The mantra for choosing arowana: look at the frame but not the scales, look at the brightness but not the gold, look at the beads but not the head, look at the goods but not the pictures.

PS: This standard only applies to arowanas above 20 cm

You can’t see the scales when you look at the frame:

Why do you say this? In fact, it is helpless. Some people bought a six-row gold-plated "over-back", but after keeping it for a while, they found that it became a B-shaped or high-backed one. Therefore, you can’t just look at which layer of scales you have reached, but also whether the scale frame on that layer has appeared. Also, normal climbing should be done with the frame first and then the bottom, so the scale frame really determines the number of rows, not the scales. Borrowing the "method of brightening six rows of scales" mentioned in a certain essence post as follows:

It's just bright, without the feeling of a mirror, and there is no frame, so be careful as it will fade;

It's just scales The bottom of the scale is bright, but the scale frame is still stained. If you be careful, it will fade away, or the scale may have returned to a certain extent;

The scale bottom is bright, but the scale frame has a slight discoloration, mixed with dirt, and an incoherent frame. It will remain, but the scale remaining on the frame is difficult to fade;

The base of the scales is not bright, the frame has appeared, it will not fade, and sometimes it is very beautiful.

35 cm long back or gold head, six rows have been painted and framed, generally will not fade. And for adult fish, the scale frame can reflect the scale type, melted scales, etc. of the fish, so the frame is very important.

Second, look at the bright and not the gold:

In this era when grilled fish is popular, it is no longer a problem to coat six rows or even the entire head with gold, but it will be difficult when the fish gets bigger. Discovering its true strain is far removed from what it was as a child. In other words: it is what it grows up to be, and what should be returned will still return. Therefore, golden arowanas cannot be evaluated by their golden color (some are baked into platinum), especially for small golden arowanas under 30cm. To see it, you need to look at the brightness of the gold, combined with the brightness of the scale frame mentioned above, and the brightness of the pearl scales combined with what will be said later.

Don’t say anything about not being able to raise it, poor water quality, or too deep a background. As long as it is overturned, it will always be overturned. Even if it has been raised in a black tank since childhood, overturned is just a comparison. The white vat is just a little later; if it has a high back, even if it was baked into a 24K gold head in the white vat when it was a child, it will definitely fade into a high back when it grows up. Genes determine everything, and time can prove everything. Therefore, when choosing a gold dragon, you should look at the degree of brightness rather than the amount of gold.

Look at the beads three times but not the head:

Maybe it’s because the streets are full of gold-headed ones, so many people only look at the head when choosing, and ignore the bead scales. , don’t you know that bead scales are one of the most critical indicators for judging the Arowana strain. If the bead scales of 2 cm still do not show the quality, it must be of B or below quality. If the bead scales of 2 cm show some performance, the quality is at least B sub. Some fish dealers don’t know whether they really don’t understand or are deliberately trying to deceive novices. As long as they have some bead scales, they say it’s an over-the-back and sell it as an over-the-back. The over-the-back bead scales should be fully bright when they are 2cm. Yes, Pearl Scales is the past and present life of the sixth row. Even the pearl scales cannot be fully illuminated, let alone expect any good performance from the sixth row (except for a few invisible elites: it is very slow to climb up the row, but he is still over the top in his bones. Back, it will appear sooner or later).

It is necessary to popularize the basic common sense of Arowana here:

The so-called pearl scales refer to the small round scales near the base of the scales on the rear three fins of the Arowana. It is named after its shape. To be precise, the small round scales near each fin of the three rear fins are pearl scales. Pearl scales can also be called broken scales.

The number of rows of scales: The key is to look at the lateral line holes, which are a row of small holes on the scales on the side of the body. This row of small holes is the third row of scales. Counting upwards, they are the fourth, fifth and fifth rows. Sixth row (back). Some people count directly from the belly of the fish, which is really speechless.

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B-passed Arowana standard: the 5th row of scales is bright, and the bead scales are not all bright;

B-passed Arowana standard: the 6th row of scales is bright, and the bead scales are all bright;

Note that the word I used above is only "bright" and not "golden". It is still the same sentence "Look at brightness but not gold"! The pearl scales must be bright. If the pearl scales are not bright but are gold-colored, it does not mean anything, or it often means that it is a high back. And some even if the pearl scales have not been gold-plated, but you can see a hair-like bright edge, it often means that it is a high back. B over or over the back.

Four things to look at without looking at the pictures:

Now is an era where it is difficult to distinguish between authenticity and fakeness. The emergence of PS has greatly reduced the authenticity of pictures. An ordinary grilled fish can be transformed into a Do you believe that it can become a shining competition-level product, or even turn a golden dragon into a red dragon with just one or two clicks? I really believe it! A friend around me has had this kind of experience. A fish with a good picture was sent to me, but it turned out to be completely different. The merchant said that the road was bumpy and tiring, and the condition has not improved yet. After raising it for a while, it has not improved, and the merchant will definitely say that you are not good at it. Can raise... and so on, this situation has happened frequently.

So how to tell the appearance of a golden dragon from the picture? It is better to combine the above three points and look at the bead scale, brightness and frame instead of looking at the head, gold and advertisements. There are also many aquarists who post pictures for everyone to comment on. You can know your understanding of golden dragons from the pictures they post. Some people post pictures of the entire tank, and the fish cannot see them clearly at all; some only post pictures of a big golden head or the front half of the body; None of these allow others to make accurate judgments. They should send high-definition photos of the rear body (where the beady scales are located) and the upper body (shown by the 5th and 6th row of scales). This fish can basically be distinguished based on these two pictures alone. The strain, and the angle, light, and clarity of the photo all determine whether a picture truly reflects the entire fish. Therefore, it is normal for there to be certain deviations in judging fish based on pictures, unless those fish are the same at a glance. Excellent fish.