Post You Snake Head's

[england]

Great looking Channa, Love the markings on these guys

yep look's quite funny how they are trying to look like tiger's in the forest, haha

 

[bagu]

LOVELY!

 

[karigupi]

They are so cute, what gorgeous markings.

Can I ask a quick question? My little fella's, is it too early for them to start fighting? I noticed this morning that one of them has a nip on his side, only a small one, i'll keep a close eye on them from now.

 

[england]

yes they can quite easily start fighting now, dave_oddball's one's have started a wee bit of fighting

 

[karigupi]

Good to know lol, i'm surprised as its my big fella thats been nibbled, I thought he'd be the one dishing it out, he's a big brute, just over 3in now & really chunky.

Any tips for keeping them healthy while they get through this stage? And meds I can use to avoid infections? What age do you think they will start to pair off? So many questions! Sorry.

They are really active tonight, wizzing around wrestling for prawn, very cute.

 

[simonas]

looking smart Neil

what set up have you got these in?

do they end up a chunky channa like the Pulchra etc cos I bet they look ace full grown

 

[dave_oddballs]

a wee bit! Lol
One is on its way out i would say, the smallest one, which is about an inch smaller than the bigger ones, has a bite out of its head and tail, seperated it into a breeding net thing and seems to have taken on an infection increasingly looking like dropsy! So i have added myxazin to the melafix i was treating it with!
Cutting it short, they are indeed capable of fighting, injuring and id go as far as to say killing each other!
You have to take into consideration that this does naturally happen in the wild, mabe not as much as in captivity but then no matter how big your tank is it will never ever provide the room to escape their natural habitat would!
The most you can do is just watch and look out for 'changes in attitude' which you probably would do anyway, and deal with singletons, overly aggressiveness and injuries as and when they happen, its inevitable one will happen, its in their nature!
Its not as easy to rehome a channa as it is a guppy or a neon but in reality this will have to be done unless you wish to take the natural course of 'the fittest survive'.

David

 

[karigupi]

Thanks Dave,sorry to hear of your little one. Do you use a half dose of the Melafix, or full dosage with these guys?

I've got some dividers ready, so any that need to be can be seperated temporarily. Are you going to rehome your 'extras'? I'd love to keep two pairs if they formed, but only really have room for the one pair, I think I have a couple of new homes lined up (fingers crossed)

 

[dave_oddballs]

i will rehome the rest if i do get a pair. I use full dose of melafix half dose of myxazin. Melafix is completely natural and quite harmless even if overdosed (within reason). Im pretty sure the channa, even the young could handle full dose of myxazin as they are very resiliant to even poluted waters! But i used half dose just in case!

 

[england]

yes that is the only down side to them, however once you get a pair they should stayed paired for life, the care they provide there fry is out of this world so it all make's up for it, Just as dave said keep your eye on them and you should be lucky enough to catch them before they bully eachother to bad, i managed, got away with light damage,

 

[karigupi]

i will rehome the rest if i do get a pair. I use full dose of melafix half dose of myxazin. Melafix is completely natural and quite harmless even if overdosed (within reason). Im pretty sure the channa, even the young could handle full dose of myxazin as they are very resiliant to even poluted waters! But i used half dose just in case!

Thanks Dave, thats a great help, I have some Melafix, so will pop some in, although he is looking much better this morning.

yes that is the only down side to them, however once you get a pair they should stayed paired for life, the care they provide there fry is out of this world so it all make's up for it, Just as dave said keep your eye on them and you should be lucky enough to catch them before they bully eachother to bad, i managed, got away with light damage,

Thanks Nelly, I will keep a close watch, they have been fairly docile upto now, but all of a sudden they've gone a bit mental lol, the water temp has gone up by 2, so that might have woken them up a bit.

What age do they normally start to form a pair?

 

[england]

well mine were about 4inche's when i got them around 5inch they seemed to start the aggrestion<however the wound's were there already,they came from a group of 15.....this is what they looked like when i first got them,they were kept in a tank with no hiding space's what so ever...

one of the beauty's<little frayed but nothing bad
[

so you see you still have some quality time left together, hehe, they will probally do a bit of scwobbling now and then

 

[bagu]

really nice pics

 

[karigupi]

aww bless, they do look a bit munched up in those pics. good to know I have a while left with them all, its going to be hard parting with them.

 

[england]

my mate come over earlier to collect a few babie's and wilst we were catching them two or three appeared out of the rock's that were double the size of the babie's hehe they must be the rock boy's as in hiding in ammoust the rock's hehe may have to take everything out soon and put them in there own tank, not sure how long before the parent's will concider them a threat,