Can't you breed them

Nope, not unless you have permission from some governing entity which protects the arowanas. I might be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure that you can't simply breed them willy nilly. If you did breed them at home, they wouldn't be chipped, thus they would be illegal and nobody would want to risk buying/ owning one.

Give me a ray/gar/african tigerfish any day over an aro though lol, prefer the more predatory/eccentric fishes. Arowana have nice colour though.

Rays are nice, but better in ponds I reckon, not really tank fish, simply because of design. Gars are awesome but once again, either a big pond or a decommissioned swimming pool haha. What attracts me about aros is their shape/ colour/ swimming style but most importantly their personality. My tank is in my room, positioned about 3m behind my desk. I swear that every time I turn around and make eye contact with my aro, he stops swimming and comes as close as he can to look at me. He even does the S-shaped swim to keep my gaze. If I hide in another corner of the room where he can't see me, he just swims normally. I just don't see a ray having that kind of personality, despite being really cool fish..

So I found out what an African Tiger Fish looks like:

Holy moley that's a scary looking fish! Them teeth are too big for me, thankyouverymuch! :nilly:

So, if I had a group of arowanas, and one of them breed? That illegal?

So, if I had a group of arowanas, and one of them breed? That illegal?

I don't think that would be illegal per se.. But I suspect that if you tried to sell it without a microchip that would be illegal.

meh, all of those options work well in tanks so long as they are big enough 8)

Extra HUGE tank for the tigerfish though - no way, its teeth are awesome, would dominate an aro for sho

yeah, tiger fish would rock

but the likelihood of any of those coming in is so slim, might as well move countries:D

maf wont hav a problem breeding endangered animals so long as your breeding stock is legal, and cites approves of facilities im sure.

or else im sure john campbell wo uld like t hear bout it:D

meh, all of those options work well in tanks so long as they are big enough 8)

Extra HUGE tank for the tigerfish though - no way, its teeth are awesome, would dominate an aro for sho

The last time I got bitten by my aro, he left scrape marks on my finger nails and small scratches on my fingers. If an ATF bit my hand, I think I'd have to re-count my fingers lol!

yeah, tiger fish would rock

but the likelihood of any of those coming in is so slim, might as well move countries:D

maf wont hav a problem breeding endangered animals so long as your breeding stock is legal, and cites approves of facilities im sure.

or else im sure john campbell wo uld like t hear bout it:D

No such thing as bad publicity, Henward! An interview with Mr Campbell would send sales skyrocketing lol..

yes it would.

and we can ship it in recycled cardboard boxes and envorimentally friendly poly boxes:D

Only the Asian Scleropages species are protected by CITES, but they are still not illegal to breed them. It is illegal to trade them without the proper paperwork and certification to prove they are from second-generation captive bred parents.

The last time I got bitten by my aro, he left scrape marks on my finger nails and small scratches on my fingers. If an ATF bit my hand, I think I'd have to re-count my fingers lol!

No such thing as bad publicity, Henward! An interview with Mr Campbell would send sales skyrocketing lol..

lol i have been on campbell live 8) :happy2:

Only the Asian Scleropages species are protected by CITES, but they are still not illegal to breed them. It is illegal to trade them without the proper paperwork and certification to prove they are from second-generation captive bred parents.

David - you can be the brains of our breeding operation.

lol i have been on campbell live 8) :happy2:

Fishie - you're our publicity guy lol.

Woohoo, our imaginary breeding business is really taking off now! :thup:

David - you can be the brains of our breeding operation.

Gladly, so long as someone else is being the financier!!

David - you can be the brains of our breeding operation.

Fishie - you're our publicity guy lol.

Woohoo, our imaginary breeding business is really taking off now! :thup:

it was for school tho, but i had a 1 on 1 interview :happy2:

Gladly, so long as someone else is being the financier!!

