An eye opener and simply over whelming. That was what chorused by one and all when we reached Xian Leng Farm at about 4.20pm. We were greeted by the Xian Leng's Management team. Many of which are young, full of zeal and out to conquer the world. The very first thing that captured my sight was the scenic and panoramic view of the farm itself, coupled with the light windy breeze, it makes you stand in awe at the entrance wondering if you are visiting a farm or a nature reserve. The entire sight was breathtaking.

Our team and all members were being briefed by Miss Chua on the management of Xian Leng. We proceeded to climb the gentle slope for our second picture taking. Surely, this is no ordinary sight.

These are some of the pictures that we managed to take at the farm. We are extremely grateful to the Xian Leng management team for giving us the privilege to take some of the beautifully and neat landscape arowanas pond.

Just a short introduction about the history of Xian Leng Trading Sdn. Bhd. which is located in Batu Pahat. Xian Leng Trading Sdn Bhd was established in 1989. The farm has since grew from a single acre farm with 10 earthen ponds to its present 50 acres farm with 96 breeding ponds and a total of 4826 adult breeding arowanas. This expansion is through a period of 15 years (1980 - 1995). Much time have been invested in research and development with the aim to produce top quality arowanas. Such quality fishes were often published in notable Arowana literature, and were highly valued by the Japanese hobbyists.

One of the top in house speciality is none other than their Malaysian Golden variety. The quality really speaks for itself.

Even their range of blood reds arowanas are of top quality. All of us whom were at the farm were equally impressed with their quality of arowanas be it in their red variety or the golden variety.

Miss Chua shared to me that out of 100% Xian Leng's produce of arowana, only a small percentage of about 10% was catered for the local market. A huge percentage of their quality arowanas were exported to overseas like Japan, Canada, New Zealand and some of the European continents.

During my walk with the management team, I was fortunate to be able to know more about Xian Leng on the whole and their way of managing their top quality arowanas. For this, I am thankful to Mr Tan Cheng Kiat, the R&D Director. What impresses me most was their willingness to share their vast experiences. There are no air of arrogance among them despite their huge success. We had a very enjoyable and educational experience while strolling the farm. Learning amidst the scenic backdrop of the farm itself will always be something I will remember by.

During our walk, Mr Tan was very patient to entertain our seemingly newbie questions. To him the most important criteria in bringing up good quality arowana is the ability in achieving a good and stable water parameters. One of the parameters that hobbyist can try to achieve is to provide a generally lower pH values (6 to 6.8) for their beloved arowanas. To Mr Tan, there are no specific pH values for either red or the golden variety. He mentioned also that arowanas prefers acidic and soft water those that contains trace elements like tannic acid. The use of ketapang leaves to create this soft water is highly recommended.

Mr.Tan Cheng Kiat (Executive Director -R&D)

Another important criteria mentioned by Mr Tan is the temperature in the tank. This was due to the fact that some of our hobbyist were to seek advise on using the Plant Light to create the effect of the sunlight. Mr Tan highly encourage the use of normal lighting to all arowanas be it the red variety or the golden variety.

Coming to the subject of breeding arowanas, he also mentioned that unlike other tropical fishes or animals (some), arowanas do not have a single mate for life. Each male arowanas are able to pair up with another female for breeding. The process of the breeding can be further divided into the introduction period, the courtship period, the mating and lastly the care stage of the male.

For hobbyist with an aquarium tank, Mr Tan further advises that the 2 most important elements that we should take note of are the chlorine factor and secure covering of the tank. From his years of experience in this industry, he shared with us experiences that some hobbyist (new hobbyist especially) may encounter in that the above 2 pointers are the most challenging and that hobbyist should pay more attention to it.

The farm walk about has lead many of our hobbyist to expressed their concerns in bringing up the arowana. Most were concerned with the quality of the arowana both in the red and golden variety. This has lead to Mr Tan himself assuring us that top quality arowanas need not be in its semi adult stage to see the development.

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