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Gill Turning or Curling In Arowanas Can Be Cured

Date : August 28, 2011 · 4 Comments

Another disease that is common amongst Arowanas is upturning of gills or gill turning. This is reportedly caused by a lot of factors such as poor tank water quality, too little space and temperature changes. Water tank quality goes bad when there is too much food left in the tank, as result of overfeeding. The food that is left uneaten decays in the tank, causing foul smell and a relative increase in ammonia and nitrate in the water. Because of that there will be lesser oxygen levels inside the tank. Sudden changes in temperature can also affect your fish’ gills. The Arowana’s gills are sensitive to sudden changes in the hotness or coldness of the water. Another factor causing gill turning or curling is insufficient tank space. If your Arowana cannot swim around enough in its tank, this may result in development of weak gills.

Symptoms of Upturned Gills

The first symptom noted with an Arowana experiencing curling of gills is the gills inability to open and close well with every breath of the fish. This causes the gill cover to give up, curl outwards and expose the gills. As the gills are exposed, the fish is put at risk to infections. Naturally the fish will have difficulty breathing and is manifested by fast breathing. This encourages the fish to put its head above water just to breathe. The Arowana suffers from lack of appetite. The gills begin to function abnormally as a result of infection.

Care and Treatment for Arowanas With Upturned Gills

Once you have observed your Arowana not breathing well, the first thing you should do is to change the water in your fish tank. Around 20% of tank water is ideally changed once every two to three days. You can also use an air pump to provide more oxygen for your fish. You can also try moving your fish out into a bigger tank. If the gill covers of your fish has not hardened yet you can use a wave maker so when your fish swims against the current it makes, the upturned gill covers will naturally go back to normal. In worse cases however, as your Arowana’s gill covers have already curled up and hardened, an operation would be the most appropriate option to save your fish. This operation has to be done by an expert with properly sterilized instruments. In this procedure, the infected part of the gill cover, as well as tissues growing under it will have to be removed. The fish will have to undergo anesthesia before it is taken out from the tank. To prevent further infection, antiseptics or antibiotics may be given. Once the trimmed parts have grown, your fish is considered healed.

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Simple Facts About The Pearl Arowana of Australia You Should Know

Date : August 3, 2011 · 3 Comments

Basically, there are three types of Australian Arowana; the Pearl, Golden Pearl and the Red Pearl Arowana, which is rarest of all. The Pearl arowana, scientific name scleropage jardini, is also called with several other names such as the Gulf Saratoga, Northern Barramundi and Australian bony tongue. It is similar to the Asian Golden Arowana and sometimes pass off and sold as one in Asia by scamp dealers since the Pearl Arowana is the next most expensive after it.
The fish is native to lakes and rivers of Northern Australia and other bodies of water, including streams, creeks, billabongs and swamps. They prefer parts of clear water where there are trees with overhanging branches. More so, they are also found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Characteristics of the Pearl Arowana

The Pearl Arowana is considered the most aggressive type among Australian Arowanas. It has a dark-colored body with large pectoral fins. The 7 to 8 rows of large scales has red or pink spots at the edge which is crescent-shaped. It can grow up to 3 feet long and weigh as much as 18 kilograms. This is a very strong fish which is challenging and worthwhile to fish enthusiasts.

Food of the Pearl Arowana

You can feed the pearl arowana with live small fish, but care should be taken because parasites or fungi can make the fish sick. It will also eat worms, crustaceans and other live insects. The fish can be feed with prepared or frozen foods like parts of beef and food pellets.

It is advisable to feed small amounts of food several times daily with variations to achieve the best growth rate. If the fish is already more than 1 foot long, it can be fed only once a day. Do not forget to clean or remove any fragments of food that are left uneaten to maintain a healthy environment inside the aquarium.

Taking Care of the Fish

The Pearl arowana should be kept in a tank that is large and spacious for swimming. Changing the water regularly and installing a good water filter system is essential to keep the water clean. Cover the tank with a heavy and strong lid to prevent the fish from jumping out. The temperature of the water must be kept at 24-29 degrees Centigrade, and water acidity should not exceed 7.5 pH. If you want to keep other fishes with the arowana, it should be done with common sense in mind as to not to overcrowd the tank. Large fishes such as catfish, Oscars, plecos, etc. can be ideal tank

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Thinking of bringing an Asian Arowana home?

Date : July 18, 2011 ·

An Arowana hobbyist should definitely have an Asian Arowana in his tank. Scleropages formosus is found in Southeast Asia. This endangered Arowana species thrives on slow moving rivers. Purchasing and transporting them outside of Asia requires license. This species is noted for its color and large scales. The scales are netted or banded with colors. The long pectoral and dorsal fins of this species makes it more beautiful to look at. Myths have surrounded this Arowana. In fact, it is referred to as Dragon Fish because of its similarity in some ways to the Chinese Dragon.

Varieties

There are many varieties of the Asian Arowana. There is the Green Arowana from Indonesia; the Banjar Red from Banjar Nasin; the Red Tail Golden from Sumatra; the Golden Crossback Arowana from Malaysia; Red Grade 1 from Kalimantan and the Tong Yang, which is a crossbreed between Golden Crossback and Red Grade 1.

