Asian Arowana Species Guide

As the name suggests, Asian arowana fish has its origin and greatest population in Asian waters. The Asian arowana category is perhaps one of the broadest categories of arowana. You will hear names like Red Asian arowana, super red, blood red, chili red, gold crossback, blue Malayan, Bukit Merah blue, red-tailed arowana, green arowana and silver Asian arowana. That’s really a lot of species references and subcategories!

asian arowana

Different subcategories of Asian arowana are present in different parts of Asian waters. Important regions include Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

35 inches (90 centimeters) is a typical length for Asian arowanas. Distinguishing physical features include a long body, big-sized and elongated pectoral fins, relatively larger caudal fin and dorsal and and anal fins on the back of the body. Asian arowana have wide mouth. They also have quite a few teeth inside their mouth. Furthermore, they have rather large scales which are metallic colored in some cases. Their ribs are raised up. Asian arowana have up to six levels of scales on their body.





Much like all other arowana fish, Asian arowana eat meaty food. You may also want to feed them live foods and prepared meaty foods. Mealworms, crickets, shrimps, feeder fish, small frogs and earthworms are all good diet for Asian arowana fish.

You must also be particular about the living place of your Asian arowana fish. Like mentioned earlier, 35 inches is what Asian arowana can easily grow up to. To handle that, a large sized aquarium is required. Make sure that the aquarium is covered, as they have a habit jumping and may jump out of the aquarium. The water must be cleaned and filtered regularly. Try to keep the water mildly acidic. Also, maintain a temperature range of 24-30 Celsius (75-86 Fahrenheit).

Like other arowana fish, Asian arowana can also be tamed. When tamed, they will even grab food items from your fingers without biting the fingers. Now isn’t that a friendly pet to have! Source: arowanafishinfo.com (404 Link Error)

Have Anything to Add? Comment?


Posted by Nikki Trase:
I’m looking to setup my first tank for an Arowana but don’t know what size tank I need. I have been in the fish keeping industry for a while but everywhere I seem to research.. these guides tell me I need a 300 gallon tank. I understand that but other fish keepers are breaking the rules so why can’t I? It seems these resource and articles are telling great information but nobody is listening or is it just me.. Can’t I use a 125 gallon?





Posted by Grant Hueson:
Your completely right. Everyone preaches about these fish growing to 4 feet long but nobody is doing what they preach. We all know how big of tanks these fish need but yet you see videos of them in 55 gallon tanks and it is pretty sickning. Your 125 gallon will be completely fine until your fish outgrows it but that won’t be for quite a while. Keep up with your fish keeping! You seem like you already know what your doing. My pet store had a couple species but they were super high in price and I didn’t want to spend too much money.


Posted by Vicky E:
It will also depend on what species of Aro you plan to buy. Some species are going to grow a lot bigger than others. Maybe research what is the best for you. I think the Silver species is the most common if I’m not mistaken.