Snakeheads

[angelfishguy]

a bare 260 ltr tank.. thinking about snakeheads..
do i have enough room?
and what fish can go with them?

 

[dave_oddballs]

firstly YES!

secondly, depends on which species of snakehead, more than most people would imagine!

snakeheads (channa) have a very bad reputation, this is one of the only forums (apart from s.h.u.k.) that i know of, that information is slowly creeping in regarding the channa family.
260 liter is big enough for a group of smaller snakeheads e.g. channa sp. assam, channa bleheri, channa gachua, bankanensis and a few others
or possibly a solitary or harmonized pair of the 'medium' sized channa like the punctata i have, another nice medium sized channa is aurantimaculata, unsure of what sort of litre tank they need, would of thought 260 with decent filtration would be sufficient, no doubt you will get more information later as more people come on.
i take it these would be your first snakeheads?
if so then it is almost certainly more beneficial to both you and the fish that you start with one of the dwarf species like those i named as they are relatively easy to care for. you could go ahead and buy a group of them, i would personally go with something like the sp. assams as they are cheap, hardy and simple to care for, i have a group and they are very good looking fish! maybe get a group of 6.
just get a fine - pea sized gravel, a few smooth rocks a few bits of bog wood and loads of plants! long ones, short ones, floating ones the lot!
if you check my signature you will see what i keep with my snakeheads, the punctata in the 240 liter and the assams in the 100 litre.
the assams are safe with most fish that are 2/3 the size of the snakehead so anything that is 3+ inch should be fine, to be safe stick with a plec or 2 depending on the species of plec or fish that are fast or can stick up for themselves.
if you managed to get a harmonized pair of any channa then in is certainly not recommended by me that you put anything at all with them as they can get very aggressive at spawning time. i wouldn't recommend a pair if these are your first anyway!
i don't recommend you put 1 inch clown loach's in with 6 inch channa assams like i do! they was together since babies and are all friends which i dont think would be the case in most circumstances!
if you need any more specific information just ask!!

hope it helps a bit
David

 

[angelfishguy]

firstly YES!

secondly, depends on which species of snakehead, more than most people would imagine!

snakeheads (channa) have a very bad reputation, this is one of the only forums (apart from s.h.u.k.) that i know of, that information is slowly creeping in regarding the channa family.
260 liter is big enough for a group of smaller snakeheads e.g. channa sp. assam, channa bleheri, channa gachua, bankanensis and a few others
or possibly a solitary or harmonized pair of the 'medium' sized channa like the punctata i have, another nice medium sized channa is aurantimaculata, unsure of what sort of litre tank they need, would of thought 260 with decent filtration would be sufficient, no doubt you will get more information later as more people come on.
i take it these would be your first snakeheads?
if so then it is almost certainly more beneficial to both you and the fish that you start with one of the dwarf species like those i named as they are relatively easy to care for. you could go ahead and buy a group of them, i would personally go with something like the sp. assams as they are cheap, hardy and simple to care for, i have a group and they are very good looking fish! maybe get a group of 6.
just get a fine - pea sized gravel, a few smooth rocks a few bits of bog wood and loads of plants! long ones, short ones, floating ones the lot!
if you check my signature you will see what i keep with my snakeheads, the punctata in the 240 liter and the assams in the 100 litre.
the assams are safe with most fish that are 2/3 the size of the snakehead so anything that is 3+ inch should be fine, to be safe stick with a plec or 2 depending on the species of plec or fish that are fast or can stick up for themselves.
if you managed to get a harmonized pair of any channa then in is certainly not recommended by me that you put anything at all with them as they can get very aggressive at spawning time. i wouldn't recommend a pair if these are your first anyway!
i don't recommend you put 1 inch clown loach's in with 6 inch channa assams like i do! they was together since babies and are all friends which i dont think would be the case in most circumstances!
if you need any more specific information just ask!!

hope it helps a bit
David

thanks for such detailed information, a great help..
going to google the differant types now

 

[dave_oddballs]

ok no problem,
check out channa ornatipinnis too as nelly on here still has some baby ones for sale cheap! very nice fish and would be ok in a tank your size!
just another option.
if you find one you like let us know and we will give as much info as we possibly can!

David

 

[england]

:stupid: snakehead's are brilliant fish but, you have to think first do you want a specie's tank which i would reccomend or you could find a couple of dwarfs that mix ok with other's, however channa are amazing fish to keep,some are sub tropical which mean's you don't need a heater which is a bonus!
I had someone come from ireland to collect some channa ornatipinnis babie's a few week's ago, so i know he has a few specie's, not sure how easy it is to find channa in ireland, but i have contact's there

ok no problem,
check out channa ornatipinnis too as nelly on here still has some baby ones for sale cheap! very nice fish and would be ok in a tank your size!
just another option.
if you find one you like let us know and we will give as much info as we possibly can!

David

Thank's for the plug dave
I have a group of four channa pulchra for sale and around 10 babie channa ornatipinnis,posting my sp assam pair today,so watch out for the new owner's post tommorow some time

 

[dave_oddballs]

can you not post to ireland neil?
i have for sale 2 (yellow) channa punctata and soon 3 channa sp. assam!

and lots of other fish in the next couple of months!!!!

David

 

[england]

You can post to northern ireland, but think you have to pay extra, best to ask in post office, remember post office only except fish fry which you will state on the box, fish fry

 

[dave_oddballs]

so what about if you have a full size channa assam (example) with a note on the box saying 'fish fry' ??

 

[england]

dave have a look at shela's new arrival's....shela received a box saying "tropical fish fry"

 

[shelaghfishface]

i did too

and u were right nelly, the postman did stop and chat about them, tho i didnt invite him in

 

[england]

hehe good girl,don't wan't the neighbour's talking do you

 

[DSMchild]

I could have sworn Snakeheads were illegal.

 

[dave_oddballs]

not in the uk there not.

 

[england]

I could have sworn Snakeheads were illegal.

Yes in the uk the only illegal one is the channa argus from what i know, however i have just learnt that you need a permit to own them in scotland which i did not know....In the usa most states they are banned canada again they are ok to own, so where do you live?

 

[DSMchild]

I live in the US, Pennsylvania to be exact.