Red arowana is the one ultimate fish that every arowana keeper dreams to have in their aquarium. This massive fish with sheer red color is the ultimate statement of nature’s miracle. The sheer beauty and the rarity of this fish can be estimated by the fact that a feet long fish holds enormous value. From a registered farm this fish may cost 3,500-5,000$ per fish. This value is so high because red arowana are extremely rare. This in turn is because of excessive hunting in recent past.
But now because of the awareness spread by WWF ( world wildlife federation) they are slowly picking up in numbers. So, lets dig deeper.
Region of origin.
Red arowana is the native to Indonesia. Particularly speaking this fish is native to Kinabatangan and Kapuas rivers of Indonesia. Both of these rivers flow in the largest island of Indonesia, Borneo. This is one beautiful land having ancient rain forests. A heaven on earth. Here red arowana swims across the country in its own magnificence. There has been no sighting of fully developed adult red arowana in a very long time. But recently in Indonesia a 140 cm long pregnant female was identified. So, it is evident that after fighting with extinction for like 4-5 decades this fish is back on track.
Threat of extinction.
Historically red arowana was thriving in this region. Fishermen never saw this massive fish as a food source. As a result of that, this fish had a huge population in that region. Later in 1940’s a belief emerged that this fish brought good luck to their owners. This base less belief was popularized by Chinese culture as they have popularized the wuhan corona virus. Now there is a threat to human life all over the world similarly they drove this fish close to extinction.
Over hunting coupled with slow breeding rate drove this fish close to extinction. You can imagine the alarming condition by the fact that there is only one sighting of adult Red arowana in the wild in 2009. Now, imagine that this sighting was in the time span of 30 years.
Efforts to revive the Red arowana.
Red Arowana is placed in the red list of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This implies that this fish was almost extinct back in 1995. WWF has made quite an effort to bring back this fish back.
Educating villagers bore fruit. Application of strict laws helped. There is a complete ban on fishing in several parts of natural habitat for this fish. Also, there is a ban on hunting fishes over a certain size. Restoking in protected lakes is going on continuously. Slowly over a span of few decades the population of this fish is rising in the wild. But still its enlisted in the red list.
Physical appearance of Red arowana.
Physically this fish is similar to that of other Asian arowana fishes. The major difference comes in the color and shades of red color. We will discuss the grading of colors later. For now let us concentrate on the physical features of this fish.
Since it share its genetics with other Asian arowana breeds, red arowana displays similar features.
They have almost straight back meeting with almost horizontal skull. The lower jaw is very large and upturned. It meets the upper jaw in a diagonal fashion giving this fish a massive mouth. There are large mustaches like tentacles at the tip of the lower jaw. These acts as sensory organs. There are clear rows of scale starting right from the base of head. These 5-6 rows of large scales meet at the start of the tail. Tail is in fact small and rudder like. Dorsal and anal fins are very close to the tail.
In appropriate size aquariums this fish can reach 3 feet of length. In large lakes and rivers they can be as massive as 4.5 feet. They can survive up to 25 years if cared properly. I am not aware of their age in wild.
How red arowana is graded.
Well, what can I say? I don’t have a vocabulary rich enough to describe the pure magnificence nature has poured into this fish. It is like mother nature was not satisfied on the creation of RTG arowana. She just poured more awe and brilliance into red arowana.
There are several grades of this fish are available in the market. But, to ensure they are cruelty free please buy them form registered breeders only. Grades that I am talking about are classifying different shades of the red color. The darker the color is higher grades the fish.
I am aware of at least 4 grades in the aquarium trade. The red, the chili red, super red and the A++ grade. They are in the increasing order of pricing. For example the base red grade may cost for 2400-2500$ (1.5-1.6 lakh rs). Whereas, the highest grade A++ red which is mostly shown in competitions will set you back by 6-8,000$ ( 5-7 lakh rs).
Tank requirements.
Red arowana is a massive fish by any standards. Standing at minimum of 3 feet in length this fish actually needs a very large aquarium. Rather I would suggest to keep this dragon in a big pond where they will thrive.
But if you must keep this fish then I have a few suggestions for you. Plan to make a tank that is at least 15 feet in length. Yes! that huge. It should be at least 6 feet wide and 6 feet deep. Best is to construct it with concrete and bricks with one side as a display window made up of heavy duty acrylic sheet. I think you will need at least 2-3 inches thick acrylic sheet to realize this tank.
With the tank in place you can now deal with the filtration of this tank. I have written down in details of how to choose a filtration system. Please click on the below link to read in details.
What to feed to Red arowana.
Fish this big will certainly require a massive amount of feed. There are several options to choose from. When your fish is small I would suggest to use commercial arowana fish food to provide optimum nutrition for growth. Later you can shift it to fresh live feed or different meats. This topic I have touched in my posts earlier. There is a lot of detail and my personal experience in that post.
Please go through this article to know more about arowana food in detail.
Arowana Fish Food : Best Food, Fish Food, Price
This second article deals with the schedule that should be followed regarding feeding at different stages of life of arowana.
That will be especially helpful with raising juveniles.
Here are some posts form our blog that you may find interesting.
RTG arowana : The Red Tail Golden Arowana.
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Arapaima size, feed, care and conservation status.
Jardini arowana the Heavy weight form arowana world.
Conclusion.
Red arowana is nursed back from the verge of extinction. In a way the sky rocket price of this fish has kept their excessive demand in check coupled with strict laws and support from local communities. I believe I have appropriately made it clear in the above discussion that why you should always buy this fish from a registered breeder. Also, we have touched almost all necessary topics in selecting and keeping this fish. Kindly comment how do you like this post. Also, if you have a query or a suggestion we would love to have your comments on our blog.
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