Arowana fish have a wide and varied diet and really anything that fits in their mouth is considered food for them. But when we are caring for a baby arowana, we have to be more mindful of the food we are giving them. I personally do not recommend feeding live bait to a young arowana due to how susceptible they will be to disease and live bait is the number one cause of spreading disease among aquarium arowanas.
Here’s the rundown of the types of food that will suit a baby arowana, whether it’s silver, red, or gold. I am classifying a baby arowana as any arowana less than 6 inches in length. This size of arowana fish should be fed up to 3 times a day.
Frozen/Freeze Dried Bloodworms:
This is a very healthy and nutritious food for a baby arowana and is a food that is usually easily accepted from the start. This is a good thing as arowanas are known to be picky eaters.
Also, the bloodworms float for a period of time which will give the fish time to eat them.
baby crickets:
Another healthy food that most baby arowanas will take to right away. Make sure you’re using baby crickets, as larger crickets have a hard outer shell that could cause intestinal injury in a young arowana. Some people feed baby crickets carrots or other nutritious foods before giving them to the arowana. This is another way to get extra nutrients for your baby arowana.
Freeze-dried plankton:
This is another good food that contains a lot of carotene. This food also floats, which will allow the young arowana plenty of time to eat it, but remember to break off the hard, pointy parts before dropping it into the tank.
Food sticks/pellets:
If your arowana is eating well and seems content, then you can try introducing a stable food such as a food stick or pellets. Just remember to break the food bar and pellets for the arowana to eat.
Shrimp:
Market shrimp can be fed to a baby arowana as long as they are cut small enough to fit in its mouth. Just remember to also remove the hard shell/skin and make sure the shrimp are thawed properly if they are frozen sooner.
high quality flakes
It can be used to mix up the diet when they are young, but it is not worth using them when they are older as it would not fill them up.
Feeding different types of food to a baby arowana is very important as it makes them less likely to reject different foods when they grow up. It is also very important to feed a baby arowana at least three times a day as it grows fast, but try not to overfeed each time.