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The Fish Fortress Breeding Program

Breeding and Exporting Asian Arowana Species

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Introduction to Arowana The Dragon Fish A Rare and Endangered Species The Asian Arowana (scleropages formosus) is a freshwater fish indigenous to Southeast Asia where it inhabits slow moving waters, rivers and streams.

Entirely carnivorous it has become an icon of cultural significance for its grace Longevity, incredible colour and stature and has earned the name Dragon Fish referencing the Chinese Dragon. They are extremely rare and only breed in Malaysia & Indonesia.

You will not find a Green in the same river or lake as a Grade 1 Red, and there is no recent connection between the lineages of the fish. As one of the oldest tropical varieties in the world they take us back millions of years through time.

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Due to a combination of severe habitat destruction in Indonesia and Malaysia, and to the high demand of aquarists, this fish was declared a Class 1 Endangered Species by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) in 1975. This is the same level of protection afforded the African Rhino and the Asian Tiger.

CITES reclassified the Asian Arowana in the 1980's,allowing for the commercial breeding of the fish in Indonesia. The hope was that local people would conserve wild fish stocks and breed the fish if there was an economic incentive.

The program proved a success and commercial breeding later expanded to Singapore and Malaysia.

All Asian Arowana legally for sale in the aquarium trade today are at least F2 offspring and are tagged with coded Microchips called Passive Integrated Transponders (PIT).

These microchips can be read with hand held scanners and allow the fish to be identified as farm bred animals.

Along with the microchip, the fish are also sold with a birth certificate that includes its microchip number and the name of the CITES registered fish farm

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Farm Breeding Process

The farm layout consists of ponds laid out in a grid. Surrounded by a metal sheet fence with electrified wiring. Each pond contains between 10 and 20 pieces, 40% male 60% female. Breeding pairs are removed and placed in a separate pond.

Breeding Arowana is an ongoing process there are no specific seasons when the fish breed, however there are times of year when breeding can occur more regularly.

There is no external way to sex an Arowana, until recently all breeding was done by educated/experienced guess work placing 20 selected fish into a pond and leaving them to their own devices. Characteristically these ponds are approximately 15m by 20m with a mud or silt floor.

Over time, females will lay eggs on the floor of the pond and a male will pass over fertilizing them. Following the fertilization the eggs are collected into the mouth of the male, where they will develop for 4-­‐6 weeks before being released as young fry into the pond. The typical production of a brooding male fish is about 40 fry, during the peak season, about 45 fry Is attainable. The survival rate of these offspring from nursery stage to market size is about 80%.

-­‐ Fish Fortress

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The Harvesting Process The pond manager will identify the presence of “mouth brooding” male fish, and he will call for a harvest when he feels there is enough justification.

The fish are driven in a large net to the edge of the pond where they can be caught and identified more easily.

Once identified, our experienced Arowana breeder will open up the brooding male´s mouth to release all the Fry. The lower jaw of the fish is pulled backward slowly and the body is shaken slightly to release the half developed larvae from the Males mouth. Each newborn Fry comes with its own orange egg sack that will be the Fry´s nutrients at the beginning

Our experienced team will then count the exact number of Fry that are harvested and record it on file.

The larvae are then incubated in an aquarium that simulates the water flowing in the mouth of the adult. Here they are left to develop until large enough to swim freely.

Once the fish grows to marketable size, we will microchip them and get ready for export.

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The Asian Arowana is considered auspicious by many, as well as being a symbol of wealth and stature. They embody several Feng Sui concepts of the Dragon complemented by water bringing luck and tranquility to the owner.

“Arowana can range in price from a few hundred euros up to in excess of €50,000”

The Dragon Fish in Feng Sui The fish itself has a number of characteristics that fit within the principals of Feng Sui. The large scales and their colouring of Red or Golden demonstrate the existence of wealth and success. Being such a noble and dominant fish it also presents the character of strength and success that can be reflected on the owner. The large mouth that only collects food from the surface show how the fish can engulf success from above and draw it for the owner.

Water is a place where chi gathers, it is naturally a source of yin energy containing an “auspicious” fish such as an Arowana balances the yang and helps to dispel any negative energy in the household or office. Also because the fish is so naturally affected by magnetic fields it is in keeping with the Feng Sui principals also based around the worlds´ magnetism and polarities.

