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Aquarama 2009 is finally here!

Steven Date : May 26, 2009 · 12 Comments

Hi all,
Aquarama 2009 is finally here! It’s been a 2 year wait but I think it’ll be worth it! Drop by the Suntec Exhibition Centre in Singapore if you can! I think it’s the largest aquarium show in Asia and should not be missed if you can make it here for this coming weekend. Starts on the 28th and ends on the 31st May.

Get your bi-annual dose of fish (arowanas, goldfish, discus, etc.) competitions, fish, fish and more fish! You will have fish coming out of your ears by the end of the week!

I’ll try and take as much photos and videos as I can on the 28th and 29th and post it on my blog here. Unfortunately I’m going to be away overseas from the weekend onwards and will miss the large crowd that’s expected to turn up for the weekend. I think it’s going to be CRAAAZZZZYYY during the weekend .. As I said, do attend if you’re in the neighbourhood! Many many cheap budget flights nowadays to Singapore. No excuse ya!

Ok cheerio and have a good weekend!

Tags: aquarama, goldfish, aquarama 2009, arowanas

Why is your Red Arowana still not red after so long???

Steven Date : April 20, 2009 · 94 Comments

Hi all,
Sorry for the long lull. Have been very busy lately with my day job!! Hope everyone’s in the best of health and chugging along fine! With the world economy being so ‘challenged’ these days and so nary of good news, I wish everyone well.

Anyway back to my topic today… I’ve been getting many emails asking me why their red arowana is still not red after all this while.. some after a year but some several years…!!

Let’s address the easy ones first ok… If you buy a grade 1.5 or grade 2 red arowana, they WILL NEVER BE RED OK!!! Period! (They are also sometimes called amongst other names, Banjar Red) There is nothing you can do about this! Don’t get taken in if the seller tells you it will be red because I repeat, they will never be RED!!!

Now for a little history lesson …
If you were to buy a red arowana, there are so many names for reds that I cannot possibly name them all… Some of the original ones are like Chilli Red, Super Red, Blood Red, Purple Red, etc… (My first Arowana was a Ultra Purple Red because it was supposed to have a purple tinge when it turns..) Also let me say this, every individual farm will also name their reds after their own farms! I know it’s confusing but that’s the fact out there unfortunately.

Now for some facts. Best way is a short FAQ here..
Q1) Why is my red arowana still not red after a year?
Fact : No one will be able to tell you when your red arowana will become red! It can take 3-4 years OR never become the red that you wanted! (Unless you have really high grade ones) My first red arowana had a dull reddish body which was not really what I had in mind after 3 years! I expected it to be RED RED like everyone else! I was kinda disappointed but what to do? Anyway, I took it back to the farm and exchange for 5 golden x-backs! (My original red is used for breeding in one of the ponds now)

So I hope that this clears up any misconceptions about how easy (no pun intended) it is to get a red arowana red! I have only seen real red ones in our breeding pond because it is exposed to the sunlight constantly. Unfortunately you cannot do this with your tanks at home because you would have an algae bloom in your tank if it’s exposed to too much sunllight!!

Q2) What can I feed my arowana to help it become redder?
Before I go into this, let me repeat myself again… if you own a grade 1.5 or 2 red arowana, please read my 2nd paragraph above again.
Ok back to Q2 now… Well, anything that contains carotenoid will definitely help. Prawn shell is rich in it so shelled prawn is a good source. (Ofcourse cut out the top part of the head and tail as these can puncture the arowana’s stomach)
The other way is to feed your arowana’s live food like crickets and meal worms, fresh carrots before you feed them to your arowana.

I hope this has helped you understand red arowanas a bit better and not be frustrated when the color does not come out OR WHEN IT DOES COME OUT, it is not the RED that you expected. For reds, it’s a patience game! Oh.. and a little prayer would not hurt either.

Oh yes, one more thing… you know those books that you buy with beautiful arowanas pictures where you would go ohhhh ahhhh .. I wish I had one of those beautiful reds!! .. errr. some of them has probably been enhanced with photoshop ok. I’m not saying all of them are doctored but just take their beauty on paper with a pinch of salt! We’ll never know if their colors are real or not!!!

Cheerio and take care!!!

Tags: arowana, arowanas, red arowana

My Arowana has a droopy eye. Why and what can I do?

Steven Date : January 26, 2009 · 70 Comments

Hi all,
Been a long time. My apologies… Today is the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Year of the Ox! To all my Chinese readers, have a great year ahead and may health, wealth and prosperity follow you! Cheers!

Now back to this very interesting topic. I have been getting a lot of questions as to why this problem happens. What is droopy eye anyway? Well it is a condition where one of the arowana’s eye looks like it is going to drop out. The eye juts out as if always looking down. It does somehow look abit unsightly sometimes and I can see the disappointment in the hobbyist voice and emails when they ask me for help.

Ok there is good news and bad news here!
Good news is this is a cosmetic problem and your arowana will not die from it ok!

