Hi all,
Thanks for all your emails.? I know I had been lazy in updating this blog for awhile now but I will try and be more regular okay.? 
But do keep the emails coming…? Ok back to my post today..
I notice that there is one fundamental?assumption that many of you make when you email me for advise but when I probe further, I usually don’t get the ‘right’ answer.??The gist of the questions asked?are that you are having?arowana problems but most of you say that your water is ok.??I guess you know my next question to you …. no pun intended but how do you know that?
Please never never assume that just because your water looks clear.? Looks are always deceiving as it could be quite toxic in there for all you know.? First thing to do is to try and smell the odour if any, coming out of the water.? If there is strong ammonia smell, change it!
If however the water smells alright and no unpleasant odour at all, next thing to do is to do the water checks (with readily available water test kits)?for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, etc so that you can determine for sure if there?are any problems.? This is actually the only way to tell whether your water is ok or not.? If you have done this, then kudos to you!
But from experience, usually?regular changes of water is good for your arowana anyway.? The best is to change it at least twice a week to keep the water ‘fresh’.?
Please also clean the substrates (like gravels, stones, etc)?if you have any in there because a lot (I mean A LOT!) of waste are usually trapped in there.?Believe me, this is from personal experience.? It is a pain cleaning the substrates but you have no choice.? I do sometimes regret putting it in but I do it more to prevent the droopy eye syndrome from happening.? I used to have about 1.5 – 2?inches thick of?gravel in my tank but I have taken out a lot of it so that I do not?need to clean so much now!? I put just?enough to cover the entire bottom now!? I advise that this cleaning be done often because these trapped waste fouls up the water faster..
Ok talk to you next time!
Steven
I agree with Steven about never assuming that your water quality and parameters are at acceptable levels just because it looks clear. Arowana are predatory species and can attain a length insufficient for regular size aquaria.
Let’s start with predation first, predatory species tend to degrade water quality faster than those who are not. Secondly, the weight of the fish increases exponentially compared to its length. Therefore, ammonia will build up at much faster rate as the arowana gets larger. There are, however, other major contributing factors to degradation of water quality. In any case, water changes should be performed more often when aquarium houses a larger biomass of fish (whether it?s one fish that?s getting larger, adding more fish to the aquarium, or both). Prevention is the key to success, no need to wait until water starts to foul before making a water change. It?s just the same as waiting for the fish to get sick so it can be treated. Good luck all!
Thank you Steven for your sharing your passion and knowledge with us. I find your article most usefull and further emphasise the importance of maintaing good water quality.
Dear All, I would just like to post a comment on Steven’s comment on having to have gravel to prevent droopy eyes on our pets.Well first and foremost I have been keeping genus scleropages formosus for more than 15 years and after going through a few I noticed that the glare phenomenon causing eye droop is inaccurate. I have kept them in similar conditions without gravel and have noticed that the syndrome only occurs to specimens that are over fed and deprived of exercise i.e being kept in small quarters. My suggestion to prevent eye droop is to adopt a strict feeding routine (my 2′ specimens) are only fed once a week and the incorporation of a powerhead to circulate water in the tank to create a current to keep them active. Try it (before the start of eye droop) and your pet will have properly set eyes.
Yours in the same interest,
Lawrence.
Dear Steven,
Many thank for your attention. Keeping my arowana to be more healthy, is just an art. I use “Arowana Vital” from Tetra Aqua to stabilize water in Aquarium. So far my Arowana looks better and healthy.
All the best,
Agus A. Budhiman
i also have a question to ask, i just do a major water change about 90%. I have to move everything out of the tank for me to able to put the filter inside the stand ( door didn’t fit). Because i want to keep my Ph at around 6.5-7.0 all the time then i have to use filtered water with ph is at 6.5. i got everything set up then put my aro back in the tank. After 1 week, water parameter is at the point i want it to be. Ph is at 6.5 and soft, no amonia and nitrate, nitrites. i was bring the water sample to test at the pet store and also at my own test kits. Both result are the same. But problem is that my aro didn’t eat much in that week, i feed it cricket but only eat little. I just want to ask what is the problem ? may be PH shock or new environment, PH used to be about 8.0. Any bro know what is the problem ? please advise what i should do , my aro is about 14-16 inches. you can post comment in here or email to me at ktltn04@yahoo.com
Kelvin,
90% is a lot of water to change.. You should never change that much water as it changes the water ‘condition’ quite a bit… Try changing a maximum of 30% only every time..
pH has never really been a problem for me in Singapore.. Not sure where you are from though.. To be frank I hardly check the pH unless I have a good reason to suspect that it is a cause of problems for my arowana..
