1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
A calm, peaceful giant that does best in a huge tank with large peaceful fish.
113 species in our list are a good match.
A calm, peaceful giant that does best in a huge tank with large peaceful fish. Skittish, so avoid loud movement.
Not for home aquariums. This fish grows far too big for any home tank. It needs a pond-sized system of thousands of litres, so please don't buy one as a baby.
Sinking pellets, frozen krill and shrimp; fresh plankton-like foods.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Sexes are hard to tell apart; breeding fish of both sexes turn darker.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Nest builder ·
Breeds in the wet season in swamps and floodplains, building a circular nest about 1 m across and 20-60 cm deep with a wall of plant material rising above the water and a clean mud or clay floor. Not bred in aquaria; farmed in Africa for food.
Group and wait.
A massive pond with plant material.
Rainy-season rise in water level.
Amber eggs are laid on the inner walls of the plant nest and guarded; about 5 days later the young leave through a hole in the nest wall and are guarded by the male.
Fry feed on plankton.
A large African bonytongue that, despite the name, is not a true arowana (family Arapaimidae, with Arapaima). Unlike its relatives it is a filter feeder, taking mud, phytoplankton, plant debris and small invertebrates, and it is an obligate air-breather that copes with oxygen-poor water. Its hardiness and fast growth have made it a widely farmed food fish.
Georges Cuvier described this fish in 1829 as Sudis niloticus. Unlike Asian arowanas, it builds a nest and feeds by filtering plankton. It is a farmed food fish.
First described by Georges Cuvier in 1829.
17 facts checked with sources
Common names: African bonytongue, African arowana.
FishBase: Heterotis niloticus summaryLegacy has no family. Closer to Arapaima than to the true arowanas (Osteoglossidae); older works place it in Osteoglossidae or its own family Heterotidae.
FishBase: Heterotis niloticus summarySL. FishBase 100 cm SL (also 100 cm observed in Lake Kainji); hobby reference 90 cm.
FishBase: Heterotis niloticus summary · Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): African Arowana, Heterotis niloticusHobby reference only (no Seriously Fish profile).
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): African Arowana, Heterotis niloticusLegacy has no hardness. Hobby reference only.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): African Arowana, Heterotis niloticusThe only figure found (342 L) is for sub-adults and the same source says adults suit only juvenile-stage private aquaria; no adult tank size is sourced. Legacy 2,000 L not confirmed.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): African Arowana, Heterotis niloticusAggressive to its own kind, otherwise fairly peaceful toward fish too big to eat. Hobby reference only.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): African Arowana, Heterotis niloticusSources conflict: the hobby reference gives "S: top", FishBase says it also feeds on mud. Not confirmed.
FishBase: Heterotis niloticus summaryOnly a 1-10 hobby score (7) found; not mapped to the site scale. Legacy "moderate" understates the size problem.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): African Arowana, Heterotis niloticusLegacy has no range field.
FishBase: Heterotis niloticus summaryFishBase says coloration darkens in the breeding period, not specifically in males.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): African Arowana, Heterotis niloticus · FishBase: Heterotis niloticus summaryNo sourced egg count (legacy biz figure 2000-3000 not checked).
FishBase: Heterotis niloticus summary · Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): African Arowana, Heterotis niloticusConfirmed; "small prey" refined to small invertebrates and detritus. Easily spooked in aquaria (hobby reference).
FishBase: Heterotis niloticus summaryHobby reference only.
Tropical Freshwater Fish (hobby reference): African Arowana, Heterotis niloticus