Will my Arowana always be skitish?

[GeneralTso]

my arowana is scared of everything. evrytime something moves he trys to jump out of the tank. hes gonna get a concusion. the 18 inch arowana they had at the LFS where i got mine, was very friendly. you walk up to the tank and he would come great u. you could run your finger along the tank and he would fallow it all over. my arowana is scared of everything. basicly i just wanted to know if this will change as he gets older, or if he will most likly always act like this. thanks for any help.

 

[Paul_MTS]

how long have you had him?

mine was skittish for about 1 month after moving in but now he just cruises then comes to the front for food.

first off though your tanks tiny for him either get rid of now or get him a a bigger tank now.

it's making him stressed in there which in turn causes the skittyness. get rid of the goldfish aswell, it's just producing more waste for the tankand it's not doing the goldfish any good being in tropical temps.

also what are you feeding him?

 

[GeneralTso]

I've only had him for a little more than a week. a larger tank is in the works now. i might be getting a good deal on a 70 gal tank from my friend that i can use till i can afford a 250 gal. i actualy gave the gold fish to my sister yesterday, so that problem is already solved. as for food, i was feeding him goldfish, but now im feeding him crickets and bloodwrom cubes. im gonna get some color enhancing pellets as well.

 

[Dat]

Small Aro's can be very skittish particually if they feel they haven't got anywhere to hide. Might be worth getting some plants in. As they grow they do get slightly less skittish although it does depend on the individual fish. I have 2 at present, a 3 footer and a 2 footer. The smaller one is very agressive and even has a go at me through the glass, where as the big one is much more timid. In fact while cleaning the tank last night the bugger jumped out and was flapping all over the lounge floor, I'll tell you it's not easy to catch a 3 foot slipper arow as it jumps all round the floor. Finally my wife got a towel from the bathroom and I threw that on top of him and then chucked him back in the tank, he's not the worse for his little walk. I think he quite likes it as this is the 4th time he's done it since I've had him.

Dat

 

[Arjun]

my arowana is scared of everything. evrytime something moves he trys to jump out of the tank. hes gonna get a concusion. the 18 inch arowana they had at the LFS where i got mine, was very friendly. you walk up to the tank and he would come great u. you could run your finger along the tank and he would fallow it all over. my arowana is scared of everything. basicly i just wanted to know if this will change as he gets older, or if he will most likly always act like this. thanks for any help.

I know this is an old thread and your aro is huge now. Is he still shy?
Im having the same problem.

 

[Essjay]

You are not likely to get a reply as the OP has not been on the forum since 2006.

 

[Stan510]

The answer is yes,more or less. If you have an aquarium that is the least size for an adult- 500 gallons they might stay put. If smaller?..They have a short lifespan as they will always look to jump out as adults. Always.