Steven
My set up look like cycle now but 1 problem is that my fish appetite is decrease. I already test out my water but everything is ok . After i added ceramic rings into my sump, my aro become less eat. i even try it’s favorite food: frog, feeder, cricket… What do you think the problem is ? i was thinking may be the material that made ceramic rings but i might wrong. please help. thanks.
Kevin,
Ceramic rings should not cause this problem. You need to wash them though because there are a lot of dust on it. You could be changing too much water. This is usually the first place you check..
Steven
Dear Kevin,
My Blue Aro did not eat for 6 months no matter what I fed. I’ve even been advised to add a certain fish vitamins into the water to promote good appetite but to no avail.
I suggest you continue to keep water in good condition and do not do major changes to lights and decor inside the aquariam. When it’s time for them to eat they will. Then one day as I was feeding other tankmate Dry Fish Food, my
Aro who has not eaten for so long started eating fish food. You guess right, I went straight to the fish shop to buy crickets, his favourite.
This also happen to a good friend of mine, his Aro stop eating for 2.5 months.
Good Luck,
FS
FS,
Wow! 6 months! That’s a long time… The longest I have heard is 4 months! Your arowana holds the record now..
Anyway glad to hear that everything is back to normal for you.
By the way, is your’s an asian arowana? Cross back?
Steven
Please help. I’ve had a few years experience with arowanas and this “disease” is perplexing me. My ph is 7.4 (I know it’s a lil high, but it’s consistant) Amonia 0 Nitrate good same with Nitrite. Cycling has been completed for months. Temp is 79. The arow is about 4 inches, purchased 2 months ago right after sac dropped. The arow’s fins look like they’re getting chewed (not seperated or freyed and not to base of body). The blue near the gill is starting to go green, The aro is not swimming around, very stagnent and there is 1 scale missing, but still has an apitite I do have a baby JD and that was my first assumption until The aro started sitting at the bottom and the discoloration. I seperated the tank last night and this morning is when he started hanging out on the bottom. I’ve never seen the JD go after the aro. Please advise of treatment if possible.
Chaz,
A few comments here. I would not purchase an aro that is so small as the mortality rate is very high at that age. I would try changing the water if these things happened. This is usually the problem.
Steven
Hi there
I have a silver Arrowana it is about 2 feet in length
the problem that i am facing is that yesterday night it jumped out of the tank through a small gap ,My dad quickly picked him back with a towel in the water,he was out of the water for less than 30 sec ,Now he is not in a good condition he just stays in a vertical position and his eyes have also turned white. some furniture work is going on in my house would its noise cause the problem the tank is of 3 Feet .When we brought him home he was just 2 inches in length he is not even 1 year old .Please advice >
Ajay,
It could have been severely injured when it jumped out. If this is the case, there is really nothing much you can do. (If it was fine before the jump, then this is probably the case.) Sorry.
Steven
Is it ok to change water using direct tap water with anti chlorine added in singapore or a must to use aged water? Salt too everytime during water change?thanx in advance.
Is bacteria house a good media for an arowana tank? Thanx in advance.
Fauzi,
Not sure what a bacteria house is but if you’re talking about bio balls, ceramic rings, etc for housing good bacteria… then yes.. definitely! This is crucial..
If you change only about 20% of the water, you don’t even need to put anti-chlorine. Salt.. yes… That is what I do anyway…
Steven
very worried. just bought a 5inch silver 2 days ago. ph level is about 7.2 and temp is about 80. is it normal for it to just sit at the bottom of the tank and kind of make a sinking motion when it glides? thanks
Ellen,
Change the water… This is usually the cause for the lethagy..
Steven
why do we use salt?(garam tonic) for arowana.can you guys tell me how to setup a tank for arowana?
why do we use salt?(garam tonic) for arowana.can you guys tell me how to setup a tank for arowana?i have a yellowtail arowana
Neshvin,
I encourage you to get my arowana care book at http://www.arowana-care.com/arocare as this book will tell you how to set the tank up.
Steven
hi steven,i got this problem with my arowana.
it is not eating,just killing the frog only?
the middle parts of the scale seems to be coming out a bit & the tips of the scale is roting away little bit or coming off?it is swimming ok.i am now treating it with azoo magic treatment.can u pls tell me what is wrong with my arowana?and how to treat it?my arowana is 2 years old & about 19inches long…TQ
Dennis,
I believe that this is water related. You need to change your water often enough. I would refrain from using medication unless it is really necessary. (like having attached worms or fungus)
Steven
my aro was active when it was 6inches but now it is not simply sits at the bottom
Sudhakar,
This is usually your water problem… You must change it often enough..
Steven
I just bought a yellow tail aro. When I put it into the tank, it swan but later as night falls it began to sit at the bottom of the tank. It’s abt 4 inch aro. Pls advise and thank you
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