Black Arowana

Native

Its natural habitat is the Amazon river in South America as well as in still waters in Guyana.

Description

It has a long body and a tapered tail and can grow to a maximum size of around 1 m in captivity. The species is also called water monkey or the "monkey fish", because it can literally jump out of the water and capture its prey. It usually swims near the water surface awaiting for potential prey. Although it has been known to eat larger prey like small bats and birds and even small monkeys, their main diets consist of shrimps, insects, smaller fishes and other animals that float on the water surface, on which its draw-bridge-like mouth is exclusively adapted for feeding. Arowana are also called "dragonfish" by aquarists because of their shiny armor-like scales, which are similar to the Asian’s folklore of dragons. It is important to have a large enough tank to keep these large fishes. The minimum tank size for one Arowana for life is a 96"L x 36"Wx 36"H or 538 gal aquarium . As it grows, a larger tank will be necessary to insure the maximum length and life span of the Arowana. The tank must have a sturdy lid, as these fish are active jumpers and will jump out of the tank and die. It is very important that you do not overfeed Arowana when they’re young, because as they grow, they might develop drop eye. Arowanas will eat insects, shrimp, pellets, live fish, beef heart, frogs, etc. The best diet for Arowanas is pellets, live crickets, and shrimps. Small feeder fish are often raised in poor conditions and can carry many diseases transmittable to predatory fishes.