Hi all,
I have received many emails from readers about their arowanas not eating, looking very lethargic, not moving much, etc..? More often than not, you need to start with the water!? This?should be?the starting point for your investigations.?
Ask yourself these questions : (not exhaustive ofcourse)
* Does the water look clear? Muddled?
* Does it smell like ammonia?
* Do you see any attachments on your arowana? fish lice, etc..
* Does your filter setup (cannisters, etc) stink? Too much uneaten food, etc..
etc..?
A change of water will usually help!? I also add a little salt with each change.? Again REMEMBER, DO NOT CHANGE TOO MUCH AT ANY ONE TIME.? My advise is only about 1/4 tank at any time.?
PLEASE NOTE?IMPORTANT POINT :-
Now if you come across lice, worms attached to your arowana, you need to ALWAYS ALWAYS change your water.? What you do in this case is, you medicate your?arowana first … make sure these lice/worms are killed.? You cannot be sure that they are 100% wiped out which is why water change is important after that.? I would change at least 2-3 times in a week following the medication.? This is also to get rid of the medication in the water..? Good water should always be free from all these ‘drugs’
Cheers!
Mohaiy,
It is has jumped out of your tank, the chances is high that it would have injured itself. I cannot help you here.. This is why I always advise to cover the tank top securely so that it cannot jump out.
Steven
Rajesh,
There are a few things here to look at. I’m pretty sure it is your water that is the problem. You should have changed the water before trying anything else. By adding more live fish into the tank, you were actually polluting the water more as those small fishes were also producing waste.
Again always look at the water first and foremost before anything else.
Steven
Traze99,
Sorry but the arowana probably could have been ‘damaged’ by the anti-chlorine already. You must always prepare the water well before you bring the arowana back from the shop. I never put anti chlorine when I change water at all.
Steven
Koi,
I would not recommend that you add another arowana into your current tank with the other as it could be fatal for the smaller of the two. Arowanas can only be mixed when they grow up together from young.
Steven
Calvin,
A few points here. I would not change water everyday. As long as your arowana is swimming around gracefully, it should be ok even if it does not eat for 2-3 days.
Steven
hi,
i need urgent help…i have a silver Arowana kept alone in a half round 4ft tank. Its eyes are bulging out for over 1 month. i change 25% water every week n have given Tetracycline 2 days back. Now for the last 10 days she is not eating at all. Dont know what to do. her tail have tilted to one side. m All lost..pls help soon….
I bought a silver arowana and after 4 days i noticed that
his/her tail is totally broken i think his/her tankmate bite his/her tail,My arowana is always in the bottom of the tank and i think he don’t have energy to move, what I’m going to do i already change 20% of the water and add some salt. ASAP.
Rakesh,
I’m not exactly sure what you mean by bulging eyes but it could be droopy eyes which is not fatal as it is just a condition that your fish will learn to live with.
Based on what you say, I can only recommend that you keep changing water every week until it starts to eat again. Sorry but can’t really tell with the description given.
Steven
Gian,
Have you tried taking out the tank mate to see whether that is the culprit? If your arowana is also resting at the bottom of the tank alot, it could also be your water condition. Keep changing 20% every week until it recovers but I would also take the tankmate out for now.
Steven
Steven,
We have a very sick arowana named Ying. From a few days ago he was not eating, developed white spots all over his body, the yesterday started loosing his slime coat. Today he kept losing slime coat. 2 days ago I did a water change, did a METRONIDAZOLE treatment. This morning I did another %0 water change, another METRONIDAZOLE treatment and put in 75 drops of ORGANI CURE COPPER 1.25% FORMALDE. The package said it was for marine fish only but said it should be okay for this fish as well. These guys helped me save my aro before from a different infection. The fish is now fliating head down and hardly breathing and not moving… near dead. I’m doing another 50% warer change in hopes of diluting the water to save my other fish two 13″ polypterus. Seems like I accidentally poisoned him. Or the infection he had did him in and the meds didn’t help.
What do you think?
Kimmie,
This is pretty common. This condition is called ich and is causd by parasites. Just get some white spot medication to get rid of it.
Some observations here ..
1) First thing I observe above is that you have changed too much water. Always change only about 25% max each time and you should not change everyday but evey other day.
2) You should have taken out the other 2 fishes if possible. This will prevent these 2 from getting ich as well.
