Green Arowana

I wanted to buy a Green Arowana.


A Green Arowana is the cheapest of the Asian Arowana fish. The fact is that the Chinese does not like Green Arowana as much as the Red Arowana, even though they belong to the same species.

The Chinese associate the color red as the lucky color, and green as the unlucky color. There is a saying that you lose money until your face turns green. That is why Green Arowana is not associated with luck.

The Asian Arowana, including the Green Arowana, is a protected fish.

You can go to jail for importing or exporting the fish without a permit. All Asian Arowana come with a certificate and a tag.

I wanted to buy a Green Arowana because of the comparably lower price. There are more Green Arowana available in the market than the more expensive breed of the Asian Arowana, commonly known as the Dragon Fish.

However, the uncle at the fish shop told me that there is no stock for Green Arowana. It seemed that the Chinese in mainland China are snapping up the world stock of Green Arowana.

I was quite surprised to hear that. The uncle at the fish shop said that that was the only time he faced the shortage of Green Arowana. He had been in the business of selling Dragon Fish for 30 years.

My initial plan was to get a Green Arowana, and to take care of the fish for a few years. If the fish died, I would not feel such a loss. I would have gained experience in taking care of such a majestic fish, before I bought the more expensive dragon fish.

Since there was no stock for Green Arowana, I bought the second cheapest breed. I bought my little Banjar Red Arowana. The local called it as the Yellow Tailed Arowana.

Banjar Red Arowana is actually a cross breed between Red Arowana and Green Arowana. I have taken care of my little fish for half a year, and it has never given me any problem.

When I bought the fish home, it was just 6 inches in size. That was in May 2010. Now is just the end of August 2010, and my little fish has grown to a feet.

Even though Asian Arowana is a fast growing fish, it is still relatively rare for a fish to grow from 6 inches to a feet within four months.

My little Banjar Red Arowana is really very greedy. It keeps on knocking at the fish tank to ask for food. I know that the tail of my little fish will turn yellowish once it reaches adult size. I just hope that the reddish color retains.

At the moment, my little Banjar Red Arowana does not look very different from a Red-tailed Arowana. The tail is still reddish.

In a sense, I am glad that the Green Arowana was not available when I wanted to buy. Green Arowana will never have a spark of reddish color anywhere.

As for the legend of how Red Arowana brings more luck than Green Arowana, I cannot comment on that. My Banjar Red Arowana does not make me feel any luckier than before. It seems to bring more luck to my mother than me.