Ok the bad news is… I’ll be frank with you.. I really don’t think there is a cure once it has set it! I have seen a book where they did an operation on an arowana with this condition but I’m not sure how successful the operation was.

I will tell you what I think are the probable causes and cure but I will say this, no one has been able to truly ascertain the cause and cure for sure!

CAUSE :
1) When you feed your arowana too much fatty food like beef heart, goldfish, etc, fatty deposits can build up in the eyes. But some people have thrown cold water at this theory because it cannot explain why the fatty deposits only appears on the upper eye portion causing the eye to look down.

2) Arowanas are surface feeders and they usually chase their prey in the water looking around. Hobbyist have this habit of throwing their food into the tank and letting them sink to the bottom. (This is especially the case for non-live food which 80% of the hobbyist feed their arowanas.) The arowanas will then spend alot of their time looking down to search for the food. When this becomes a habit, they get what we can term ‘lazy eyes’. This causes them to look down all the time and over time, their eyes become permanently like that… hence droppy eyes!

CURE :
1) Throw the affected arowanas in a pond for a few months for the eyes to readjust back to as they were before! This is not always a plausible option as not everyone has access to a pond!
2) Surgery to correct the problem. As I said, I’m not sure whether this really cures the problem.
3) There was another ‘solution’ where people said to cover up the whole tank to block off light to the tank for a period of time! I really don’t know how this one works and if anyone knows, do let me know!

As you can see, I really don’t know any cure that is 100% guaranteed to work.

BUT this much I’m sure of! My arowanas until today has never had droopy eye syndrome! My 5 beautiful golden arowanas are in perfect condition!
Firstly I want to say this… ‘PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE HERE!’

From experience, this is my take on the cause of the droppy eye syndrome. TO ME, I believe it is caused by CAUSE 2) which I explained above. We cannot simply throw the food into the tank and let them sink to the bottom and expect the arowanas to always pick it from the bottom of the tank. We must feed it piece by piece. What I do is drop the non-live food one at a time into the tank so that my arowanas eat from the top! This way they will always be looking up like in their natural habitat! I have been doing this for years and I never had this problem with my fish.
I used to feed my arowanas alot of goldfish before as well but this has not caused any problems so I kinda rule out the fatty food argument. But again this has not been proven beyond a doubt so I can only speak from my experience!

Anyway I hope you have gain some insight into this problem and hopefully be able to prevent it if it has not hit you already. Cheers and take care.

Tags: droppy eye, arowanas, arowana

Illegal imports of arowanas into Singapore? Not worth the hassle …

Steven Date : October 15, 2008 · 15 Comments

Hi all,
Another interesting article about alleged illegal imports of arowanas. Just proves the stringent checks that the authorities in Singapore goes through to ensure that the farms in Singapore are not doing anything illegal. That’s the good thing about buying arowanas in Singapore… The chances are much higher that they are all legit and of the best quality..

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AVA investigates illegal import of arowana
Fish without the chips
Neo Chai Chin, Today Online 6 Oct 08;

THE Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is investigating the illegal import of 50 arowana fish, an endangered species, into Singapore last Thursday.

The fish, worth about $1,000 each, were discovered by AVA officers at its Changi Animal and Plant Quarantine Station at the Changi Air Freight Centre. They had been flown in from Kalimantan in Indonesia by a local breeding farm, Imperial Arowana.

The farm, at Lim Chu Kang, is owned by award-winning breeder Vincent Chong, who is being questioned by the AVA, which said that investigations are ongoing.

When contacted, Mr Chong said: ?There was an importing misunderstanding, that?s all. Basically, it?s not a big issue. There was some misunderstanding between Singapore and Indonesia.? He declined to provide further details.

The catching of wild arowana is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). Under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act, illegal traders can be fined up to $50,000 per specimen (or up to $500,000), jailed up to two years, or both. Singapore became a party to Cites in 1986.

According to its website, Imperial Arowana specialises in the export of Asian Arowana species like the Super Red and Xback, which are sourced from Cites-registered farms in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Recent advances have resulted in the breeding of the fish in captivity but they have to be micro-chipped as proof that they were not captured from the wild.

Asian arowana, prized for its brilliant gold and red-gold colours, are often kept by businessmen who believe that the fish brings good fortune. A top specimen can cost around $20,000, a breeder told Today.

There are over a dozen Cites-registered arowana breeding farms in the Lim Chu Kang area. Their operators inform the AVA when breeding pairs have spawned.

When each fish reaches six months of age, a microchip is embedded, in the presence of an AVA official.

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Do you have this problem in your respective countries? Do comment if you have any … Cheers!
Tags: arowana breeding farms, asian arowanas, illegal arowanas, arowana cites farms

Interesting Article About Arowana Breeding “BreakThrough” …

Steven Date : October 6, 2008 · 23 Comments

I came across this very interesting article which was just published a few days back. Personally I think they are still a few years yet to finding anything conclusive about understanding the breeding intricacies of asian arowanas. Anyway have a read and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Discovery of arowanas’ secrets boosts breeding

Molecular tools help uncover the breeding habits of expensive fish
by Shobana Kesava, The Straits Times Friday 3 Oct 08;

UNLIKE most of their scaly counterparts, Asian arowanas mate for life, local studies by ornamental fish farmers and scientists have found.