Price and Value The price of Asian Arowana have been consistently high because they are so difficult to breed. As of today, only Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia have successfully bred them commercially.

The colour definition and contrast of the colour increases the value, the more unusual the combination and the more striking the colours the greater the value. The greater the depth of colour and the more of the body that is coloured, the higher the value.

Uniqueness takes many forms, if it is through deformity but a completely unique event, the price of the fish can be hugely elevated.

Although age does not directly affect the price, many of the above cannot be determined until the fish is approaching 24 months old.

This means that although juvenile fish are significantly cheaper, they are a gamble as to the quality of the fish you are purchasing.

To guarantee elements the fish must be much older, by which time a higher price will be set. Even with a Super Red fish, one cannot necessarily say if it will be red or orange if purchased below 12 inches.

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The Fish Fortress functions like a “Hotel” for Arowana until they give offspring. Owners will have to give custodianship to the fish farm; we will provide premium feed and optimum water temperatures.

Red Tail Golden or Indonesian Golden/ HighBack – Original Habitat: Pekan Baru-­‐Sumatra, Indonesia.

The Red Tail Golden (RTG) Arowana or Indonesian Golden Arowana belongs to the same variety as the Golden Crossback Arowana. The RTG however comes from the same country as the Super Red Arowana, namely Indonesia. The big difference between the Crossback and the RTG is their colouration, the RTG will th th never fully cross. Usually RTG has coloration on the 4 or 5 level of scales. Some high quality RTG have a th th fully colored 5 row and sometimes even some coloration on the 6 level scales. These animals are called Highback RTG. The Red Tail Golden is the biggest of all the Golden Arowana. They are usually also more aggressive and are know to be the most aggressive Asian Arowana.

Red Arowana (Super Red) – Original Habitat: Kapuas River, Sentarum Lake-­‐ Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Red Arowana are as the name already suggests, the red variety of the Asian Arowana. Lake Sentarum contains many small lakes and is connected to the Kapus River. Water from this system contains many minerals but also the mysterious Black Water which makes the coloration of the animals from this region so powerful. Red Arowana will develop color with age. When the Red Arowana ages its gills cover will turn fantastic red, the rim of the scales will become bright red as well. There are 4 varieties of red Arowana: Blood Red, Chilli Red, Orange Red and Golden Red. All these varieties are called Super Red Grade 1

Malaysian Golden – Blue Based –Original Habitat: Bukit Merah Lake, Malaysia.

Crossback Arowana are one of the most expensive species money can buy. D ue to the high demand, this species of Arowana has a high price. The only official CITES farms breeding Crossback are found in Malaysia and Singapore. The process where the scales on the back of the fish become more and more brilliant and th th finally cross over is called 6 level crossing (due to the scales on the back being called 6 level scales). As th young animals usually do not possess much colour on their 6 level scales, full crossing is something that has to develop with age.

Malaysian Golden – Golden Based – Original Habitat: Bukit Merah Lake, Kerian R iver, Malaysia.

Crossback Arowana can be divided into many different colour varieties which all represent the base colours of the scales of the fish. We can distinguish Silver based, Gold Based, Green Based, Blue Based and Purple Based. Many breeders try to cross the above to create fish that look even more spectacular. One of these varieties is the 24k golden Arowana. This fish is like a swimming gold-­‐bar. This golden based variety shows superior colors even at a young age and is the dream of many Arowana enthusiasts.

Red Arowana (Super Red) – Original Habitat: Kapuas River, Sentarum Lake-­‐ Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Red Arowana are as the name already suggests, the red variety of the Asian Arowana. Lake Sentarum contains many small lakes and is connected to the Kapus River. Water from this system contains many minerals but also the mysterious Black Water which makes the colouration of the animals from this region so powerful. Red Arowana will develop color with age. When the Red Arowana ages its gills cover will turn fantastic red and the rim of the scales will become bright red as well. There are 4 varieties of of red Arowana:Blood Red, Chilli Red, Orange Red and Golden Red. All these varieties are called Super Red Grade 1

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The Fish Fortress Ltd

The Fish Fortress Asia

Office 8, 10 Buckhurst Road Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, TN40 1QF, UK

Lot 5512 Jalan Bukit M erah, 34310 Tabuk Panchor, Perak, Malaysia

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