WHAT IS AROWANA

Arowana is considered lucky to Asian culture. It has been said that arowana brings good fortune to the owners because of the resemblance of this fish to the Chinese dragon, a favorable symbol for wealth and strength. Whether this is true or not, we should know how to take good care of arowana, which is now considered as endangered species.

What Is Arowana? 
 Arowanas are also known as aruanas or arawanas which are freshwater bony fish. They belong to the family of osteoglossidae, which is one of the most ancient fish species. They are sometimes known as "bony tongues", which are used to squash on their approaching prey. They usually have a long body, large slanted mouth, upturned jaw, sharp teeth, big eyes and have a pair of barbells (whiskers) growing out of the tip of their lower mouth.

The World of Arowana

Arowanas are native to 4 continents; pear, spotted and red can be found in Australia; silver and black arowanas hail in South America. African Nile arowanas are from Africa and the Asian arowana or popularly known as the dragon fish, which has captivated many hobbyists due to its mystery and good looks; not to mention its contribution to good feng shui as believed by many.

How to Take Care of Arowanas?

Studies of fossils show that arowana’s existence can be traced since Jurassic era. And what makes it more amazing is that they can live up to 25 years if they are properly taken care of.

Here are some tips on how to take care of your arowanas and maybe increase your fortune as well.

1. Fix your aquarium with minimum plants and decorations. Give them enough space to swim and hide. Avoid ornaments with sharp edges which can injure arowanas.

2. Maintain good quality of water. Water must be changed at least twice a week. Ph of water must be maintained at 6-7. Salt concentration is about 100 grams of salt to 100 liters of water.

3. The size of aquarium does matter. Length and width of the aquarium are more important than depth. Length should be 3 times the length of your arowana and width about the same size of the fish.

4. Arowanas have insatiable appetite, thus prepare a hefty amount of food to feed them. They have to be fed 2-3 times a day. They devour on live foods such as beef hearts, cockroaches, shrimps, bloodworms and tubiflex worms. Feeding high protein foods also means frequent water changes for it pollutes the water; they also consume vegetables such as lettuce and zucchini.

5. Arowanas get sick too, however, they usually get well easily if you increase their water temperature and add a little salt.

6. Be cautious on medications. Arowanas tend to be very sensitive on them.

Arowanas are not only expensive, but are very fragile as well. But, arowanas become a status symbol nowadays and more and more people opted to care arowanas as their pet. I guess, it’s worth the money and effort.