Background Considered as one of the pioneers in Arowana breeding, Mr Yap Kim Choon is currently the Head of Division for Wan Hu, Dragon Fish Division (a subsidery of Qian Hu Corp Ltd). When we first met him, the impression he gave was a stern looking father figure type of person. As the interview wore on, he became more relaxed and we saw the real side of Mr. Yap Kim Choon or more fondly known to his close friends and associates as Ah Choon. Mr Yap is not interested in the day to day business of the corporate world and prefers to devote his time to what he does best: breeding, selecting and researching on arowanas. Although he is experienced, he is constantly exploring modern technology to improve the quality and the yields of arowanas using modern technology.

While he can be sitting comfortably behind the desk, he chooses to be with his workers at the shed tending to all the arowanas personally. He also assumes no airs and was most eager to share his wealth of knowledge and experiences with us without withholding any. Most importantly, we find him to be a very straightforward and sincere person, probably the last of the "work hard for your money and integrity above all else" type of person. To sum up, he is a very nice and sincere gentleman.

Mr Yap Kim Choon of Wan Hu

Mr Yap Kim Choon at his 'new pond' project

ArowanaClub: How did you start out in this business of breeding arowanas?
Mr Yap:
It all started way back during the good old days at Bah Soon Pah where I was rearing pigs and chicken. In 1978, I had an operation and was unable to handle the heavy workload. In 1981, I decided to venture into breeding of guppies and proceeded to distributing fishes and accessories. I only ventured into breeding arowanas in 1984.

ArowanaClub: How was the arowana scene like back then?
Mr Yap:
Arowanas were already in the market during the 1970s. Back then, it only cost between S$20-S$30, a far cry from what it is today. Moreover, there were no distinctions between the different arowana types. Subsequently, it became obvious that there existed red arowanas and golden arowanas and other arowanas of pale colouration.

Arowanas gained their popularity in Japan around 1986. Taiwan was next to be swamped by the world of arowanas in 1988.

ArowanaClub: What is the market demand for gold and red arowana in each country?
Mr Yap:
In the past, the majority of the better arowanas were exported to Japan. However, in the past year, there is an emerging trend that Singaporeans are willing to pay more for better grades arowanas and this is why we are beginning to see better and good arowanas in our local market. We too noticed a rise in the trend amongst hobbyists in a community tanks set up e.g. keeping several arowanas in 1 tank.

Here is the estimated breakdown for the overseas market:
- Japan 70% red 30% gold
- Thailand 55% red 45 % gold
- Taiwan 80% red 20% gold, demand has tailored off
- China is an emerging market, demand for arowanas are growing steadily in the past year.

ArowanaClub: Would you advice hobbyists to buy arowanas direct from farms or shops?
Mr Yap:
Juvenile Arowanas usually take about a month to stabilize and it is usually easier to choose from individual tanks than from a big consignment. Fraud and deceit is unlikely as only licensed fish shops are authorized to sell legally bred and tagged arowanas. Moreover, the arowanas in the shops are already of a reasonable size and hence guarantees a higher chance of survival.
More importantly, most are already pre-selected by the licensed LFS owners who are usually very knowledgeable in this trade.

ArowanaClub: Can you let us know more about your signature Violet Fusion Super Red Arowana?
Mr Yap:
5 years ago, using special techniques in selective breeding, we have produced better quality red arowanas which we term them as Violet Fusion Super Red (VFSR). In Taiwan, our arowanas are given different names but they are still VFSR. From our experiences, there is a probability of 80% or higher that a VFSR will be redder as compared to an ordinary red arowana. This is based on our past records of arowanas’ shapes and colours.

ArowanaClub: Any advice on keeping young red arowanas?
Mr Yap:
A good arowana would have its colour developed within 2 years. However, this does not mean an arowana with early development will grow to become a good red arowana. Juvenile red arowanas that exhibit lighter base colours will develop slower and chances of it to be fine-rimmed are high. On the other hand, darker base colours arowana will be redder. There are some juvenile arowanas with red birthmarks but this does not guarantee on final colours. It depends on several factors such as environment and diet. It is important to keep arowanas in a stable environment as sudden changes in the environment might cause the colour to fade. As for diet, shrimps are the best for red arowanas. Red arowanas tend to prefer a lower Ph than gold arowanas and a Ph of 6.5 is ideal.

ArowanaClub: How to identify a male or female arowana?
Mr Yap:
There are no fixed rules on the determination of the gender of an adult arowana and there is certainly no guarantee even for the experienced farmers (only 70-80% accuracy). Usually, a male arowana has a bigger head. In addition, 90% male arowanas will carry the eggs in their mouth. We are currently working with our local institution in developing a DNA test for gender identification. DNA samples are taken from scales or fins.

ArowanaClub: Any advice for the common arowana aliments such as tail biting, gill curl, protruding lower jaw and drop eyes?
Mr Yap:
Sometimes, tail-biting occurs when there are worms in tails. You need very strong medication to cure tail biting but at times, this does not work.
Cutting and smoothening the cut gills by sand paper can cure gill curl. If the curl occurs on the soft membrane, there is a 90% success rate using this method. Gill curl is probably caused by excessive calcium in the water.
Protruding lower jaw occurs after birth. Today, the proportion of arowanas having protruding lower jaws are the same as that in the 1980s and this was certainly not due to inbreeding.
There is no proven conclusion to the occurrence of drop eyes but this could mainly be due to how the arowana looks at its surroundings. You may cure an arowana of drop eye by keeping it in a community tank or place it in a pond for arowanas with more severe symptoms.

ArowanaClub: What is the Elusive Pahang Gold?
Mr Yap:
This is just a general term used to describe gold based crossback arowanas. In fact, I don’t think Pahang holds any arowanas in its freshwater rivers and lakes. These so called Pahang Gold normally have round heads. Recently, there is a preference for blue based golden crossback arowanas but there is now a growing demand for the gold based crossback arowanas.

ArowanaClub: Thank you Mr Yap for taking time out from your busy schedule to answer all our questions.

Wan Hu Arowanas are available from the following arowanaclub associates:

Clementi Florist & Aquarium
Blk 328, Clementi Ave 2
#01-210 Singapore 120328
Tel: 6777 8468

Dragon's Home Aquarium
Blk 34 Jln Bukit Ho Swee
#01-866 Singapore 120727
Tel: 62737666

Ho Li Aquarium
Blk 509 Bedok North Street 3
#01-99 Singapore 460509
Tel: 6445 5200

Low Chuan Kee Bird & Fish Shop
Block 801,Tampines Ave 4, #01-259
Singapore 520801
Tel: 6 781 9020

The Tropical Fish Centre
#01-1318 Blk 56, New Upper Changi Road
Singapore 461056
Tel: 64447839

Sam's Pet & Aquarium
Blk 82 Marine Parade Central
#01-606/608/610
Singapore 440082
Tel: (65) 6344 7806

3 Simei Street 6 #01-06
Eastpoint Mall
Unit 1/2/3/15/16/17
Singapore 528833
Tel: (65) 6788 1016

101 Thomson Road
#01-72/73/74
United Square
Singapore 307591
Tel: (65) 6252 8830