Question: I’m new to owning Arowanas and want to buy my first one. I have no idea what to expect for prices on these fish. I know that some are much more rare and expensive than others but I just want a normal Arowana. What are some ball park prices I am looking at for fish. And what are the more common species to own? Thanks in advance.
*Awarded Answer
Posted by Nathan E:
The best place to buy arowanas from is your local fish shop. Commonly referenced as a “LFS” in the aquarium industry. All major cities are going to have a fish shop. And if for some reason you can’t find a fish shop or just can’t drive to one.. there are also tons on online retailers that ship fish through the mail right to your door step. They do this very effectively too.
Here is a good guide to use but these prices reflect mid-central U.S. retail market as well as online prices. Arowana prices subject to change due to size, condition, time of year, source/supplier, etc etc etc. Who is retailing does make a difference too.
- 2-3″ silver $29.99-$49.99
- 4-5″ silver $59.99-$79.99
- 6-7″ silver $89.99-$119.99
- 8-10″ silver $129.99-$149.99
- 2-3″ jardini $59.99-$79.99
- 4-5″ jardini $89.99-$99.99
- 6-8″ jardini $119.99-$149.99
- 2-3.5″ black/blue $149.99-$199.99
- 5-6″ black/blue $225-$269.99
- 8-10″ black/blue $299.99+
- 2-3″ leichardtii $249.99-$299.99
The only problem with shipping aquarium fish in the mail is temperature. Some areas of the united states gets cold during the winter and tropical fish need to keep a “tropical” water temperature. If the package sits for too long, that water temp could easily drop and kill the fish. Most online retailers only ship certain times of the year to certain areas to rid this of happening.
There are lots of great websites to work with when it comes to buying fish online. I personally have had great luck with “AquariumFish dot net” They are known as the Bailey brothers and have been in the industry for decades with great success.
I vote for adopting one for sale instead of buying a baby one. A grown out Arowana is going to be much more hardy and easy to care for. What seems to happen is people get sick of them because they expect this “ravenous” fish but really they aren’t that aggressive. They do feed pretty hard core but there are more predator like fish out there.
Adopting one that someone is looking to get rid of or “re-home” is a great idea too because the fish will be stronger and higher survival rate. Young fish have a higher death rate
The variable that will make the most difference in your pricing is where you live. If local fish shops are near you then chances are good for you finding a cheaper Arowana. The second variable is what species. Obviously some species are a lot more rare than others and some are even endangered. Choose a more common species like the “Silver Arowana” and they will cost less because they are bred for fish aquariums and are more common.
The final variable to how much you Arowana will cost is SIZE. Fish keepers want big Arowanas because they look awesome and their predatory hunting instincts are more fun to watch. Not to mention that the fish is more “hardy” and easier to care for as they age. The smaller fish you buy the cheaper they are usually. So if your willing to wait for your Aro to grow into adulthood.. you can buy a juvenile an save a lot of money.
I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota and I can buy Arowanas here at my local fish shops that are 2-3 inches long for around $20 U.S. dollars. But as soon as I start looking for an Arowana that is 10 inches long, the price easily jumps up to around $100. To save some money, a person can also check out local breeders, online forums, or the local classifieds like craigslist. It seems Facebook groups are huge now too for selling aquatics.
Posted by Amanda Juanb:
One more important note is that breeders sometimes only give away fish that aren’t good for breeding. Only some Arowanas keep their egg sacs for future breeding and others don’t. I know very little about this fact but I do know this is a variable. So if you want to save some money just go to a breeder and tell them that you don’t want to breed them and don’t need “egg sacs” and you can save some money that way. Someone told me this trick years ago and I’ve done it multiple times and saved money.
Just open up the phonebook and look up fish aquarium shop. Go there and chances are they will have one in stock. If they dont have one.. they will be able to order them from their distributor. It will only take a couple days to get it. I order things from my fish shop all the time. You just need to find a shop.
Posted by Zach Anderson:
Location is everything. I live in Canada and I can’t find any under $500. It totally sucks that we can’t have the same cool fish because they all have to be imported all special. This is me on a rant but still… it’s just not fair. My local fish shop doesn’t carry Arowanas but they carry other Gourami fish and such.
Hopefully your aware of the setup these monster fish need. I thought I could get away using a 65 gallon tank for a while but that was out grown so fast that it wasn’t even worth buying it. You need a monster tank for silvers. Well… any arowana for that. You can hit up Craig’s list too for sale section and type in arowana in the search box.
Posted by Pete Chasek:
These fish aren’t as RARE as people give them credit. I’ve seen Aros for sale for $5 just like an average PetSmart or Petco would sell them for.
Posted by Chiu Xan:
Not sure why people keep saying cheapest Aros are $40-$50. My local Fish-Shop and local pet stores sell them for $19.99 FTW. Ace in Wausau even says theirs is $24.99.
Posted by Jeff Wilson:
Jeff Wilson cheap is ok but cheep is cheep,the ones that just loose the egg sack are cheap,when i buy a batch to resale they have egg sacks,i make sure they are all eating well on processed foods before selling ,thats when they gain value i purchased 18 black wild caught for resale this year only 10 made it to the 4 inch eating well and happy stage,they in my experience are the hardest to get past that stage ,i get the silvers eating well and wholesale them to my local shops for 20 they sell them for 59.99 but they get to show the buyers that they eat well.but it also depends on the area you live in there are lots of people that work in fish stores with not much knowledge or care .sounds like tropiquatics must be a mom and pops kind of shop ,my favorite,all just my experience written here im not a gu ru by any means ,its arowana season and ive gotten in pretty deep this year
I feed my baby aro the small cichlid pellets freeze dried blood worms and freeze dried brine shrimp ,as they get bigger i do some frozen food, feeders are mostly the gold fish ,the biggest gold fish breeder farm i know of is in Arkansas ,they pack 1000 to a 17x17x10 box sick and dying the stores try to sell them off quick ,disease time for the fish they get feed to my piranha like koi pellets better any way ,they dont have to work as hard,,,they are fat!
Posted by Joe Thompson:
If it has two heads expect to pay 60 grand+ LOL! Personally I like the violet fusion super reds..why? because they look awesome and you don’t ever see them around, small one is like $1200 US
Posted by Joe Britten:
some like to jump so have a tight fit lid and nothing smaller then there mouth ive had many from 3 1/2 feet to new born new borns can die very easily so keep a watchful eye on the small ones keep things that float on the surface so they dont get drop eye. other then that they are in my top 5 favorite fish to own if u have questions hit me up also they can live for decades i habe a friend whos dad has had a pair of arows for over 40 years.
Posted by JrPatilian:
1st most important thing you need to consider is Good Bio Filtration and
2nd Big Tank. they can grow 3-4 feet in ponds very few made it 3-4 feet in tanks.
in a year they can grow 2feet depends on how you feed em
they also like variety of food insects fish shrimp prawns (I recommend teach em to eat pellets to minimize food expenses) but depends on your fish personality on what he wants to eat or do.
they are jumpers and if they dont feel comfortable they will try to escape or jump out. and baby arowanas get easily stressed and they are skittish.
Posted by Jeff Wilson:
3.5 inch silver eating pelets freeze dried foods. 4 inch black eating the same 100 . all feed and cared for from eggsack to now by me. guarented heathy . i ship