Arowana – Osteoglossum bicirrhosum

• Scientific name: Osteoglossum bicirrhosum
• Common name(s): Arowana, Silver Arowana
• General nature: Highly aggressive toward its own species. They will snap at each other and will be quite intolerant of other fishes as well.

  If you plan on keeping other fish with an one, be sure it is well able to take care of itself. Arowanas are born predators and must be kept with larger fishes is a community is planned.

• Difficulty to maintain: Not an easy fish to keep for most aquarists since they require extremely large aquariums.

  Since they are well known to be jumpers, and stay close to the surface most of the time, the aquarium should be carefully sealed to prevent escape from the top.

• Aquarium size: As large as possible. These fish grow quite big rapidly, so a large tank, usually well over 4 feet is required for these fish to stay comfortable.
• Preferred pH: slightly acid
• Preferred hardness dGH: soft about 10
• Preferred temperature: prefer temperatures above 75^o F. The upper range is 86^o F. Generally standard tropical fish levels of 78 - 80^o F will be best for these fish to be comfortable.
• Spawning style: These are egg layers with the males doing the majority of the work. The eggs are quite large, up to 1/2" and will remain in the mouth for up to 2 months. When the fry are released after their yolk sac is depleted, they will be up to 4" long.
• Spawning difficulty: Has occurred in aquarium conditions, but the aquariums need to be quite large for this to occur.
• Parental behaviour: Mouth brooders with the male holding the eggs and fry between 50 - 60 days from hatching.
• Preferred food: adults prefer live fish to capture and eat. Fry can be started with live food as well, such as water fleas, mosquito larvae and similar live foods.

  Young fish may occasionally take pellets or tablets, but adults will generally demand live fish to satisfy their predatory nature.

• Comments: These are large fish that are most often part of the decor of restaurants or other business establishments; where in many cultures the keeping of such fish is seen as a token of good luck.

  They are undoubtedly impressive to see, and are quite strong in any aquarium. They require enough room to swim, and since some specimens have reached up to 48", they do require a very large aquarium to be comfortable.

  They also demand live fish for food, so may not be a good choice for people who want to keep an active community of varied fish.