Osteoglossum bicirrhosum
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| Osteoglossum bicirrhosum | ||||||||||||||||
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| Osteoglossum bicirrhosum , |
Osteoglossum bicirrhosum is a freshwater bony fish of the family Osteoglossidae, commonly known as the silver arowana.
Osteoglossum means "bone tongue" and bicirrhosum means "two barbels"
Its habitat is the Amazon river in South America.
It has a long body and a tapered tail and can grow to a maximum size of around 3 feet in captivity. In the wild, it has been known to reach over 4 feet in length. The juveniles usually a dull silver color with black markings around the head and the tail. Once it reaches about 6 inches, the markings will disappear and it will start obtain the silvery color, hence its common name.
Also called the "monkey fish" because it can literally jump out of the water and capture its prey. It usually swims near the water surface awaiting for potential prey. Although it has been known to eat larger prey like small monkeys and birds, their main diets consist of shrimps, insects, smaller fishes and other animals that float on the water surface, on which its draw-bridge-like mouth is exclusively adapted for feeding.
Arowana are also called a "dragonfish" by aquarists because of its shiny armor-like scales, which are similar to the Asian’s folklore of dragons. Although usually they are referring to as the Scleropages_formosus or Asian Arowana.
Maintaining Arowanas as pets
Tank Size
It’s important to have a large enough tank to keep these large fishes. The minimum tank size for one Arowana is 55 gallons. As it grows, a larger tank will be necessary to insure the maximum length and life span of the Arowana.
Water Conditions
Water conditions are important for Arowanas. Some black water additives can help simulate the Arowana’s natural habit. Aquarium Salt may also help reduce stress and give them important enzymes.
pH - 6.6~6.9, a little below 7.0
Hardness - soft, 50 ppm
Temperature - 75 F~82 F, but best at 78 F
Also a 20%~25% water change is necessary every week to maintain excellent water condition.
Feeding
It is very important that you do not overfeed Arowana when they’re young, because as they grow, they might develop drop eye. Arowanas will eat insects, shrimp, pellets, live fish, beef heart, frogs, etc. The best diet for Arowanas is pellets, live crickets, and shrimps.
Tank mates
Any fish will do as long as it doesn’t fit in the Arowana’s mouth. Many people like having more then one Arowana in the tank, that’s fine and all but they must be at least 3 or more in the tank at a time because Arowanas are very aggressive towards each other.