Jardini Arowana (Scleropages Jardini) | Ultimate Care Guide |

Jardini Arowana is a close relative to the world-famous Asian Arowana.

While Asian Arowana is illegal to keep in the USA, keeping Jardini Arowana is legal because they originate from Australia and South America.

Jardini Arowanas are exotic fish that is fun to keep, but they require a lot of care. This article will go over everything that you need to know about Jardini Arowana Care.

What is Jardini Arowana? 

Jardini Arowana (Scleropages Jardini) is a carnivore fish that look similar to Silver Arowana in the juvenile age.

They are, however, a little bit smaller than silver Arowana but more aggressive than silver Arowana.

Originating from Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia, and South America, these fish inhabit shallow, slow-moving waters in the wild.

They are also known as Australian Arowana due to their origin.

These tropical fish are pretty aggressive carnivore fish species. So, you may not be able to find a suitable tank mate for Jardini Arowana.

Australian Arowana is regarded as one of the smallest Arowana species and one of the more expensive fish in the exotic fish market.

Still, they are bigger than your usual aquarium fish. Hence they need a giant tank to thrive.

Jardini Arowana Appearance

Jardini Arowana has an elongated body with large eyes and a wide mouth. They also have a greenish silver on its back and golden yellow color on the belly.

Jardini Arowanas have large scales, even though they are not as big as Asian Arowana. They closely resemble Asian Arowana but have a dull-colored body.

How big do Jardini Arowana get?

A juvenile fish sold in pet stores would have lengths of 3 to 10 inches, and they would look exactly like Silver Arowana.

Therefore, some hobbyists mistake them for Silver Arowana, buy them, and later get disappointed because of their size.

As we said before, Jardini Arowana is one of the smallest Arowana species you can find in the aquarium trade. They will reach only about 24 inches as adults.

Is Jardini Arowana aggressive?

Jardini Arowana is a super aggressive fish species.

They are territorial and will attack any other fish species that enters its territory, so keeping other fish with Jardini Arowana is not a wise choice unless you want that other fish dead.

Related: Platinum Arowana 15 facts

Jardini Arowana behavior

Unlike other Arowana species, Jardini Arowana is a less strict surface dweller. These fish will also explore in the middle layer of the tank.

They prefer shallow, slow-moving waters, and if they feel threatened by your filter, they will attack it. So, when installing a filter, make sure the water doesn’t move much because of it.

These fish are powerful swimmers, very aggressive and territorial fish. They will attack any creature that comes near to their territory regardless of its size.

Since these are carnivore fish with massive mouths with sharp teeth, many fish types do not stand a chance to fight against these fish. Hence they die most of the time.

How long do Jardini Arowanas live?

Jardini Arowana has a long lifespan, up to 20 years in captivity. However, these fish have a longer lifespan in the wild because there are fewer predators for these fish in the wild. 

One look care guide

Scientific name	Scleropages jardinii
Common name	Jardini Arowana Water Monkeys  Australian Arowana  Australian Pearl Arowana  Silver Barramundi  Northern Barramundi
Care level	Moderate
Native to	Australia and South America
Type	Freshwater fish
Color	greenish silver on its back and golden yellow color on the belly
Tank size	200 gallons
Preferred temperature	25-30C (77F – 86F)
Other water parameters (ammonia, etc.)	pH level: 6.5-7.5 Hardness: 16 DHAmmonia: 0ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: <30ppm
Size	24 inches in captivity
Life Span	Up to 20 years
Temperament	Very aggressive
Recommended tank mates	No tankmates
Preferred food	Live food (fish, shrimp, or frogs) Frozen foods
Breeding	Egg laying mouthbrooders, level hard

Jardini Arowana care

Although this is a dream fish of many aquarists, Jardini Arowana is not the kind of fish that can care easily.

They require massive space with specific water conditions to thrive.

Further, you may have to be comfortable with feeding live fish to these fish because they usually do not eat dead food or fish pellets.

Jardini Arowana size

Jardini can grow up to 60cm or about 24 inches in captivity. However, these fish are recorded to grow more in the wild.

They reach a length of about 90cm (35 inches) and weights of about 17.2kg maximum in the wild.

Jardini Arowana tank size

Since these are larger fish species, they need at least 200 gallons of water to thrive.

How many should Jardini Arowana be kept together?

No matter what you do, you can not house these fish together with any other fish. You have to keep these fish alone in fish tanks.

It means you can keep only one fish in a 200gallon fish tank.

Tank setup

Jardini Arowanas are tropical freshwater fish originating from Australia and South America, where the temperature ranges from 25-30C (77F – 86F).

So, their surrounding should meet tropical water conditions. Jardini Arowana needs at least 200 gallons of a water tank, with wide and open space for them to swim around.

Plants and Decorations

These fish prefer a planted environment that will make them feel safe and secure, but they also need plenty of open space to explore.

So you can include free floating plants as well as submerged plants into your aquarium accordingly. You can also provide some driftwood for them to hide when needed.

Water Current

The water should have a slow to no water current because their natural habitats are shallow, slow-moving waters.

So, you may not be able to add air stones or HOB filters to your tank. When setting up a filter in your tank, be sure to keep the water movement at the minimum levels.

A canister filter with a pair of intake and outflow ports at the tank’s two ends is best for an Arowana tank.

Substrate

Since these fish are surface and middle dwellers, they do not explore much of the substrate. Therefore, you can use any substrate you prefer in an Arowana tank.

