Arowana - Harvesting the babies

A few days back, I paid a visit to our Arowana pond somewhere in Bukit Merah. As luck would have it, one of fish had babies. Thus I would like to share how the harvesting process was done. Only the male Arowana carries the eggs until they hatch. Then the babies are kept in the mouth still, for approximately 2 months, just about the time their egg yolk sac diminishes and they had to start eating thru the mouth.



The farm area is a Strictly Restricted Area



Harvest is every 55 days

  

The farm was bustling with activities

Our pond

The Preparation

2 workers were in the pond, one on each side

The worker ensures that there was no gaps between the sides of the pond with the net

 

A large net was dragged from end to end



The net was hiked up coz the arowanas are able to 'jump' out of the water at a considerable height

The Harvesting

The dude spotted a 'suspicious' looking Arowana

He gets it into the 'quarantine' net

Here he is feeling the underside of the mouth to check whether there are any babies in the mouth

The 'quarantine' net was replaced with a bigger net

Since the Arowana is an energetic fish, the only non-drug based inducement to 'tranqualize' the fish was by spinning it around until it gets dizzy...very basic...hehe 

The fish was coaxed to open its mouth

Suddenly out comes the babies

And more babies...

Final check to see if there are anymore inside

The babies were quite mature...approximately 2 months old as there were no egg yolk sac left

The babies collected in a plastic bag...

...and immediately sent to the Nursery

The Nursery

The nursery...very hygienic place

The latest addition to the family...

...and his siblings



... and his elder brothers and sisters from the previous harvest

Strike a pose...camera whore like its owner :)

Viagra for My Arowana

About 6 months back, a few family members and I pooled our resources and invested in an Arowana breeding program. The program was run by a very successful Arowana Fish Farm in Bukit Merah. The species that we chose was the Malaysian Golden Crossback Arowana. This species is very high in demand and unique only to Bukit Merah lake area.

Best Grammy Performance

Hmmm...last Wednesday (about 3 days after getting the hamsters), I noticed this particular hammy (that's what I call hamsters) closing her eyes all the time, had rapid breathing and she was lying at the back of their house. Even after nugging her a few times, she didn't open her eyes.

When I forced her to wake up, she stumbled to the slide, and still with her eyes closed, tumbled down the slide, and lay at the bottom with rapid breathing. I thought she was about to die (nazak). As I was on my way out, I told my maid to keep a watch out for that particular hammy.

I spoke to CaTz about it, and she told her story of her kid's hamsters. Evidently, from her experience, having 3 lady hamsters could lead to bullying of the weakest hammy, which would eventually die from harassment. I was shocked and I thought maybe that was the case back home.

When I got home, the maid and my mum were outside, cleaning the cage and giving the hamsters a 'bath'. Guess what? That particular hammy that looked like she was on her 'death bed' was running up and down.

Huh? That hammy played a fast one on me, a real drama queen. She looked at me as if she was making fun of me with those cheeky eyes. I was made a fool by a hammy.....

Cute little ladies

Hamsters...are the last thing I thought that my mum would ever agree to bring into the house as pets. At last, she was too weak to fight off the affection for her 2 grandchildren a.k.a. my sons, that over the weekend after lunch, she disappeared with them. I was wondering where did she went off to.

When they arrived home, there were 3 additional passengers in the car...3 hamsters. One each for my sons and maybe one for me (since that one was bigger than the other 2). There was also a string of accessories, namely wood shaving, pellets, shampoo or what ever you call that, a bungalow cage etc etc.

The funny thing is, each hamster adapted quite well in a very short time. Each of them has a different character, and have a personal 'lepak' spot in the cage. Cute little fellas...but don't let the size fool you. Their appetite are enormous....

Have you ever wondered...when you look at your parents, as you were growing up, how fierce and enforcing they seem to be....but when it comes to your children, they just melt away like butter on a hot pan? Hmmmm.....

Aku seekor ikan arowana

IKAN ARWANA
Kalo yang ini kalau di aquarium memperlihatkan kesombongan dan keangkuhan kerana tau tubuhnya indah, langkahnya lemah gemalai dan memancing mata.. nakal melihatnya di manapun dia bergaya.....
So pasti harganya mahal kalau ingin memilikinya....
INI PERAGAWATI, CELEBRITY or keatas........

Hahaha...the above is a description...if a girl is a fish, what type of fish would she be. There were quite a few, but I just chose this one, Arowana. Having reared one a few years back, I am a bit qualified to comment...let's look at this fish...

This fish is a beauty and true as mentioned, very arrogant. This is one fish that wouldn't bow its head even to look for food at the bottom of the aquarium. Instead it chose to keep its nose high and at the same time strain its eyes as hard as it could to look for food at the bottom. Which is why this fish is also prone to having either one or both eyes popping out from its socket. All in the name of arrogance of its beauty. Wow. After this happens, then the beauty that it is so proud of is no longer there.

Pity the fish because it doesn't realized that the attention it is attracting is superficial. People look not out of sincerity, but just the lust for its beauty. After they are done, they'll leave and at the end of the day, the arrogant Arowana leads a lonely depressing life as a loner. Ironically, the Arowana, crazy about getting all the attention, feels contented, and blinded by arrogance and ignorance, continue to worship these people and wait for the next time when they come to ogle at her again.

I used to look at mine, admiring it as well as feeling pity. It was so arrogant, but demand your attention. Try ignoring it, and soon it'll be trashing about in its aquarium, complaining. It was my companion during the trying times of my divorce. Earlier on, I tried introducing another Arowana to keep it company as its soul mate, but it was too arrogant and continuously harassed the other fish until it died. That fish was the only one who would genuinely feel for it, from one Arowana to another, but no, my Arowana chose the superficial humans instead.

I take pity on the beautiful Arowana, as because of its arrogance and ignorance, it leads a very lonely life in the aquarium, pacing to and fro while waiting for people to come and ogle at her beauty.