Arowanas-the dinosaurs of fish tanks

Arowana is a fresh water fish that is actually referred to as a living fossil. It has an elongated body and a bony head. It is called a bony tonguefish because it has a toothed bone on the floor of the mouth, the tongue, equipped with teeth that bite against the teeth on the roof of the mouth.

Arowana -The hunter

Arowanas are carnivores. They are excellent jumpers and some owners claim that they can be trained to jump for food like dogs! Of course, it a dangerous game with the number of teeth this fish has! Be extremely careful when you feed your Arowana. The ‘finger food’ joke is not a joke at all with fish. All species of Arowana are large and the fishes are rumored to catch low flying bats and small birds.

Different strokes

Arowana is of the following types: Asian Arowana, Australian Arowana, Silver Arowana, Black Arowana, and African Arowana. Asian Arowana is rare and most expensive since they are endangered and protected species of the fish.

The two species that are commonly found in the pet stores are silver and black Arowana. These fishes are sold when they are very young. In fact some are sold with their yolk sack still attached! But the fishes grow very quickly and you will need a tank that can accommodate a 30”-40” fish.

Watch out

Arowana is not an aggressive fish but before you decide to keep an Arowana at home, you must consider the following:

1. It eats a lot and as it grows, it eats live smaller fishes in the tank.

2. If you want your Arowana to share the tank, you will have to keep fishes like leporinus, black sharks, red finned cigar sharks, bala sharks, plecos, giant gouramis, goldfish, oscars, pacus, freshwater stingrays, gars, tinfoil barbs, silver dollars, certain loaches and certain eels. Arowana will generally not eat a fish it can’t swallow.

When young, Arowana are fragile but past this stage, they are the hardiest fresh water fish. They rarely get sick (though they are susceptible to white spots) and have a life span of about 20 years. They look like prehistoric monsters and that perhaps is the charm of this fish.

Arowana is not a fish for beginners. It has weird eating habits and requires a lot of care and its space needs are truly dynamic.