Originally Posted by
luisito1977
There are actually many different beliefs when talking about Arrowanas. Many Chinese feel that since they look so much like chinese dragons they are the dragon fish.
It is believed that the Green Asian Arrowana should be displayed in the workplace or business and that if the fish does well and lives long the business will flourish and much money will come to the owner.
The Red Asian Arrowana is said to bring the owner good luck and ward off evil spirits. In fact some people look at the Red Asian Arrowana as a guardian of sorts... If the Arrowana is well kept it will fnd off evil spirits or negative energy and if one day ends the Arrowana randomly dies it is said that the Arrowana sacrificed itself and took the evil spirit or energy in place of the owner.
I can't remember what the gold one is supposed to do... sorry...
No matter how beautiful these fish are it is illegal to own them in the United States unless you can prove that the fish was imported prior to 1970's something due to the CITES legislation because these Arrowana are an endangered species. They are currently being farmed in Thailand, China and Sigapore but these are carefully monitored and implanted with microchips and certificates to show what strand they are and where/when they were bred.
It is legal to own and import them to Canada, but I believe it is a felony to import into the United States. In my life (only 31) I have only seen four Asian arrowanas and three of them were the Green Asian Arrowana, but the other was a beautiful Red Arrowana that took my breath away.
The closest we can legaly get is the Jardini Arrowana fro Australia or the Silver Arrowana and Black Arrowana from the Amazon. These fish really require a large tank however. The Asians can be kept in a 180, but the silver and black Arrowanas can get up to 36 inches in length and you would want a minimum of that as the depth for your tank and double or triple that for the length. Once they get that big they should really be in a pond some where. I really love these fish. I think they truly are something special.