Arowana fish have a wide and varied diet and literally anything that fits in their mouths is considered food for them. But when caring for an Arowana baby, we need to be more aware of the foods we are feeding them. Personally I do not recommend feeding live bait to young arowanas as they are susceptible to disease and live bait is the number one cause of disease spread among aquarium arowanas.
Here is the list of food types that would go well with a baby arowana, whether it’s silver, red, or gold. I classify a baby arowana as any arowana under 15cm in length. Arowana fish of this size should be fed up to three times a day.
Frozen/freeze-dried mosquito larvae:
This is a very healthy and nutritious food for a baby Arowana and a food that is normally and easily accepted from the start. This is a good thing, as Arowanas are known to be picky eaters.
The mosquito larvae also swim for a period of time, which gives your fish time to eat them.
baby crickets:
Another healthy food that most baby arowanas will eat right away. Be sure to use baby crickets, as the larger crickets have a hard outer shell that can cause intestinal injury in a young arowana. Some people feed the baby crickets carrots or other nutritious foods before feeding them to the arowana. This is another way to provide extra nutrients to your baby Arowana.
Freeze-dried plankton:
This is another good food that is high in carotene. This food also floats, which gives the young arowana enough time to eat it, but remember to break off the hard and pointy parts before dropping it in the tank.
sticks/ pellets:
If your Arowana is eating well and seems happy, you can try introducing him to a stable food such as a stick feed or pellet. Just remember to break up the food stick and pellets for the Arowana to eat.
Shrimp:
Market shrimp can be fed to a baby arowana as long as it is cut small enough to fit in its mouth. Remember to also remove the hard shell/skin and make sure the shrimp are properly thawed beforehand if frozen.
High quality flake
Can be used to mix up nutrition when young but not worth using as they grow larger as they would not saturate them.
Feeding different types of foods to an Arowana baby is very important as they will be less inclined to refuse different foods as they get bigger. It is also very important to feed an Arowana baby at least 3 times a day as they are growing quickly, but try not to overfeed them each time.
Thanks to Dr John Smith