That'll be Henward lol.. He's the only one among us humble mortals who can afford all the nice fish haha..

haha thats crazy!

no, i had to sell much of my collection! not made of money or anything.

if i could i would though, breeding arowana would be awesome!

i still reckon a pond on a green house is doable!

solar heated water, gas back up, gas heating for the green house. i reckon doable here.

silvers are easy to breed, i hear they breed them in concrete tanks and plywood tanks overseas, but the catch is you must dedicate the tank to only a pair.

so kinda a waste and wont really pay to do so as the money isnt good enough.

asian aro however will pay, exporting that will be worth heaps i reckon

but yeah, too difficult in cold weather to be competitive.

was looking at xb today, and saw a picture of a axanthic datnoid! awesome!

Silvers and jars aren't worth doing IMO.. Probably do it for bragging rights more than anything else lol. The cost of setting up and running the breeding house would not be covered by the return lol. Besides, anybody know how to sex an aro? Haha, very near impossible by appearance alone.

Sexing done by analysis of the mouth cavity I believe. Males supposedly have a larger bulge so that they can carry the young. < What I have read.

yes, even then i think thats not always accurate perhaps.

the method farms do oveseas is put heaps in a lage pong and they pair up,then isolate pairs and let them breed.

yeah, silver, jar, black aro isnt worth while.

you awnt somethign you can export. nz market is basically useless if you are basing the economicso f the operations on that.

it WILL have to be export and market it in such a way that people order from you.

novelty factor.

i mean the novelty of having an NZ bred asian aro alone has its own selling point.

you will have to come up with specimens and take it to aquarama in singapore and try to make yourself famous.

a hobby for a multi millionaire...

if i win lotto ill do it :happy2:

yeah, silver, jar, black aro isnt worth while.

I disagree, I think blacks would be the most worth while. You'll never compete with a quality farm with a good reputation breeding high end asian aros. I'm not sure what (if anything?) they do to protect their strains, but there are all sorts of rumours about them sterilising young etc, and the initial outlay would be huge. Blacks seem to be in high demand all over the world, don't have the CITES headaches for shipping/selling that the asians do, and the initial outlay for fish would be much less.

I reckon a Para Pool in an insulated and heated garage (with a good cover obviously) would be a good and cheap start for breeding any aro, if someone was really keen to give it a go...

sounds like a plan:D

If black aros are in high demand then that would be worthwhile.

i guess producing lots of babies would be key.

yeah the reputation of asian aro keepers is hard to break through, sterilising,k i hear some discus breeders do that to, but i believe it may just be rumours - but who knows, protecting their assets would be extremely impotant, i would do it to protect my stock if i had a farm i guess.

i think breeding them would jsut be cool!

fun in it self.

i guess comes down to this. if you keep and breed fish formoney, you will be disappointment 99% of the time.

i have met many discus breeders that dont do it anymore as the cost and time far outweigh the proceeds from the sale.

Maybe one day i will go insane and set up a para pool in my garage when i end up buying a house:D

what sort of arowanas are allowd in the usa, is it still just pearl silver and black?

that would seem like a big market too

I reckon a Para Pool in an insulated and heated garage (with a good cover obviously) would be a good and cheap start for breeding any aro, if someone was really keen to give it a go...

I'd love to do that with guppies... Would be interesting to see what fry were pulled out if you started with a whole bunch of different lines

what sort of arowanas are allowd in the usa, is it still just pearl silver and black?

that would seem like a big market too

Anything except the Asian Scleropages species.

I disagree, I think blacks would be the most worth while. You'll never compete with a quality farm with a good reputation breeding high end asian aros. I'm not sure what (if anything?) they do to protect their strains, but there are all sorts of rumours about them sterilising young etc, and the initial outlay would be huge. Blacks seem to be in high demand all over the world, don't have the CITES headaches for shipping/selling that the asians do, and the initial outlay for fish would be much less.

I think you've got a point there, David. Personally, I've only ever seen two black aros in person. One was Henward's and the other was at the biggest fish farm in Singapore. Yup, ONE specimen in the biggest fish farm/ arowana exporter in Singapore. I don't know if they were all sold out or if blacks are really that scarce. You'd think that blacks would be endangered considering how few of them you see compared to the more expensive breeds. :dunno:

Also curious, how would breeders sterilise the fish without harming them? Hormones? Chemicals in the water?

Someone on the Arofanatics forum posted an update of his XB from May to June..

May:

June:

He said that during the one month he fed the XB only bullfrogs - never seen so much bulk in one month! Especially around the shoulder area..