The Aquarium Hobby in Thailand
By Vinny Kutty
Originally published in Tropical Topics, Journal of the Indianapolis Aquarium Society,
late 1989
Aquarticles
In the September 1989 issue of Tropical Topics, I wrote an article about collecting
fish in Nigeria. This time the country is Thailand. Although my favorite collecting
memories are in West Africa, Thailand is quite unique in its own way. I suppose it is an
apples and oranges situation since I didn't do a whole lot of collecting in Thailand.
Anyway, during last summer, I had the opportunity to visit Thailand, India and a little
bit of Japan. In Japan, I saw cars and suits and in India I saw my grandparents who knew I
had some affinity towards fish and so they offered me fish cooked in all sorts of
"scrumptious" ways - it wasn't an easy situation to slither out of. That is as
close to fish as I came in India; I have done some collecting in India, but that was when
I was 7 or 8 years old and all I remember is walking home with Tilapia sp. in my
shirt pocket. So, which country are we left with? Thailand. Did I see any fish? Boy, did
I.
I have been waiting to share all this with you since last summer, but my last two
semesters at Purdue kept me so busy that I haven't had a chance to do this until now. Now
that Purdue is history, I have a little more free time...until I start grad school in
Gainesville, FL
As some of you may have read in The Optimum Aquarium by Kaspar Horst & Horst
Kipper, the aquarium hobby in Thailand is not quite a hobby, but it is more of a
tradition. The authors say that there are about 150 pet/fish stores in the capital city of
Bangkok alone! Although I wasn't quite that lucky in spotting too many of these fish
stores, I did see about a dozen of them. One of the nicest pet stores was in a chic
shopping mall in the middle of Bangkok! A far cry from our mall pet stores! My collecting,
or should I say observation since I didn't bring any fish back with me, was concentrated
in the peripheral areas of Bangkok. My short stay didn't allow me to run away into the
jungles. This was the first time I'd been in the tropics since my last trip to Nigeria and
I felt a very strong urge to cancel my flight and head south to the jungles near Phuket
(near the Malay border).
The biggest (pun intended) difference in fish keeping that I noticed right away here
and there is the Thai fishkeepers' fancy for very large fish. Although there are many,
many small species, immense species have a much larger market there than they do here.
Among the indigenous giants were the Catfish of the genus Pangassius; Eels of the
genus Mastacembelus; Knife fishes of the genus Notopterus, a few
Snakeheads (Channa sp.) and the Giant Gourami (Osphronemus gorami)
Foreign giants included Plecos, huge Catfish of the genera Platystoma,
Pseudoplatystoma and the Red-tail Catfish (Phractocephalus hemioliopterus),
all sorts of Arowana (I will elaborate on this later) Peacock bass (Cichla ocellaris);
all sorts of giant Pacus and most unbelievable of all was the bigger-than-the-owner
Pirarucu, (Arapima gigas). Pirarucu can get twice the size of a human!
The love of large fish is not just a Thai Phenomena, but one shared by fishkeepers in
most of the Orient. I have a theory about this and it is called Vinny's Arowana
Theory...YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF IT?? Well, now you will. You see, the Thai and
especially the Chinese believe that Arowana are a little sacred (actually more than a
little). Many of them believe that keeping Arowana will bring good luck and fortune. This
is a widespread belief and you will see Arowana being kept almost everywhere - in hotel
lobbies, banks and restaurants. Even gangsters and drug dealers are fond of them. (I read
this in the Bangkok Post, so don't ask me how I know that drug dealers have Arowanas in
their outposts). I went to a hotel which had a dozen 300 gallon tanks in its lobby with
Arowanas in all of them!! One of these tanks had a few 40" long Fire eels too!
So, what do you think one pays for Arowanas in the Orient? LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of
money. All Arowanas don't cost the same. You can buy two species, Osteoglossum
sp. from the Amazon and the Asian Scleropages formosus. The Amazonian species are
usually the same price as the White and Green Asian variety that is about $250 - $1500
depending on the size. The Golden variety is about twice as expensive. The most expensive
color morph is the Red Arowana which costs a whopping $6000! Of course, if you can come up
with a Xanthic form of either species, you will be very rich and will probably need guard
dogs posted around your tank! Most Thai and Asian aquarium magazines look like that cover
of National Babbler sold at our grocery check-out counters. Almost all the issues of these
magazines have Arowana on the cover or carry an article about them. Discus and Goldfish
are also given excess coverage.
So, back to the Vinny's Arowana Theory. What do you do if you are not rich and want an
Arowana to make you rich? Catch-22. So,the solution is to go and buy a fish that looks a
little like an Arowana - a Pirarucu! Simple isn't it? What if you cant afford a Pirarucu?
Go out and buy SOMETHING big. But then, I have a feeling that many Thais can afford both
Arowanas and Pirarucus because half the cars on the streets are BMW's! So, that is my
theory!
Here are a few odds and ends about the hobby in Thailand. Yes, folks they have the
painted Glassfish too, actually I have a feeling that some Thai started painting these
poor fish in the first place. They also have a few plastic (bite my tongue) plants and
even fluorescent gravel and violet-colored tankhoods. But the nice thing is that most of
the tanks I saw were natural looking. Thank God! Choice of fish in general was excellent
in almost all the pet stores I went to. They had some South American Cichlids
Geophagus sp.and some Australian Rainbows that I have only seen in books. Their
prices were also a lot lower than here. Here are some teasers: full-grown Orange
Chromides, Pseudotropheus sp., Red Rainbow (Glossolepis incisus), Scats,
Clown Knife, Glassfish, Amazon Sword plants, Rasbora, Brichardi (Neolamprologus
elongatus), Angelfish, Tinfoil barbs, Haplochromis venustus, Cichlasoma
synspilum and Haplochromis moori all for LESS THAN A DOLLAR EACH! Rasboras
were only 20 cents each.
Bangkok does have an Aquarium society, but none of the members spoke English, so that
was the end of that. They are however, involved in maintaining an excellent display of all
the native fish of Thailand in a Public Aquarium in the Fisheries Dept. of Bangkok
Kasetsart University. This is a great place to learn about these fishes because they are
maintained very well and are kept in beautiful tanks. I was strolling through their
hallways and I noticed I was the only one there. Soon, I was asked to leave for no reason!
I couldn't protest because I couldn't speak their language and I didn't feel like getting
into an argument in a foreign land. After I was whisked out, I noticed a bunch of black
limos outside the Fisheries Dept. I later found out that the Prince Ayanomiya Fumihito of
Japan had come to the department to study the freshwater fishes of Thailand! I got a
glimpse of him a few minutes after that. It was in the papers the next day.
The only thing I did close to collecting was when I was a few miles outside Bangkok and
snooping around the streams and pools. The fish that seemed ubiquitous was the Wrestling
Halfbeak (Dermogenys pusilis). They skimmed right under the surface of the water
waiting for something edible to fall in. There are reports of this fish being found in
brackish water only, but I saw them in very soft waters. I also saw a few Red-tailed
sharks near the bottom. Besides this, most of the other species were of the genus Puntius.
I only saw a Pangassius catfish once.
The local market's fish section (which consisted of pretty much the whole market) had
LOTS of Snakeheads, Pangassius Catfish and Eels. And for you killie nuts, how do
you like the idea of a dried, salted and spicy Aplocheilus panchax? The perfect
snack. They are crunchy and go very well with burgers and coke. Now you know what to do
with your culls.
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