Snakeheads

[Genesis]

seen some at my LFS but the woman didnt know much about them and the snakehead/birchir person wasnt there

how big?
what size tank?
with convicts?

thanks

 

[diademhill]

[quote name=''genesis' post='1090787' date='Feb 25 2006, 10:49 PM']
seen some at my LFS but the woman didnt know much about them and the snakehead/birchir person wasnt there

how big?
what size tank?
with convicts?

thanks
[/quote]
Which species?
Some only get to 6" & would be beaten up by convicts - some get to about a metre & would have convicts for a snack.

 

[Genesis]

Which species?
Some only get to 6" & would be beaten up by convicts - some get to about a metre & would have convicts for a snack.

no idea, it was small and dull but the girl said they would brighten up (newly purchased)

it was £14.99 so not too expensive...

 

[Pufferpack]

All species of Snakeheads will eventually eat the convicts. Your first chore will be to identify the species of snakehead (snakeheads.org would be your best bet for ID's) because if it is a redline (Channa micropeltes) it will be a foot long in a couple months and still growing fast. I have a 23 inch Redline that was under a foot long when purchaced 8 months ago, and will reach about 36 inches when fully grown, it will attack anything that breaks the surface of the water, or moves within it's range of vision, regular diet consists of a couple 8-10 inch frozen Mackerel every 2 days

 

[CFC]

Not true, none of the smaller species like Channa gachua or Channa bleheri (the two most commonly seen dwarf species) could eat a adult convict Cichlid and would in fact be in danger of being killed by the convict Cichlid/s which are far more aggressive.

Personally i am of the belief that snakeheads are best kept in species tanks, they preffer it that way and you get the best from the fish. I'd go for a single C.gachua or bleheri in a 30x12x15" and heavily plant the tank or go larger with a 48x18x18" and keep a group of 6-8 again in a heavily planted tank, if you have a pair form then they could be kept as a breeding pair in a 30x12x15".
Single dwarf snakeheads also can work in communities of larger peacefull fish like bala sharks, larger gouarmies like snakeskins, angel fish and basicly anything that has a tall body shape so cant be swallowed. Dont keep them with anything aggressive as the snakehead will usually come off worse, although of course this only applies to dwarf snakeheads. The exception to this with smaller species is Parachanna obscura which in my experience is insanely aggressive and will not tolerate tankmates of any kind.

For the larger species solitary species tank care is the only way to go unless you are lucky enough to have a breeding pair and a tank large enough to house two large snakeheads, large snakeheads (especially red snakeheads, Channa microplets) will attack and eat anything they share a tank with eventually.

 

[Genesis]

it was either a bleheri or gaucha, most probably a bleheri, so is it a no to a bleheri with cons?

 

[kubora666]

whats a channa striatus ???

 

[sharp tooth]

whats a channa striatus ???

do you mean channa striata? if so these guys get big. ive had a albino variant and it became quite agressive when it hit 10" or so. defo a loner if you want to keep one. i think they are ment to max out at about 3ft or so it might be more or less but they do get big.

 

[kubora666]

do you mean channa striata? if so these guys get big. ive had a albino variant and it became quite agressive when it hit 10" or so. defo a loner if you want to keep one. i think they are ment to max out at about 3ft or so it might be more or less but they do get big.
[/quote]

i have one... about 4" he seems to grow slowly and got battered by my cichlids so hes in a grow tank with some polypeterus.