One of the most beautiful (and expensive) freshwater fish - the Asian Arowana

[Noble_Design]

Any fans here? Used to had one during my early 20s. Magnificent fish, gorgeous scales, incredible colors and a very special body shape.

Will definitely get one again when I'm retired and have lots of time. Thinking of getting one gold and red each.

[thaifarmer]

they become quite large, aren't they? I've travelled in asia quite a lot and some of these fish were kept in good condition but most were kept in a big ugly "aquarium", often too small for it's size. And often kept as the only fish. Probably because they are predator fish?

Impressive looks though. Nice pictures! 

[Noble_Design]

2 hours ago, thaifarmer said:

they become quite large, aren't they? I've travelled in asia quite a lot and some of these fish were kept in good condition but most were kept in a big ugly "aquarium", often too small for it's size. And often kept as the only fish. Probably because they are predator fish?

Impressive looks though. Nice pictures! 

Yes they do become quite large, typically reaching 0.8 to 1 m in length fully grown. And yes they do need a large enough aquarium to reach that size otherwise they will be stunted.

Yes they are predatorial fish but they are not as ferocious as say the snakeheads. One of the reason they are mostly kept solitary is because they are very expensive and are very sensitive to dirty water so more fish means potentially more disease and dirtier water. You also don't want other fishes to nibble at their beautiful fins.

That said since they mostly occupy the top half of the tank, they do well with other mates that stays mostly at the bottom and are large and docile enough not to end up in their mouths such as rays, parrot fish, tinfoil barbs etc.

[Noble_Design]

The arowana in Thai is also known as the dragon fish. Well it's not difficult to see the similarities here. The arowana has large shiny colorful metallic scales, a large mouth, barbels at the mouth tips that resembles a dragon's whiskers, large fan-like tail, long slender body, large eyes and large pectoral fins that looks like a dragon's limbs:

Asian arowana's scales (shop name censored due to advertisement rules here):

 

An arowana's barbels:

[Noble_Design]

[Guest1]

On 4/26/2022 at 8:10 AM, thaifarmer said:

And often kept as the only fish. Probably because they are predator fish?

They are only alone in the end of the day. After they ate all the food they got

[Noble_Design]

Beautiful cross back golden:

 

And a red:

[Noble_Design]

[Karolyn]

The fish is scientifically Scleropages formosus, though it might be a species complex in itself, it has high natural color variation by locale, and it has been domesticated into a number of morphs, as have bettas, guppies, goldfish, koi, etc. They are characterised as native to large, overshaded forest streams, favoring tannin stained environments with a low pH value, though in truth they are also found in other freshwaters, such as natural lake environments, and were first discovered by ichthyologists, in such a Bornean lake. And they take shelter among the roots of plants, particularly of Pandanus, where the fathers, who are mouthbrooders, raise their hatchlings for about three months. By adult size, Scleropages are predators of other fishes, and other vertebrates. Whereas the juveniles rely more heavily on insects and freshwater shrimps. As predators growing to 90 centimeters, they are potentially dangerous to other aquarium or pond occupants, and they are prone to leaping out of uncovered tanks. But at least they are easy to feed on seafood.