Where to get Arowanas in US?

HumphreyBear

Gambusia
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Feb 22, 2013
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You're asking members about illegal species on an open forum. Any Americans who know how to get them won't comment because they'll assume you're a Fisheries & Wildlife troll or that at the least F&W read the forum looking for this.

RTG are Asian Arowana. You are right, however, that most of the spectacular vendor ads/photos/videos you see are under red or blue (for the blue forms) lighting. Anything that can hold its colour in normal conditions is very (or very, very) expensive. And still illegal in the US.

I'm lucky that the 'Australian Arowanas' come from my backyard, so to speak. Scleropages jardini is a beautiful fish, though very big, aggressive and generally unsociable. It is also a great pet. It gets a blue tinge and lovely pearling on its scales. The leichardti I had a few years ago was more chilled but not as pretty. YMMV. They both need plenty of swimming room and are very powerful swimmers.

Humphrey
 

jclyde13

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Jun 18, 2009
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Wait anyone know if the Red tail Golden Arowana is considered asian, or one of the illegal ones? That one may be my favorite. I feel like the Red aro's (even tho illegal to get anyways) are only red under pink/red lighting??
Your options for legal arowana species are:
Osteoglossum bicirrhosum (silver arowana)
Osteoglossum ferreirai (black arowana, blue arowana)
Scleropages jardini (Jardini arowana, Australian arowana)
Scleropages leichardti (Leichardti arowana, Australian arowana)
Heterotis niloticus (African arowana)

Anything else you see (aside from color variants like platinum, high shine, xanthic, and melanistic) is an illegal Asian species.

And before you purchase anything, make sure you have thoroughly researched its needs. The smallest species in this list are the Scleropages species, and even they require a very large aquarium footprint (something along the lines of 72" x 30" or larger).
 
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mattsoccer20

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Mar 12, 2011
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Your options for legal arowana species are:
Osteoglossum bicirrhosum (silver arowana)
Osteoglossum ferreirai (black arowana, blue arowana)
Scleropages jardini (Jardini arowana, Australian arowana)
Scleropages leichardti (Leichardti arowana, Australian arowana)
Heterotis niloticus (African arowana)

Anything else you see (aside from color variants like platinum, high shine, xanthic, and melanistic) is an illegal Asian species.

And before you purchase anything, make sure you have thoroughly researched its needs. The smallest species in this list are the Scleropages species, and even they require a very large aquarium footprint (something along the lines of 72" x 30" or larger).
Oh ok thanks for the help! Why are the colorful ones illegal lol. I dont understand why the same fish from australia is legal but the asian ones arnt. Sucks for us USA people :(
 

UnstoppableJayD

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jwh

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it is an Asian aro, no they are red under normal light. Pink light, like that for planted tanks make reds and orange pop though.
 

Aquanero

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RTG's are also Asian and Illegal in the US. I would not talk too much about interest in trying to obtain Asian arowanas if you are in The US. Just let that go or move to Canada.

Jeff Rapps, Tangled Up In Cichlids has Silvers and Blacks
Shark Aquarium has Silvers, Blacks and Leichardti according to the web site

Both are vendors here on MFK, both are very reputable.
 

DN328

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Thanks for the tip Aquanero! I have been looking for a Lei to replace the one that died. Have you or anyone have experiences with Shark Aquarium - would like feedback.
 
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