Channa Bleheri

[Dcollins85]

I figured you were the correct person to go with. And I wasn't trying to insult your wisdom at all good sir. I just wanted to double check.

I have to ask, how do you get yours to look so beautiful? Mine appear dull in color. Perhaps just because they're infants?

Lastly, the pair I have seem to be "friendly" towards one another. The larger of the two ( who I will refer to as A1 for simplicity ) will swim about doing what Channa do.. And the smaller of the two ( A2 ) will soon follow, but it doesn't appear to be playing with A1, it seems that A2 wants to remain close to A1. I would love to believe that A1 is male and that A2 is female. But since I am a beginner at this stage I can merely speculate. I have read that males have wider cheeks and larger heads and the females are said to have more round heads. Still I can't seem to make heads or tails of mine. If I took proper pictures of the two would you be able to tell me their gender? I can't imagine I could just lift up their bonnets and have a look about! haha

 

[Dcollins85]

Are Channa Bleheri night or day hunters?

Also, what would be a good feeder fish that I could try to breed in a separate tank to feed these guys for when they get bigger? I read that Channa Bleheri grow around 1 inch per 3 months.
LFS told me small guppy.

 

[gasmask]

Are Channa Bleheri night or day hunters?

Also, what would be a good feeder fish that I could try to breed in a separate tank to feed these guys for when they get bigger? I read that Channa Bleheri grow around 1 inch per 3 months.
LFS told me small guppy.

Hi.
You are much better keeping Bleheri off live food.
Best bet is to get them on a good staple like Hikari Carnivore, and eventually massive.
Supplement this with market shrimp, smelt, beef heart etc.

There is no need for feeders with Channa. (other then the big guns like Micropeltes, Marulius, Argus and Marulioides.)

How big are your Bleheri? post a clearer full side shot, and I can sex them for you.

 

[Dcollins85]

Let me know if you need better. My camera is a few years old. x.x

 

[gasmask]

Hi.
They look a lot more like Channa sp. Assam rather than Bleheri.
If you can get a picture of the Caudal fin open (tail) I can tell you for 100%

Here is Channa Assam:

The easiest way to tell is the Caudal fin.
Look at my Bleheri's Caudal (tail) and you will see it has orange blotches.
Assam don't have blotches, but instead have blue stripes.

And also both the photos you just posted are female.

 

[Dcollins85]

 

[gasmask]

Yup, as I suspected. Not Channa Bleheri.
100% Channa sp. Assam.
And yours are females.

 

[Dcollins85]

They were sold to me as Channa Bleheri.

This is the LFS I bought them from, as you can see they even still have the sale for "Rainbow Snakehead (SM) listed for $39.99.
http/www.fishgallery.ca/

 

[gasmask]

They were sold to me as Channa Bleheri.

This is the LFS I bought them from, as you can see they even still have the sale for "Rainbow Snakehead (SM) listed for $39.99.
http/www.fishgallery.ca/

Yeah, most LFS and their suppliers are not very accurate when it comes to Channa.
Sp.Assam are often labelled as Blue Bleheri, Blue Rainbow etc.
They actually are completely different fish from different areas.

Assam tend to stay smaller, and don't have the "rainbow" coloration of Bleheri.

They are very easy to sex, the main way is that Male Assam are a little more colorful in the dorsal fin. Also the males dorsal fin is usually a lot higher than the female.
Female tends to have more orangey-brown body markings.

Good news is they share the same care as Bleheri.
Sub-tropical.

 

[Dcollins85]

I find this highly depressing. Will the colors on these channa change? I really liked the colors of the Bleheri, yours are stunning.

 

[gasmask]

Colors in the fins should get a little more blue.
Body will stay as it is now. (the photo I posted of an Assam is an adult female)

 

[Dcollins85]

The plants in the tank are doing fine. The Channa get a mix between live minnows and bloodworms. I am looking into breeding Mollys or Guppies so I can stick with just live fish. When I have minnows I will feed them 1 a day, seems to make them more aggresive hunting wise. They'll actually fight to be the one who gets the minnow. I only do this for 3 days, than I will go back to bloodworms for a few days. I don't want either of them to starve.

 

[gasmask]

Stay away from live food.
Not worth the trouble.
Once you got them on live food it's almost impossible to get them to take anything else.

A good staple pellet such as Hikari supplemented with small bits of shrimp, smelt etc is MUCH MUCH healthier for them.

Yes Channa are aggressive predators, but the smaller kind such as Bleheri, Assam etc are not.
Take my word for it, giving them lives is going to eventually be shooting yourself in the foot.


If you are having problems getting them onto pellets, starve them till the take it.
Feed them pellets at night with lights out.
They WILL NOT starve themselves to death, it is quite safe.

 

[Dcollins85]

That's too bad... Part of the reason I was interested in getting Snakeheads was to watch them eat other fish. :c