Breeding Asian Arowanas Is A Lucrative Business But
Today we see an interesting development of individuals who are enquiring about the feasibility of investing in arowana breeding farms. These potential investors are ofcourse only interested in the more expensive asian arowanas which consists mostly of the cross back gold, red and red tail golden (or RTG) arowanas. We will continue to see a steady increase in demand due to the growing affluence in many parts of Asia especially in China.
The asian arowana’s resemblance to the mythical dragon has made them a much sort after ‘feng shui’ fish. They are considered a ‘good luck’ fish and many people swear by this! Many feng shui masters have considered them to be one of the three ‘lucky’ fishes, the other two being goldfish and koi. There was a ‘fourth’ one which is the flowerhorn or ‘Luo Han’ but I think this is passe now and has not really stood the test of time.
The fact that asian arowanas are hard to breed has driven up and maintained their high price in the hobbyist market. There are only 3 countries in the world today, namely Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia that have commercially bred asian arowanas successfully. Some have tried to breed them in other Asian countries with similar climates but to no avail and this has caused demand to always outstrip supply. Some have tried to breed asian arowanas in tanks but the very low success rates does not make it a commercial option at all.
As is evident above, the arowana breeding business can be highly profitable when done on a commercial basis. This has driven up the interest of people wanting to get into this business. But please be aware of some of the inherent risks before you do take the plunge into it.
1) The initial investment into this can be quite substantial because you have to purchase many adult arowanas of breeding age. You will also need many ponds of about 20-40 adult arowanas each if this is to succeed as a business because not all ponds will be producing from day one. Each adult arowana will cost between $5000 - $10,000 so you will need to work out your sums. And this cost is on top of the investment you have put in for the farm itself!
2) Even if you have the farm and the arowanas in place, there is still a chance that they will not breed enough for you to sustain the farm. Please do not take the plunge if you do not have someone experience to run it for you. You need an experience individual with a ’sharp’ eye who can spot pairing arowanas (which means possible male arowanas that are carrying the fry in their mouth) and know when is the right time to harvest the fry. Even experience breeders don’t get it right all the time, let alone us. So be mindful here!
3) Asian arowanas have only been successfully bred commercially in three countries. They are Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. If you are thinking of breeding them anywhere else, think again carefully and know the risks here. Asian arowanas do not breed easily and need a right mix of climate, water and soil in the mudponds to do so. However are we saying that you will not succeed anywhere else? No one can say for sure. As long as you venture in knowing full well the risks, then go for it! Who knows!.. you could be the first to succeed and be the talk of the arowana community!
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