The World of Arowana

The keeping of dragon fish in aquariums in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia began in the early ‘70’s and gained quickly in popularity during the ‘80’s. This interest then spread to Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.allowing limited trade of an allocated annual quota from Indonesia. However, Singapore’s success in documenting the breeding of this fish in captivity caused CITES to approve worldwide trade of such Singapore captive-bred dragon fish in August, 1994

Dragon Fish are found in S.E. Asia where it is popular and expensive. Each has its unique feature and color, for example, Malaysia has her Gold Dragon Fish and Green Dragon Fish whereas Indonesia has her Red, Red-tail Gold and Green Dragon Fish.

We can classify them according to these 4 species:-

1. Indonesian Red-tail Gold Dragon Fish
2. Malaysian Gold Dragon Fish or Malayan Bonytongue
3. Indonesian Red Dragon Fish
4. Green Dragon Fish

The Dragon Fish from S.E. Asia as compared to the South American Arowanas have rounder and broader bellies. When young, their back portions are horizontal. When fully grown, their backs become slightly arched. The depth of their body - 4 to 5.5 inches. Scales are coarse and big. Pelvic Fin and Anal Fin are of the same length. Caudal Fins have 2 shapes - Pear and Fan; 3 back fins (tail, anal, dorsal) are not joint; Mouth extremely big and slanting, the slit extends beyond the eyes, teeth tiny, closely packed and sharp, mouth is rectangular in shape when open. Eyes are big. A pair of mandibular barbels grow out of the tip of its lower mouth. This fish can grow up to 30 inches weighing 7 kilos in an Aquarium.

Breeding is not easy. Each time, approximately 40 to 70 eggs are laid of diameter about 1.72 cm. This fish is a mouth brooder. When hatched, the baby fishes cluster within the male Dragon Fish’s mouth for protection. Normally, it is the male fish’s duty to protect the babies in its mouth but when the number gets too big, the female does help.

In the wild, the fish lives near the surface of clean, standing or slow flowing shallow waters in blind arms of inland rivers and lakes in dense jungle. Water temperature of about 27°C, pH of 6.5 to 7.0 and water hardness of H8 are the characteristics of the water it thrives in. It is aggressive in nature and very defensive about its habitat.