Arowana Fish

Also called as the Dragon Fish, there are six known species of Arowanas and many more names for it. They can can grow to up to 36" long making these fishes ideal for very large aquariums. However, the word Arowana is often spelled in varied ways such as Arrowana, Arawana, or Aruana. They are also often called Dragon Fish or Arrowanas and is known as the "living dragon" or "golden dragon" by the Chinese. This could be attributed to its scales that look like much of a dragon's - metallic, reflective and colorful. The arowana is also believed to possess a mysterious brain ability where it can always stay focus. For this, it is believed that they can understand human language and therefore are highly talented.

The Dragon Fish are most popular and expensive in S.E. Asia. Each of them has a unique feature and color.
They are classified according to 4 species with their distinct characteristics. The Malaysia has her Gold Dragon Fish and Green Dragon Fish while the Indonesia has her Red, Red-tail Gold as well as Green Dragon Fish.

Compared to the South American Arowanas, the ones form S.E. Asia have relatively rounder and broader bellies. When young, their back portions are also horizontal and when fully grown, the backs slowly become slightly arched. The freshwater fish of the family Osteoglossidae is sometimes known as "Bony tongues." In this family, the head is bony while the elongate body is covered by large scales, with a mosaic pattern of canals. Its dorsal and the anal fins have soft rays and are also long based. Its pectoral and ventral fins are small. Its name 'bony tongues' come from its toothed bone on the floor of the mouth with the 'tongue' which is equipped with teeth which only bite against teeth on the roof of the mouth. These enable them to be carnivorous and often specialized surface feeders. By this, it meant that they are excellent jumpers. There were reports that the Osteoglossum species have been seen leaped at more than 6 feet from the surface to pick off insects from branches in South America. That is why they are nicknamed "Water monkeys". Infact, they’ve even been rumored to capture low flying bats and small birds.

With these features, this fish’s appropriate home would have to be a very large aquarium with an exterior power filter that has a BIO-Wheel and a maximum of 1/4 inch gravel. The water temperature must be somewhere between 75 and 80 degrees F. Arowanas are often seen in aquariums together with large Plecostomus Catfish, large Catfish, large active Cichlids, and large Tinfoil Barbs. Breeding them however, is not easy. Because each time they do, they have approximately 40 to 70 eggs with a diameter of 1.72 cm in their mouth. When these hatched the baby fishes would cluster within the male's mouth for protection.