Aro diet questions

R

RTG_Gerry

Super Moderator
I've read so many conflicting posts on several forums related to aro diet. Now that I'm raising a red, I'm curious as to whether the diet I used with my RTG will produce good results in my red or should I look at doing something different.

My RTG was raised strictly on superworms until it was 12". It was switched over to about 90% market shrimp, 5% sw and the rest either massivore or NLS h20 wafers.

I'm quite happy with how my RTG turned out. Nice and thick and good colouration.

How much of that is diet and how much is genetic?

Will the same diet bring out the best in my red? My red will require more carotene than the gold. Shrimp has more carotene than worms.

Should I be using mostly shrimp in his diet? I know he'll get wicked growth from shrimp but I don't want to miss something in his development. I see a lot of asians with massive and healthy reds that are still as adults on strictly sw diets, with some guys feeding as much as 75 sw at one feeding.

Comments appreciated. Let me know what your experiences have been. I know water quality is the most important factor. I've got that covered off pretty well, I think.
 
I use to buy SW in bulk ie..1000 Sw for $40...I keep them in a rubbermaid bin and throw in a couple of carrots. What the SW eats..the Aro eats so all good. The carrots also provides water for the SW's so they last longer and get water.....YES it does smell after a while but I keep my SW in my cold room in the basement and only take out a hand full and keep in a small plastic container near my tank to reduce the smell. I also peer all my MP's of the shells ahead of time, prepare into smaller bits and then freeze...makes feeding in the long run quick....

When aro is small I always share the feed....ie...one day SW, the other MPs...sometimes I insert pellets into the SW or MPs
 
i've always been feeding my aros prawn. Color seems to be coming along nicely.
Tried SW. the aros seems to love them but its dirty the water quite quick. smaller aros i give them shell of but when they get around 12 inch or more i give them shells on.
 
Fish fillets washed and chopped and then stuffed with NLS pellets. You get all nutritional requirements and the aros love to eat it. Also you could try freeze dried superba krill, I have 4 pounds if you wanted to try some.
 
reds are supposed to develop well on prawn diet, however a varied diet is best.

my red is eatting pellets *only* .. ugh impossible to bulk up :(
 
Centipedes!!

The smell is totally different from cricket / superworm. If you want to give it a try, expecting that it will take a long time (ie my case was about 3 months) to get your arowana interested in it.

Minor tip for you guys.
- trying to cut all the legs before feeding your arowana, especially we are talking about 5" - 8" arowana. If I don't cut the legs, my arowana would chew and spill it out right away. Once I cut the legs, he would like to eat.

- and then I would cut a 5" centipede into 3 smaller portion.

- also, not to feed your arowana a day or two before feeding it. Hopefully that would increase the chance to eat.


:D:D
 
Be careful with Prawns/shrimp as a staple......varied diet is always best.


Many species of fish & invertebrates contain thiaminase and when ingested in large quantities it destroys the natural thiamin (vitamin B1) which in turn can cause vitamin deficiency. In fish, vitamin B1 deficiencies can lead to stunting, illness, and premature death. Goldfish feeders are known to be high in thiaminase, as are shrimp/prawns, both of which are commonly used to feed large predatory species in captivity.
Click to expand...

A quote from a fish nutrition genius.
 
Boydo said:
Fish fillets washed and chopped and then stuffed with NLS pellets. You get all nutritional requirements and the aros love to eat it. Also you could try freeze dried superba krill, I have 4 pounds if you wanted to try some.
Click to expand...

Whats a good fillet thats not to greasy and not to much thiaminase ?
 
I do not think you need any advice Gerry. Do whatever you did with that Gold of yours and your Red should turn out fine. I think you will find that every fish has a different appetite and that every owner has a different opinion about the topic of what food to use :D

Some aros I've kept are so damn picky it drives me nuts. I have had baby fish eat massivore pellets from the very first drop, to fish that would not eat SW or MP or crickets or seemingly ANYTHING consistently. Fish with the picky apetites are hard to bulk up, that is for sure.

Frogs were used by most farms I toured in Indonesia, MP by the farms I toured in Singapore (though SABF supposedly uses pellets?); in Malaysia one farm I visited fed SW on Hikari koi food, then fed the SW to the fish. This is similar to what Richard does in the UK and Jeremy (DeepRed) used to do in Vancouver. One fellow I know here in Vancouver buys live or freshly caught prawn from the fishing boats at the nearby docks. That is an approach I find interesting... :)

On the topic of thiaminase, a few months ago there was an interesting thread on another fish forum all about it:

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=272526

Ever since reading that thread above I have wanted to get my locally bought prawn tested at a nearby lab! :)
 
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Interesting article, Theo. Thanks for posting that.

I think I'll be gutloading superworms with carrots and various pelleted foods like NLS and Hikari. I'm also going to pick up some koi food since it only makes sense that those pellets would contain colour-enhancing properties as well.

Is there any benefit, I wonder, to using a vitamin additive with fish that are fed market shrimp?
 
I sometimes soak my mp with azoo aro liquid vitamins (about twice a month). I feed this to my aros, rays, pbass and dats and all seem to be doing well. I am wondering if this may be why my rays are breeding? At any rate, it can't hurt.
 
I've been gutloading my sw all week. I can't believe how fat and robust they are. Why wasn't I doing this all along?

Albert, thanks for the tip. Where did you get the vitamins?
 
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