If you prefer, you can even use no substrate at all. Keeping the bottom of your tank without substrate will make it easier for you to clean the aquarium fast.

Tank lid

Jardini Arowanas are spectacular and accomplished jumpers known to leap over the tank when they sense any prey over the water surface or feel threatened or insecure about their surrounding areas.

Therefore, it is essential to cover the tank with a tank lid. Otherwise, you may find a dead fish the other day after you see your Jardini Arowana jumping out of the tank.

Temperature and Lighting

The Jardini Arowanas are native to tropical areas with warm water, so you must maintain a temperature between 25-30C (77F – 86F) in their tank.

You can use any heater or thermostat for the Jardini Arowana tank. Jardini Arowana can also sense the changes in their surrounding environment, so you should keep a close watch on Jardini’s behavior and water conditions to make sure everything is fine with them.

These fish do not care about the light levels you provide in their tank. So, you can set up lighting to your likings.

But, we do not recommend strong lights as they may welcome unnecessary algae blooms in your Arowana tank.

Water quality condition

Jardini Arowana is tropical freshwater fish that originate from Australia and South America, where the temperature ranges from 25-30C (77F – 86F).

So, you will have to provide exact temperatures in your fish tank to make them happy. They can survive in soft to medium hardness water. The recommended water hardness level is about 16DH.

The pH level should be between 6.5 to 7.5, and tolerable water impurities levels are as below.

• Ammonia:             0ppm
• Nitrite:                  0ppm
• Nitrate:                 <30ppm

It is recommended to carry out weekly partial (25%) water changes. However, this frequency may vary due to aquarium filtration efficiency.

Jardini Arowana breeding 

Just like other Arowana species, aquarium breeding these species is extremely difficult.

The male fish has a longer anal fin and protruding jaw while the female fish has a shorter anal fin compared to the male fish.

They are egg-laying mouthbrooders that spawn in the wet season. Jardini Arowana lays about 50 to 200 eggs in one spawn.

The female Arowana carries the eggs in his mouth for about three weeks until they hatch.

Arowanas are, in fact, good parents. They do not leave the fry even after they hatch. The female Arowana keeps fish fry for about four to five weeks and houses the fry in its mouth when threatened.

This is a unique habit found in very few fish species. Still, unfortunately, we can not watch this behavior in captivity because these fish need at least 600 gallons of the tank to breed.

You need to be an experienced Arowana fish keeper to be able to reproduce these fish.

After all, Jardini Arowanas are not bred in the aquariums because of their high aggression and territorial behavior.

Jardini Males will fight until one fish dies, so it is better to keep only a single Jardini male in a tank to survive other Jardini females.

Special tips

Jardini Arowanas are extremely hardy fish that rarely becomes sick.

If they become ill, the cause would most likely be the poor water condition, especially increased Ammonia and Nitrite levels.

Therefore, weekly 25% water changes are necessary to keep these fish healthy and happy.

How to feed Jardini Arowana ?

These fish are carnivores and can eat anything from small insects to medium-sized aquatic creatures such as fishes, brine shrimp, or frogs.

Jardini Arowanas typically feed on live food since Jardinis are not friendly with dead food.

Their diet contains about 60% of protein and 30% fat in the wild. However, this requirement can be reduced by about 50% in captivity as these fish get less exercise in aquariums due to smaller space.

If your fish is trained to eat fish pellets and frozen foods (freeze-dried ghost shrimp, krill, bloodworms etc) in their juvenile age, you can continue feeding them this diet without any problems.

However, do not change the diet to live food even once because once your fish tastes live food, it will not turn back to pellet food or frozen food again.

Further, feeding living fish is less humane for the prey because the prey does not stand a chance to survive.

You can feed these fish once or twice per day, but it is common for them to not eat at all for weeks, even if you feed them.

So, if your fish seems healthy, and refuse to eat some days, do not panic as they are used to that lifestyle.

Tank mates of Jardini Arowana?

Although Arowanas are stunning fish that would be great if mixed with other fish species, unfortunately, you can not house these fish with any other fish in the same tank.

Jardini Arowanas are very aggressive and territorial, so they would kill every living creature with their powerful jaws when kept together, even if it is a smaller Jardi female.

Therefore, Jardini Arowanas should be housed alone in separate tanks, which means you have to keep only one Jardi for your aquarium, and you can not watch Jardini Arowana breeding in your aquarium.

But on rare occasions, they know to coexists with fish like predatory catfish, Oscar, and large plecos.

However, Jardini Arowanas are very aggressive even towards their own species, so it is recommended to keep only one male Jardi with two or three female Jardis for mating purposes and to prevent physical harm among the fish.

If you feel lucky, you can house Jardi males together, but it is not recommended because Jardini Arowanas are more aggressive than other species of the same genus.

Related Questions

Are Jardini Arowana legal in the USA?

Although Jardini Arowana looks like the Asian Arowana, both are different species.

Unlike Asian Arowana, which is endangered and banned in the United States, Jardini Arowana is not on the list of banned fish.

You can buy Jardini Arowanas from some countries like Thailand or Malaysia.

How much Jardini Arowana cost?

The Jardini Arowana are relatively rare and expensive. They can cost about $150 to 400 per fish in the market.

As these fish resemble Golden Arowana, some pet shops sell Jardini Arowana at higher prices (this practice is common in India).

Unfortunately, there is no way to find the difference between Jardini Arowana and Golden Arowana in their juvenile age. So, it is better to buy these species from a reputable pet shop.

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