And when it comes to taking care of the brood, father knows best. The male carries the babies in its mouth for over six weeks before allowing them to swim free.

The secrets of the world’s most expensive ornamental fish were uncovered using molecular tools at the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) and the fish of mainboard-listed Qian Hu, during a five-year research project.

Their discoveries on breeding habits have led to a doubling in fish production.

‘In the second year alone, it was a 50 per cent increase and each year since then, its been a 20 to 30 per cent increase on the previous year’s broods,’ said lead researcher at TLL, Mr Alex Chang.

Qian Hu managing director Kenny Yap said the group produces a third, or about 10,000 of the world’s supply of this freshwater fish each year.

The studies were conducted on close to 230 adult fish which had their genetic fingerprints put under the microscope.

‘Knowing which fish have paired up could reduce breeding costs, because we can bring smaller numbers of fish together in a single small pond,’ said Mr Yap. It can also guarantee customers who pay thousands of dollars for a fry complete information on the pedigree.

Traditional breeding methods have been hit-and-miss because farmers cannot tell one sex from another, let alone which fish have formed pairs. Breeding patterns are also hard to predict.

‘Most are monogamous, with the odd few going astray or preferring complete celibacy, much like humans,’ said Mr Yap.

To achieve the most prized characteristics and increase the baby count, the next phase of the research will use ‘in-vitro’ fertilisation. This will guarantee specific characteristics are carried by lineage.

‘Within reason, we’ll be able to give the buyers what they want – bigger fins, brighter colour, favoured shape of head,’ Mr Yap said. The company is investing another $3 million over the next three years, on top of the initial sum of $1 million, to start a research centre in Sungei Tengah next year.

Mr Chang, Qian Hu’s first formal scientific scholar, will head the facility, which will have 32 ponds. Two-thirds will be for breeding while a third will be for research.

Professor Peter Ng, director of the Tropical Marine Science Institute, said findings could change the conservation landscape for this species. ‘Of the red, green and silver arowana in the wild, the red is most endangered. There is a chance it is a separate species and if this is proven through the genetic tests, more must be done to protect them.’

With Qian Hu’s expected jump in arowana production, stocks in the wild could be replenished, said Mr Chang.

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Tracing the lineage and habits

* DNA tests comparing fossils and present day arowana show the popular red and green arowana diverged from their prehistoric predecessors up to 30,000 years ago, when Kalimantan separated from the rest of its South-east Asian landmass.

* The fish lack sexual dimorphism – they look the same whether male or female. They become fertile after three years and naturally spawn up to 80 marble-size eggs once a year. In-vitro fertilisation, using cryogenically frozen sperm and eggs harvested from the mother, could see many more fish produced.

* They remain fertile for about 30 years and generally mate for life.

* Extremely protective, the father carries the brood in his mouth for 45 days till they are large enough to fend for themselves. The male fish starve during this time.

* These top predators usually eat live amphibians, fish and insects. TLL and Qian Hu intend to optimise medicines and diet for these prized pets to increase their reproduction.

* A five-month old, 15cm-long red Asian arowana, the most prized colour, can fetch sellers $2,500. The largest known 40-year-old specimens reach 1m.

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Smuggling of Endangered Fishes including arowanas, into Australia …

Steven Date : September 29, 2008 · 12 Comments

Simon Chaw from Australia sent me this story which I thought was pretty incredible! (Thanks Simon for this share!)
It’s just shows the extend that people go to smuggle endangered animals into places that don’t allow them are pretty amazing!

(Associated Press)
updated 7:06 p.m. ET, Fri., March. 2, 2007
MELBOURNE, Australia – An Australian woman was sentenced Friday to nine months of community service work for smuggling protected fish from Asia in her dress.

Sharon Naismith, 45, was caught in June 2005 at the airport in the southern city of Melbourne after customs officers heard “flipping” noises coming from her clothes and conducted a search, Australian Customs said.

In a specially made apron under her dress, they found 15 plastic bags filled with water and fish: one rare Asian arowana that customs said was worth tens of thousands of dollars, and 14 catfish.

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Enjoy and comment if you have any. If anyone has any other kinds of stories like these, feel free to let me know and I’ll share them here.

Steven
Tags: arowanas, asian arowanas, smuggling of arowanas

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Aquarama 2009 is finally here!

Why is your Red Arowana still not red after so long???

My Arowana has a droopy eye. Why and what can I do?

Illegal imports of arowanas into Singapore? Not worth the hassle …

Interesting Article About Arowana Breeding “BreakThrough” …

Smuggling of Endangered Fishes including arowanas, into Australia …

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