# Arowana Questions (jardini)



## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

What is your water params right now? I would rather keep them in water that is stable vs. trying to doctor your water and have it fluctuating all the time. I kept Asian golds,purples and greens in local tap water which comes out at about 7.8pH and hardness of around 8 and never had a single problem raising babies or keeping the prize alive for 14yrs. 

As for food I would avoid feeders at all cost...most LFS do not keep them in good conditions and they are prone to diseases which could easily work it's way through your tank. Also most feeders hover the bottom parts of the tank which forces the aro to look down causing their eyes to become fixed in the down position (not a good thing). I feed ours Red Meal worms, Shrimp mix, Krill, Mysis, Beefheart, NewLifeSpectrum pellets.

I would not try and feed it right now since you did just get it and the LFS you got it from just got it as well....it's probably going through one helluva shock right now. If you have some add some aquarium salt to the tank that is of course you don't have fish in there that will be effected by it. BTW what do you have it in and what tankmates do you have with it?


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## eeng168 (Apr 22, 2005)

arowanas are pretty hardy, they won't be bothered that much by the ph of the water..though it should be at least 7.0. I have mine between 7.0-7.5 for my asian arowana. 
Putting in some black extract will help the fish feel more at "home" by replicating the conditions of the lake. 

To bring out the color in the asian arowanas..it's best that you mix up their diet. I feed mine predominantly live crickets. I use krill ( sometimes he eats it, sometimes he doesn't) I'm sure it because he's spoiled by the live food. I sometimes feed him chucks of fresh shrimps ( the type that we eat, lol) with the shell. Just cut away the head, and the tentacles and legs, this might scratch him inside which is a no-no. 

I will give him an occassional feeder goldfish just to see him chase the goldfish down. I guess it's a form of exercise for him in my mind. Breeding your own batch of food is a good idea..but the thing is..the baby guppies are probably too small...you would have to feed a lot at a time. 

there's specific arowana forum and sites that you can read up more about arowanas...the only one that I can think of right now at work is www.arofanatics.com. 

i'll try to send you some more links when I get home...if i remember. i got bad memory...lol


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## caoboy (Apr 22, 2007)

Cool, since I'm working at petco right now, i'll grab some crickets hehe. 

I'll check my water parameters and get back to you, it seems pretty stable right now, and I don't want to stress out the fish, if it gets out of wack, I'll do water changes periodically and get it back to a neutral 7.0. 

The only other tankmates I have in there right now are a white koi, which is about the same size/little smaller than the aro, a pleco which is big enough that he won't become food, and a blue lobster which hides under my wood and likes to dig out the substrate. There's an apple snail in there also. 

How long should I wait for him to eat before I become concerned? I'm thinking if it's more than a week, I'm going to take him back to the LFS, I don't want this fish to kick the bucket, it's beautiful.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

I have a jardini in my 180 and got him when he was 5". i fed him crickets untill he was a bit larger and now I feeding him mostly night crawlers. Occasionally I feed him rosies. Now he is about 11"

I am in AZ and the water here is 7.5ish right out of the tap and I don't buffer it.


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## eklikewhoa (Aug 29, 2006)

I would really ditch the koi....


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## caoboy (Apr 22, 2007)

Yeah i'm going to, i got it from a friend, and i'm going to give it to another friend to put into his pond where it belongs. 

Any recommendations on pellets to feed it?


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## dodgefreak8 (Aug 27, 2005)

I've kept every aro LEGAL in the US and they are all very hardy. I currantly keep a 20" black aro and PH is a non issue with aros. just keep it constant. As for feeding I would stick to frozen foods. Pellets are a great snack but when your aro reaches 20"+ it's hard to find pellets large enough to provide a good meal without standing at your tank for 30mins dropping pellets in one at a time. I feed frozen krill, silversides, and market shrimp.With market shrimp the most important thing to remove is the tail! it has a spike on it which you'll see. I also soak cut beefheart in aquarium vitamins and garlic extract to feed as an immune booster and parasite controller. Also just so you know you have purchased the most aggressive aro there is. You might get lucky with tankmates but you will most likely end up with alot of dead ones

also not a great idea mentioning you have an asia aro eeng168. I would use a bit more caution


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

You can keep Asian Aros,, if you have 10,000K for a chipped one.


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## caoboy (Apr 22, 2007)

Hey people, thanks for the informations, as an update, my fish is developing a cloudy film over one eye, i was reading on arofanatics, and from what i could derive from that site, it said to salt the water with aquarium salt...i'm on lunch right now, and as soon as i get back to work i'm going to pick up some, how much would i need to put in my tank for 65 (i'm going to salt a total of 60 gal. due to rocks/fish/wood etc.)

thanks, Steve


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## eeng168 (Apr 22, 2005)

fshfanatic said:


> You can keep Asian Aros,, if you have 10,000K for a chipped one.


lol....

mine was $3,300 for a 5" red baby...

gold red tail were about $1,800...

green...$1K

this is east coast price....


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## eeng168 (Apr 22, 2005)

fshfanatic said:


> You can keep Asian Aros,, if you have 10,000K for a chipped one.


lol....

mine was $3,300 for a 5" red baby...

gold red tail were about $1,800...

green...$1K

this is east coast price....

www.dragonfish.com is another site I like to go to a lot.


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## dodgefreak8 (Aug 27, 2005)

fshfanatic said:


> You can keep Asian Aros,, if you have 10,000K for a chipped one.


No you can't!! They are 100% completely illegal read here
they are very illegal and getting caught with one is a VERY big fine. It doesn't matter if they are chipped with all the certification in the world. they are still illegal


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## caoboy (Apr 22, 2007)

Yes, afaik, they are illegal here in the states. That, or a buddy of mine who was selling chipped ones got busted and fined for nothing. People will tell you they aren't illegal because, hey, if it makes the sale, why not? That's why I'll stick to my legal asian looking Australian aro.


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## wendle (Feb 24, 2006)

I always fed my young Jardine River and Leichardt River Saratogas moths and spiders until they were settled in enough to take other foods. A moth bouncing around the surface of the water will drive the most skittish Sara' into a feeding frenzy. Once happy they will eat anything. 
Give the blackwater extracts and such a miss, these fish live in rivers bordering on estuarine, 2 teaspoons of salt to every 10 litres* is about right. Just use plain old cooking salt, just make sure it isn't the stuff with iodine added.


*Your fish is Australian, you must use the metric system


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## Kip (Jun 27, 2007)

I've kept silvers in a planted tank without problem. I don't recommend feeder goldfish as they have high fat content ... which means more waste and some say higher incidence of drop eye.

Hikari sticks are great ... they float and my aros loved them. To train a jard you might need to starve it a few days.

Flies, bugs, beetles, roaches -- mine eats them all.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

From what I have read on Jardini's they arent so much a surface feeders as their cousins the Silver. I feed sinking foods, worms, thawed krill, prawns. he loves them.


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