ARIPRIMA BREEDING

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M

mastaydevanand

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2010
5
0
0
TRINIDAD, WEST-INDIES
Hi All,
I am looking at the possibility of breeding the fish ARIPRIMA, hope i spelt it correct, i have always been fascinated by this monster freshwater fish ,

My plan is to grow them from young in a large tank until they reach about 1 foot long, then releaase them in a pond of about 75 feet long and about 10-15 feet deep, can anyone offer advice.
 
welcome to the forum AND mfk.. GOOD Luck with the breeding project
 
It's arapaima.

Anyway, here's what Wikipedia says:

"Due to the geographic range that arapaima inhabit, the animal's life cycle is greatly affected by the seasonal flooding that occurs. The arapaima lays its eggs during the months of February, March, and April when the water levels are low or beginning to rise. They build a nest approximately 50 cm wide and 15 cm deep, usually in muddy bottomed areas. As the water rises the eggs hatch and the offspring have the flood season to prosper, during the months of May to August. Therefore, the yearly spawning is regulated seasonally. The arapaima male is supposed to be a mouthbrooder, like its relative the Osteoglossum., meaning the young are protected in its mouth until they are older. The female arapaima helps to protect the male and the young by circling them and fending off potential predators."
 
Hi, thanks very much for this info, Trinidad ( where i live ) is a carribben island just off the coast of Venezuela, so our climate is the same as in the amazon basin.

As far i i see, there is no one in our country who has attemted this, there are some exotic fish breeders , but not on the scale i am attempting to do

My associates have several acres of land with natural pond in them, some of these ponds are about 75 feet long by 50 feet wide and about 15 feet deep.

The plan is simple, first we import about a dozen or so young ( about 6-8 inch ), i have had some encouraging help from our local Ministry of ariguluture about aqquiring import license etc.

Next we breed them in large tanks ( 400 gal ), once they reach about 1 ft in length we release them into one or two of the ponds, the ponds will be treated for any unwanted agents.

I have to research the time span for how long they live and grow, as well as diet, but i am hoping in about 5 yrs or so i will have some farily large specimens. I plan to market these fish to potential buyers who can care for them as well create some type of eco aqua park for these fish, later i will introduce other species
 
You need to grow them out to 1 1/2 feet.Then put them in your pond.I have been to a couple breeding ponds in Peru.A 400 gal.tank would be o.k. to grow them out to 1 1/2 ft.Then put them in the pond.Brazil has been breeding them with no problem.They eat a tremendous amount of food.Are you looking how you will get enough food ? Five years of heavy feeding just to get them to breeding size.There was a article in Practical Fish Keeping about some Japanese researchers found a method to tell the males and females apart 100% of the time.So you don't end up with the same sex in the pond and it take 3 of 4 years of trying to figure why they are not breeding,lol.
 
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