That top photo brings TEARS to my eyes. That owner shud be drug outside my his toes and shot in the in street. Or, better yet, forced to live in a shoe box. Animal cruelty at it's worst.
Arapaima are showing up more and more. It's mostly due to that "It only gets as big as it's tank" lie that the general public hears. The US is still tight on buying them, so even though they are easy to find for sale, just buying one my wind you up in court.
Serious hobbists, go for it. They are an amazing animal to work with. But they need 30K gallons or more. Even certain zoos that get them undestand that within a year or two they will need to be moved to a larger facility. I have to deal with that at mine. I've got two juv. right now and a display that won't hold both. I made arrangements for one to be transfered before they even showed up on site here.
For a vast majority of the populatioin : if you want to see one, go to a zoo. If you want to keep one, become an aquarist. You get the best of both worlds....keeping huge fish and having someone else pay for it!
Arapaima are showing up more and more. It's mostly due to that "It only gets as big as it's tank" lie that the general public hears. The US is still tight on buying them, so even though they are easy to find for sale, just buying one my wind you up in court.
Serious hobbists, go for it. They are an amazing animal to work with. But they need 30K gallons or more. Even certain zoos that get them undestand that within a year or two they will need to be moved to a larger facility. I have to deal with that at mine. I've got two juv. right now and a display that won't hold both. I made arrangements for one to be transfered before they even showed up on site here.
For a vast majority of the populatioin : if you want to see one, go to a zoo. If you want to keep one, become an aquarist. You get the best of both worlds....keeping huge fish and having someone else pay for it!