Steven
Hi i have a 7 inch arowana, His tails is rotting too, it just started today, I lost 3 arowana already in a 4 month period, i dont wanna lose this lil guy, please help me, i added salt already, he wass just treated for ich, and now this!!! please help me thanks
Tommy,
When your arowana develops a condition, you need to change water every 2-3 days or so for the next 2 weeks at least. Why do I propose this? This is because even when you have successfully treated it for an ailment, there will still be remnants of the parasites in the water and you need to change water often enough so that you can get rid of most of the parasites in the water.
Steven
Hi Steven,
I changed my aquarium water yesterday and added Methelyn Blue solution to cure my malaysian aro’s skin disease..When i woke up this morning my aro is already tilted downwards thinking it might have been poisoned..I immediately removed it and transferred to another tank with clean water..Will my aro recover from the poisoning, how many days will it return to its normal health…What more should I do to speed up its recovery? Thanks
Rene,
When it will recover will depend on how bad it is affected. Make sure to change the water regularly to get rid of whatever’s in the water.
Steven
hello steven..
my question is.. why does arowana seemed to changed its mood.. he doesnt eat now for two days and always swim on top of the water.. the surface.. he wont swim down like what he normally do.. its his original tank and i change the water once a week i dont know what happened.. thanks.. is there a meaning why he just stay and swim on top of the water??
hi my arawana is swiming a curcule at the top of the tank with hes back out the water he swims only one way my cat fish did charge it and hit it in the side also the arawana has been moved in to another tank the ph has been tested and is ok please help
hi my name is tolo and my arowana is swimming a little funny. he’s about 18 inches long and his tale sticks up out of the water while his head is facing down ward so what do you think is wrong with him….thank for your time!!!!!!
Hi i just bought 2 silver arowanas about 5″ long on saturday
today i got home and both are facing down but still breathing, what can i do???
Hi,
Earlier today my 12″ arowana jumped out of the tank. He usually jumps during the night, but never had he made it through the lid and the stuff that was holding the lid down. My dad found him on the floor and he doesnt know when it had jumped out. He put him back in and later on the day, it started swimming again. Now, it is laying on the bottom of the tank. I’m not sure if he normally does that at night, or its because he was out of the water. I think he usually just stays put on one side of the tank and floats in the middle. Do you think my arowana will survive?
Julie,
Time will tell. I think if within a week, it’s swimming around, then it should be ok. Arowanas usually stays on the surface and not dwell much on the bottom.
Steven
Sara,
Did you cycle your water at all? You need to cycle it for at least 3 weeks before you can put your arowanas in.
Steven
Tolo,
Could be a bladder problem. If this has been for awhile, then chances of recovery will be low.
Steven
Donny,
Sounds like your catfish is very aggressive. Good thing you have separated them.
Steven
Giancarlo,
I think you have it all wrong. Arowanas are supposed to swim on the surface. When they are spending too much time at the bottom, then there is something wrong and this is usually because of water issues.
Steven
Hello Steven,
I have 5 year old silver arowana. A few days ago, I noticed his tail and fins suddenly became jagged. He holds his small fins against his body and stays low in the tank. He also has stopped eating. I recently changed the water and noticed the PH was about 7.5 or possibly 8. I am worried about him. Any advice?
Thank you,
Dan
Hello steven
I have a 3 yr old silver arowana…it was fine till date and now something seems to be wrong…It stays in one place or in a vertical position with its head pointing upwards…i have no idea what to do…i thought it might be due to the water which i had not changed since 3 weeks…I have changed it but still no use…when i put it in a tub of water it seemed to be fine…but in tank it goes n stays in one place or floats in a vertical position…plssss help!!
Hi ! sir,
I got a new fishtank(freshwater) and a arowana fish.. is it important to put salt in my fishtank? What is the purpose of the salt in the freshwater with arowana
what kind of salt for the fish tank ?
@Sara:
Sara my Advise if you use water for fishtank, Drinking water 99% no clorine ,chloromine. Check the ph,Nitrate,Nitrite,Alkaline,hardness,Chlorine,Amonia.
Hi,
I have a pearl arowana which i got a week back. It was completely fine and the first day itself it started eating. However I changed the water of the tank after a week. The water is well water and does not contain chlorine. There are gold fish in the tank for live feed. But all of a sudden after the new water change my arowana sticks its head out of water and goes around in circles. I am worried what is the reason for this behaviour. Do you have a email that i can mail you for further contact rather than this thread.
Ahva
Ahva,
This sounds like you have changed too much of the water in it. You should only change a maximum of about 20-25% of the water.
Steven