Should owners operate RTG's fins for bigger fins?

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C

Cliff.W.

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 14, 2010
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Toronto, ON.
So I have seen videos and heard many serious hobbyists operate on their Arowana's by splitting the tail fins and allowing the fins to grow back bigger, this in return will create bigger looking fan like fins. And once the fins are healed the arowana then receives the same operation again so that the fins can heal and grow to even larger fan like fins.

Does anyone here do that? If so.. Can you explain how you do it step by step?
 
It's in your best interest to forget about this idea. You run the risk of killing it every time you need to knock out your aro, not to mention how much chance you have of fungus or fin rot developing on your aro's fins. All in all, its just not right to mutilate your fish in such a manor just becuase you feel like you want an aro with a bigger fan...
 
I think ideas like this arise because people sometimes have the idea that these fish are objects and not pets. This is, I think, why people who cultivate aquariums are not called pet owners, like someone who keeps dogs and cats, but are referred to as hobbyists, like a true collector.

While fish cannot display real affections (which I think is what make a pet a pet) it is still not right to experiment in a way that is irrefutably harmful to the creature in order to make it more pleasing to the human eye. This is not the same thing as hybrid breeding or even the neon-coloring in some fish that humans create--this idea is mutilation.

Plus, if nothing else, this seems like a good way to kill your expensive and potentially long-lived fish.
 
is that why some asian arowanas have such large fins?
i myself wouldn't do it because its just not right.
but i can say something similar:
my jardini had fin rot on its tail fin. the middle part of the tail fin was pretty much gone except for the top and bottom section. when the middle section healed and grew back, it out grew both the top and bottom sections. it's not too noticeable but you can still tell which section is the original and what section is new.
 
Time will fix that. They should all grow back the same.
Some aros do naturally have nice big fins. Most of the aros that are used for competition have been trimmed. Trimming isn't going to hurt the aro, but every time you sedate the fish and take it out of the water you increase the risk of mortality.
 
^ or buy a juvi with big fins already as i did.
 
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