Tank Maintainance

Keep your Asian Arowanas happy by giving them enough space to swim in. The tank size for one is ideally 4 x 2 x 2 feet AT A MINIMUM. Should you decide to keep more, you should get a larger tank. This species particularly likes soft and slightly acidic water with pH maintained at 6.4 to 6.8 and water hardiness at KH2 to KH20. An abrupt temperature change is not healthy for your fish. Appropriate temperature will give your fishes more coloration. The tank must be properly filtered. Knowing that Arowanas are carnivorous, they tend to release more waste. Filtration should depend on the size of your tank. You can always use biological filters if your tank is not that big. Tank water should be changed at 10% to 20% once or twice a week. Arowanas cannot tolerate unexpected changes in their water.

Diet

Like any other Arowana species, this Arowana has preference towards live fresh food, which is live food. This fish is a surface feeder; you may feed them with floating food. They can be fed with mealworms, shrimps, small fishes, and even moth larvaes. Don’t feed them with the same thing each time. Provide variety for healthy nutrition. For better color development though, it is best that you feed them with live food feeding on food rich in ceratanoids. This will enhance their red and gold color. Don’t zealously feed your Arowanas, they might end up overfed, which is not healthy at all. An adult Asian Arowana may be fed every other day.

If you take good care of your Asian Arowana, they could live up to 20 years, and for those who believe in Feng Shui or Vastu, will bring you health, wealth and prosperity. icon wink Thinking of bringing an Asian Arowana home?

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Knowing Your Black Arowana Of South America

Date : July 3, 2011 ·

There are three main types of arowanas which originate from South America; namely the Silver Arowana, the giant Arapaima and the Black Arowana. They are usually found in the rivers of Brazil and Colombia and the French Guiana in South America. The scientific name of black arowana is osteoglossum ferreirai.

The black arowana is very similar to the silver arowana in stature. They only differ when young since the former’s body is black in color and fades as it grows into an adult. Its scales then turn to silver while each fin change to blue. At its final growth stage, the black arowana will look very much like the silver arowana with olive green and purplish hue.

Outside captivity, the fish is easily frightened when approached, but this type of arowana is found to be the tamest or somewhat shy in nature by many of its owners. The black arowana is presently considered a protected species in Brazil. It is getting harder to acquire one as a pet. The possible way of having it is if you are lucky to find imported ones that pass as a silver arowana.

Taking care of Your Black Arowana

The black arowana grows up to 3 feet in length. While still young, it should be placed into a tank that can hold more than 50 gallons of water, while a 480 gallon-capacity container is sufficient for adults. A large tank is important to contain the full length and maximum life span of the fish. The temperature of the water must be maintained between 24 to 28 degrees centigrade. Be sure to cover the tank with a heavy lid since the fish are known jumpers, often resulting as a dead arowana on the floor.
Feeding your arowana with live insect, small fish, crustaceans, meat or food pellet is ideal for its diet. Just be careful when feeding the fish with live creatures since most of them will pass parasites or bacteria to the arowana. Common diseases such as red spot, fin rot, ascites, etc. are usually attributed to these bacteria.
The arowana is best kept in a solitary environment. But if you decide to introduce other fishes to its container, be sure to place fishes that are large enough not to fit in the arowanas’ mouth as the fish is predatory in nature. Ideal tank mates are less aggressive types such as Pacu or Oscar fish. The number of these fishes should not exceed up to six per tank to ensure harmony between each other.

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Some Arowana Diseases and Treatments

Date : June 17, 2011 · 10 Comments

Arowana care is always accompanied by the proper treatment when your pet becomes ill. Like any other fish, they are prone to diseases which could be caused by factors like water contamination, parasite attack, space limitations and other factors that resulted from negligence. Here are some of the most common diseases that may affect your arowana and the proper treatment that you must administer.

1. Protruding Scales
This usually happens when the arowana is at a young age. Adult arowanas do not usually get affected by this disease. This disease is caused by events that lead to extreme change in temperature inside the aquarium as well as water contamination.
When this disease affects your arowana, you can observe its scale to get tilted at every fifth to eighth scale. You can see traces of blood at the scales’ root. It is possible for the scales to get tilted and reddened when not arrested during this stage. When this happens, the scales will not be able to give protection to the body and cause attacks of bacteria. The scales will drop off and cause the body to decay and leads to death.
To treat the disease, add coarse salt to the aquarium water and increase the temperature to 32 degrees to 34 degrees. Make sure that the oxygen content in the water is increased. Change the water every three to four days. Before you actually change the water, you can heat it first and add copper sulfate medications to it.

2. Stomach Ailments
These ailments usually occur when the arowana is young due to the consumption of stale food or an injury caused by a prawn’s princer causing stomach to be infected with some bacteria. This will cause the belly of the fish to swell. During this initial stage, the fish will have a swollen anus as well. At the serious stage, the arowana may have lost balance and dips its head downwards.
As of today, there is limited cure to this ailment; fish medications can be administered. It can also help to change the water in the aquarium to prevent complications while increasing the temperature by 2 to 3 degrees.

