need help in identifying super red arowana
- Thread starter Utd89
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The cert is only as good as the farm.
I doubt there is any pure lines left except for one or two farms, perhaps Munjul.
I think Super Red would be more honest than either of the other. And anyway, can you really tell whether a fish is chilli red or blood red? Even after 7 years?
I really doubt so. The "blood" and "chilli" no longer matters nowadays. And the cert is not a good indication, it never is and never will be.
You should be able to tell the differenc between chilli and blood red
One has a pear shape tail the othe has a fan shape tail
They have diffent body shape one is longer and slimmer
One has more of a spoon head than the other
One has longer peck fins than the other
I don't know which type holds which traits but I'm sure after a bit of reasurch I could tell the difference
Farm cert the higher with more traits they have meaning a fish veered blood or chilli red than a super red as a super red can be a mix of both chilli and blood
One has a pear shape tail the othe has a fan shape tail
They have diffent body shape one is longer and slimmer
One has more of a spoon head than the other
One has longer peck fins than the other
I don't know which type holds which traits but I'm sure after a bit of reasurch I could tell the difference
Farm cert the higher with more traits they have meaning a fish veered blood or chilli red than a super red as a super red can be a mix of both chilli and blood
Have not seen any icythiologists' work on Red arowanas specifically, it's a pity that there are very few studies done on Asian arowanas. The difficulty is magnified many times because the fishes may not even be found in the wild anymore. I have been very keen to get hold of any research paper on arowanas.
Noone IDs a red based on those features that are mentioned, whether adult or juvenile.
The farms easily alters tail features by slitting the tail of a juvenile red several times after it grows back, until the tail becomes one big fan. Hobbyists like big fan tails.
I've seen many adult Reds, they all look the same in terms of body shape, in fact those in Aquarama that are very red (blood red) have big bodies, not long slim ones. The body shape is determined by the diet and readiness of the fish to eat well, you can't tell whether they are chilli or blood by looking at the body.
Pectoral fins - frankly I have noticed that Gan's reds have very short pects, Emperor Reds have long pecs(these are neither named chilli nor blood). Gan breed his reds from Violet Fusion (Qian Hu) and he has Munjul breeding stocks as well (which is blood red). I've not given much thought to pects as a way to distinguish one from the other so I can't comment. Emperor Reds are orange, they never get red, the winner of Aquarama red section, Ken Yg (a fellow Mod in Arofanatics) won with an Emperor Red - super long pects and beautiful body shape.
What we have been passed down are from something akin to folklore, there has been no scientific basis for arriving at those descriptions. Many of us have seen those descriptions on farm websites, hobbyists posts, etc.
I have briefly seen some Japanese book describe the difference between blood and chilli red. The head differences, and colouring. You know a red develops it's colour slowly, with the red spreading from one end of the body to the other end, usually from the front to the back. According to the book, a chilli red colours from the front to the back, a blood from back to the front. But looking at supposedly branded blood red aros, I see it is not consistent with what the book describes and if so there are no more blood red aros.
If a farm wants to sell their fishes at a higher price, they simply call them blood red. Who can sue them? If the colour is orange and not red after 7 years (it takes 7 years for a red to mature and start breeedin), guess what? The farm will say the owner did not take care of the fish, that's why the true colours never came!
During the Indonesian crisis when the Rupiah was really down to it's lowest depths, super red arowanas coming from Indonesia were going for as low as S$500. Chilli reds were priced higher at $600 for the same size. What we learnt was that the $500 fish have all sorts of problems such as plj, clamped fins, etc, they were like lower grade fishes. Those marketed as Chilli reds (Yuda) were preselected for plj, seem in better shape. At a higher price were the Fire Reds, VIPs, these were supposed to be red but no mention is made of whether they are chilli or blood red. Brand prevails.
Now after the Rupiah has strengthened and keeps going up, price of Chilli reds have gone up to $950. Haven't seen the SR for a while. Fire Reds are at $1388.
From my own observation, the terms chilli red is a name used by farms for an occasion that best suit their marketing strategies. We see signs of a whole lot of branding, the market is moving away from blood vs chilli red to brand recognition. Strong brands such as Fire Red, VIP, Munjul thrive. Take Singapore's case. If you look at one of the other biggest importer of reds in Singapore, Qian Hu (as opposed to Rainbow) the branding has gone on to another level, selection by body shape - SR, Chilli reds, Spoon Head Violet Fusion, Armoured Violet Fusion. Sorting will determine which fish gets classified as which brand. If a fish shows signs of a spoon head, SHVF is used. A fish with a stout body, "double chin" is given AVF status and sells at a whopping $1800.
In Singapore's case, the sellers have chosen to market Super Reds at lower prices than the branded aros such as Fire Red, VIP, SHVF, AVF. Not sure about what is happening in the Red market in other countries, perhaps those who are into reds can share. It may not be the same scenario because my belief is that it is all down to marketing strategies. In my view, all are Grade 1 fishes. Naturally, some have better endowment in having redder scales, and there is an attempt to create brands to differentiate these from others, naturally sold at a premium price.
Some SRs in Singapore have turned out to be outstanding fishes that are even better than the branded reds.
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