How Arowana Coloration Works

1 How Arowana Coloration Works

How to Support Arowana Coloration

In early coloration, environment leads and hormones assist. As the fish grows, environment and hormones matter about equally, and during the breeding period hormones lead with environment assisting. So in the early stage, environment dominates—mainly the lighting in the tank. Coloration is inseparable from light: to get vivid color you must give enough light, and not just surface light—it must reach into the water to stimulate the pigment layer to produce and build up color. Of course, the fish also needs enough of the right pigment to begin with.

Lighting for Red Arowana

When young, use mainly white tubes to speed up frame development and widen gill-plate color. From juvenile to sub-adult, increase white light to speed coloring and add one or two red tubes to deepen the body color. From sub-adult to adult (about 8–20 months), combine white and red light to widen and intensify color. Around 20 months, color is basically stable; for a final push keep the white-and-red combination, or use more red light if you are happy with the result, to lock in depth. After that, keep red light with a dark environment to maintain the color.

Lighting for Golden Arowana

From juvenile to sub-adult, use white light throughout, matching length and wattage to tank size (join tubes if needed) to promote scale coverage and color.

Once mature (after about 20 months), when color development is essentially complete, add one warm-yellow tube.

Note: In the wild, arowana get sunlight every day, but tank fish rarely see the sun, so choose the light closest to sunlight (for example, an NEC tube) instead. Daily light is necessary for healthy growth; without it the fish can lose both looks and health. Keep this in mind.