3. Fish lice attack
These lice are visible with the naked eye. They have a length of about 3 to 5 mm and have flattened body shell. Their needle-like structure found at their mouth allows them to suck out the arowana’s blood fluid causing the dragon fish to lose its lustre. This condition will also make the arowana uncomfortable and it will scrape the bottom or side of the aquarium’s gravel. The parasites can be killed with the use of copper sulfate medications. Make sure to have your fish soaked in a concentrated salt solution while increasing the oxygen content of the aquarium.

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Want to bring out the color of your arowana with tanning lights?

Date : June 5, 2011 · 18 Comments

There was an interesting article on Friday in the Singapore Straits Times with regards to tanning lights for arowanas. This ‘new’ product seems to be the talk of the arowana community at the moment.. icon smile Want to bring out the color of your arowana with tanning lights? Have a read below of the full article…

img 64x Want to bring out the color of your arowana with tanning lights?

CALL it an artificial sun-tanning device – for fish.

Hobbyists and breeders have taken to a tanning rod developed by leading fish breeder Qian Hu, which exports more than 1,000 species to more than 80 countries.

Switched on over an aquarium, it can intensify the red and gold colours of fish like the Asian arowana, goldfish and koi.

That is a big attraction for enthusiasts who believe that brilliantly hued fish bring them good fortune.

It has already proven a boon to breeders and aquariums – the tanned fish sell for more, even fetching five-figure sums.

A red arowana, which sells for between $1,000 and $80,000 depending on fin size and colour, can go for double the price after tanning.

Qian Hu developed the rod, affixed with LED lights, after working on it for 21/2 years. It went on the market this year.

Kept under the light for six months, the fish develop a tan that lasts about five months.

About 800 of the rods have been sold here so far at between $67 and $159, and 5,000 have been exported.

The popular Nanyang Trading Aquarium in Jalan Kayu said it sold 300 rods to hobbyists in three months.

Three arowana fish farms also acquired the rods with an eye on boosting the quality of their exports.

The idea of tanning fish is not new.

Ornamental fish farmers and hobbyists have long known that arowanas deepen in colour under sunlight.

So they have placed fluorescent lights and even torchlights over their tanks, to give their fish that extra glow.

But Qian Hu’s innovation is the first purpose-built tanning rod for such fish.

Its head of research and development, Mr Alex Chang, explained that the LED rod emits a wider spectrum of ultraviolet rays than fluorescent lights.

He and his team of five tested the rod on more than 300 arowanas.

Mr Chang said: ‘Many people keep these fish for auspicious reasons and they want it to be very red and very gold. We have customers from Russia who spend a lot of money on such fish because they don’t want to waste time tanning the fish themselves.’

Mr Fong Ching Loon, who chairs the Singapore Aquarium Fish Exporters’ Association, said the innovation helped to keep Singapore’s ornamental fish trade competitive.

The Asian arowana, also known as dragonfish, is one of the top 10 popular breeds of fish exported. Exports of this breed alone were worth $5.9 million last year, up from $2.26 million in 2000.

With other species included, Singapore led the global ornamental fish market with $80.3 million in exports last year – a fifth of the world market.

Meanwhile, netizens in online forums such as arowanaclub.com and arofanatics.com have been abuzz over the tanning rod, with some asking if exposure to the light was safe for their pets.

Mr Louis Ng, executive director of Animal Concerns, Research and Education Society (Acres), said research has shown that exposing fish to ultraviolet light is unlikely to have a negative effect on them.

But Ms Deirdre Moss of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, urged hobbyists to pause a while, saying: ‘They should ask themselves: Is it necessary?’

Hobbyist Richard Goh, 50, who has tested the tanning rods, is going ahead to use them on his 200 red and gold arowanas.

‘Red and gold arowanas have to be really red so they bring more luck,’ he said. ‘They are also prettier.’

By limjess@sph.com.sg (From The Straits Times on 3rd Jun 2011)

What do you think I did after I read this article? icon wink Want to bring out the color of your arowana with tanning lights? Yes yes, I’m a sucker for anything that can help my arowanas intensify their color. icon biggrin Want to bring out the color of your arowana with tanning lights? To be frank, my arowanas already had pretty ‘good’ gold color BUT I just had to try the lights to see how much further they could enhance it!

Soooo I did the obvious…. I bought the lights the very next day!!! icon wink Want to bring out the color of your arowana with tanning lights? Here’s a photo of what the box and light looks like…

qianhulight Want to bring out the color of your arowana with tanning lights?

Does this really work? I have no idea but what I can say is that Qian Hu would not put it’s reputation on the line if they were not confident that it would. icon wink Want to bring out the color of your arowana with tanning lights? Anyway time will tell and personally, I do hope it works as it would give me immense pleasure watching my enhanced ‘gold bars’ swimming around in the tank! ;D

Cheerio and have a good week ahead!

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