now in the 75 gallon. I do want and am looking for a bigger tank for him possibly 125 for now. He is allot better off than what he was. The lady I got him from had him in a 50 gallon he could hardly turn around. At least in the 75 galllon he can stretch out full length across the width and turn with ease and the length gives him fair space to swim back and forth. He is very calm for an arowana and doesnt jump or try to escape. You can hand feed him and pet him.


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