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Arowana; comp., selection questions
3/24/16
CNBC.com Article: Malaysian Investment Firm Bets on Dragon
Fish Bonds 3/12/12 'Dragon fish' pricey but
popular 1/20/12
Re: My story and questions... Arowanas, CITES & Ammonia 11/22/07 Neale, <Andy,> Thank you very much for the quick reply. That's what I really like about you guys. Quick and straight forward. Some people may take your advice the wrong way, but you're just being honest and I take it as constructive criticism. <Good oh.> Your reply really gave me a wake up call. I should really stop bringing home fish that attract me from the LFS and start planning a goal for the tank. <Exactly.> That's not something many others would say. <Perhaps not.> I always had the mentally of aggressive fish with other aggressive fish would be a balance but I guess not. <Doesn't work like that.> I will be trying to find good homes for my fellow friends since I am not capable of providing tanks for all the different individuals. I really hate to see them go, but it must be done. <Quite possibly.> Just a few more quick questions, and I'll try to stay out of your hair as much as possible. As of current, do you know if/are freshwater stingrays and Asian Arowanas still illegal in CA/USA. I'm getting contradicting information on this issue and can't find it in Department of Fish and Game web site. <They are NOT legal in the United States. The situation is this: Scleropages species (Asian Arowanas) are listed on the CITES appendix 1. This allows for trade only if the animal in question is captive-bred or otherwise certified to not be reducing wild populations by its sale. So in Europe, you certainly can buy Asian Arowanas. It costs thousands of dollars, and there's paperwork to sign and electronic chips in the fish, but there is at least a trade in captive-bred fish. In the US, Scleropages are further controlled by the Endangered Species Act in addition to CITES, and this prohibits any sale of any listed species regardless of whether captive-bred or wild-caught. Until such time as the ESA is amended to exclude captive-bred specimens of listed species, Asian Arowanas will not be legal within the United States. You can read an FAQ on the topic of pets here: http://www.fws.gov/international/permits/pets.html and specifically on Scleropages here: http://www.fws.gov/permits/faqs/FaqB.shtml#bonytongue > As for the 170 gallon tank, does one Jardinei or Flowerhorn and a Scarlet Pleco (L-25 Pseudacanthicus sp.) sound reasonable to you? <Sounds fine. If you find this works and all your fish are happy, you might well be able to add another catfish, just not a Plec. Arowana tend to be more tolerant of bottom dwellers than midwater or upper-level fish. In any event, start with a few fish, see how things work in terms of nitrates and social behaviour, and then act accordingly.> As for the 55er, what's my best way to correct the circulation issue. Due to it being a concealed tank with pre-cut slots on the top, I am unable to add another hang on filter or external power filter. Should I just modify the Emperor 400 with extended intake tubes to the side corners? <I'd simply add two or three marine aquarium powerheads. There are some nice units with magnetic holders so you can attach them wherever you want in the tank. A friend of mine has some of these called 'Hydor Koralia' in her reef tank and they seem to work very well.> I suppose internal power filters or Wavemakers/water pumps might work, but are very distracting when viewing the tank. Another step would be to do some cutting/drilling work, but I want to leave that as a last resort due to the disturbance it would do to the tank. <Indeed.> What's your recommendation here? <If all else fails, add another canister filter. No single addition to your hardware will have so many benefits: water quality, aeration, circulation, and current for fish to swim into. Powerheads and airstones make viable alternatives, but they don't improve filtration.> Another question is for human ingestion of ammonia in drinking water. Reading many FAQ's from WWM crew (mainly BF) dislikes the idea of ammonia in our tap water. <Ammonia is toxic and we certainly don't need to consume it, and adding it to aquaria is obviously A Bad Thing. On the other hand, as with everything, it's the dose that matters. Trace amounts won't do humans any harm.> Yet, recently I received another e-mail from my water company stating, "There are no current standards for California for Ammonia. Health Implications Ingestion of large doses of ammonium chloride has been shown to cause headache, nausea, diarrhea and failure in glucose tolerance. However, ammonia is not an immediate health concern, and there appears to be little risk to humans from the ingestion of ammonia in drinking water. There is no evidence that ammonia is carcinogenic. However, ammonia is a source of nitrates and may compromise disinfection efficiency and filter performance. Ammonia is not currently regulated by USEPA. Canada has no guideline for ammonia. WHO has a non-health-based guideline based on avoiding consumer complaints." <Standard answer really. What they're saying is since there's no provable connection between low ammonia concentration and health problems, they aren't going to get sued, and so aren't bothered either way. Given the other problems California has to deal with in terms of water (i.e., actually getting enough to serve the population) I'm certainly sympathetic to them not sweating over the small stuff.> From what I get of this, our water if fine for ingestion? What do you think? <I'm not a doctor (well, I am, a PhD, but what I mean is I'm not an MD!) so I can't really give advice here beyond saying ammonia isn't a good thing to have in water at least from a fishkeeper's perspective. Ammonia is definitely toxic to fish and has been comprehensively proven to be so in laboratory conditions. Even as little as 0.5 mg/l causes death in some species and weakens others to the extent of reducing resistance to diseases such as Finrot. On the other hand, if you have human health worries about your water supply, that's something to discuss with a medical practitioner rather than an aquarist!> Welp that's it for now. Thanks a lot for your time. Reply is greatly appreciated. Andy. <I hope this helps, Neale.> Smuggling Arowanas This is my first email to you fine folks, though I am a loyal reader. Heard about this story on the local news, thought you might be interested. <Thank you for sending this along Joe. Will share. Bob Fenner> http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/niagaracounty/story/377129.html LEWISTON -- An officer at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge thought there was something fishy about two men from Long Island who tried to cross the bridge into the United States over the weekend. And after the officer questioned the two men for a while and searched their vehicle, he arrested them on charges of smuggling four Asian dragon fish -- an endangered species -- over the border. Robert Battaglia, 40, and Richard Feustel, 59, are accused of illegal importation of wildlife. They were arrested by U. S. Customs & Border Protection officers Saturday and appeared in federal court Monday. Officers said the live Asian Arowana fish were found in bags of water, hidden in the spare tire well of the car. Authorities said Battaglia told officers he paid $1,000 each for the fish in a Toronto pet store and was planning to take them to New York City. Authorities said the long, slender fish are considered lucky by some Chinese people because of their resemblance to a Chinese dragon. The fish were turned over to the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service to be used as evidence by federal prosecutors. Customs & Border Protection officials said the fish are considered an endangered species and cannot be possessed in the U. S. without a permit. Arowanas? Hey, I'm trying to help my mom out because she wants to put an Arowana or two into her 400 gallon tank as a show fish for her restaurant. I would like to know if you could give me any links to good breeders or retailers of Arowanas. <Mmm, I know of some breeders of Scleropages in the orient... but there are none in the U.S. as far as I'm aware... If you have the time, patience, it's better to grow one up yourself... or barring this, make an exhaustive search through local to not-so-local fish stores in your area... leaving your business card for them to call you should someone come in looking to trade theirs> Please send me an e-mail back soon, she would like to get started as soon as possible. Also, is it possible to keep more than 1 male and 1 female Arowana together in a 400 gallon tank? Thank You. <They can be kept together... but getting them to do when they're larger... is tough at times. Lastly, for sure do make sure the top is completely covered... great jumpers. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/osteoglossiforms.htm Bob Fenner> STI News: Fish farmers going all out to stop thieves (Arowana
Rustling) This message was forwarded to you from Straits Times
Interactive (http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg) by
perrychong@hotmail.com <Thanks Perry. Will post for our Arowana
keepers. Bob F> Comments from sender: Pet fish trade in Singapore
Fish farmers going all out to stop thieves by Ginnie Teo SOMETHING
fishy's going on in the ornamental fish scene, and fish farmers
here are not taking any more chances. One fish farmer who lost $20,000
worth of Arowana recently is installing a $5,000 security system.
Another is putting up a surveillance camera that enables him to keep an
eye on his prized fish even while he is at home, via his computer.
Other farmers are also beefing up security by carrying out more patrols
of their farms or keeping a closer watch on suspicious characters who
enter their shops. This comes after a recent spate of thefts which saw
over $140,000 worth of ornamental fish being stolen. Arowana specialist
Goh Kok Gan was one of the unlucky victims. He lost seven of his
precious charges on March 22 when thieves walked out of his Jalan Bukit
Ho Swee shop, Dragon's Home, with them while the attendant was busy
talking to customers. The fish were worth close to $20,000. Mr. Goh has
since installed surveillance cameras. He said: 'We already have a
security system in place at night to detect intruders, but we
didn't have one to watch over shoppers. 'This should help deter
thieves. Hopefully, we won't become victims again.' Mr. David
How, 50, of D'Koi Universe at Farmart Centre in Choa Chu Kang, has
linked his surveillance camera to his home computer. He couldn't
have timed it better. Just last week, he caught a student stealing an
expensive guppy from his shop. He said: 'He took the fish from my
shop and was already at another shop trying to steal again. Luckily, my
brother caught him.' The 14-year-old boy was released with a
warning. Over at Qian Hu Fish Farm in Jurong, over $100,000 was spent
on hiring security guards, training guard dogs and installing a
surveillance system before it opened in 2000. And it is not a one-time
cost. The system costs $2,000 to $3,000 a month to maintain. Qian Hu
has also embedded microchips into its Arowanas. These contain
electronically-coded information such as the farm producing them. This
means that stolen Arowanas can be tracked down. But some fish sellers
say that, sometimes, simple precautions are the best. Mr. Benjamin Wee,
26, who runs PetMart at Serangoon North, suggests keeping expensive
fish out of people's reach. He said: 'Just put the expensive
ones higher up so that people can't reach them. 'Or install
covers over the tanks. That should keep thieves away.' On where the
stolen fish were ending up, Mr. Kenny Yap, executive chairman and
managing director of Qian Hu Corporation, believes a black market for
ornamental fish has emerged. He said: 'There are more thefts now
because the ornamental-fish business is a booming industry at the
moment. There are people out there who will pay for the best fish.
'The thieves know this. They are opportunists cashing in on the
times.' The export of ornamental fish, which includes guppies,
goldfish and the iridescent dragon fish, was worth more than $70
million for Singapore last year. IP Address:192.169.41.36 |
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