Snakeheads

[NottsFishy]

I was wondering how many snakeheads are available to purchase and how big do they get ?
I know of a couple but i have no idea how big they get.

Cheers in advance and sorry if it is in the wrong section.

 

[nmonks]

There are many snakeheads. Visiting Wholesale Tropicals in London for example, I came across a variety of species including Channa micropeltes, a species that exceeds 90 cm in length. Wildwoods usually has a bunch of species too. Both stores do mail order.

The average Channa species is about 45-60 cm. Fishbase is your friend here. There are some giants and some dwarfs. The giant species like Channa micropeltes are, in the opinion of this writer at least, not home aquarium fish.

The smaller species are lovely. Total pussy cats, and excellent community fish, provided they're kept with things too big to swallow. Docile cichlids, catfish, medium sized barbs and so on make ideal tankmates. I kept a Channa asiatic specimen for years. Incredibly tough and adaptable, and easy to tame. Channa bleheri, Channa harcourtbutleri, and Channa stewarti are among the small, attractive species reasonably widely sold. These get to about 15-30 cm depending on the species.

Cheers, Neale

 

[DarkEntity]

BAS currently have C. harcourtbutleri in stock, although from what ive been told about them they are small but can be very aggressive, not sure how true that is though.

Neale a quick question, in the Rio125 in my Sig would you think that a Channa (Bleheri/Gachua) would be a suitable fish to add or would i be risking the Plecs?

 

[geo7x]

The smaller species are lovely. Total pussy cats, and excellent community fish, provided they're kept with things too big to swallow. Docile cichlids, catfish, medium sized barbs and so on make ideal tankmates. I kept a Channa asiatic specimen for years. Incredibly tough and adaptable, and easy to tame. Channa bleheri, Channa harcourtbutleri, and Channa stewarti are among the small, attractive species reasonably widely sold. These get to about 15-30 cm depending on the species.

Cheers, Neale

From my experience I would definitely be wary of putting dwarf snakeheads in a community aquarium without serious thought. They may well be total pussycats compared to some of their larger relatives, however I still found my c.gachua to still be an aggressive fish.
When I introduced a 5" BN plec in the tank my c. gachua (similar to c. bleheri) was in the snakehead tried to bite through the bag that the BN was in and constantly harrassed and bit the plec for a fair while. Luckily BN plecs are tough fish but I can't see most other peaceful community fish being able to put up with it so well.
From what I've heard they will also fight with some fish that look similar to themselves. Additionally fish under half the length of the fish and anything will long fins are a definite no.
You only have to see how once a pair has formed in a group of snakeheads the pair will kill all the others in the tank to see their aggressive potential.

I do agree that snakeheads can be successfully kept in a community aquarium, but dwarf snakeheads can still be unpredictable and it would take serious thought along with a bit of luck.

 

[severum boy]

I think its very much down to the individual fish. Geo has a gachua which is very aggressive, I have a gachua who is very placid. Geo is again correct about the fighting with similar fish, mine is only agressive towards my pair of Anabas, who look very similar.
Unfortunatly there probably isent any way of seeing if the dwarf channa your after is a peaceful one or an agressive one, you might have to buy it and agree with the salesman that you will be bringing it back if it is too aggressive. You should be prepared for an aggressive one incase you get one, so start it out with tough tankmates.

 

[CFC]

Geo's gachua is bred from my pair, figures it would be an aggressive one

 

[The-Wolf]

The giant species like Channa micropeltes

seems to be a bit of a misnomer that one (micro = small)

Geo's gachua is bred from my pair, figures it would be an aggressive one

as is mine and he is scared of everything, even his own shadow

 

[nmonks]

I'd have thought mixing a small, peaceful species of Channa with a bristlenose cat, Congo tetras and a climbing perch or two would be fine. As others have said, there may be some variation. I've not kept C. gachua or C. bleheri so can't speak for their temperament. But C. asiatica is generally very mild, and C. stewarti seems to be too.

I kept mine in 200 gallon tanks, one freshwater, the other (low-end) brackish, and in neither case were there problems. The tank size is probably a factor. Usually when you see dwarf snakeheads with (largish) community fish, they're in nice big tanks, and that probably prevents arguments over territory. In a smallish tank like yours, things might be different. Definitely canvas opinions on this -- as I say, I haven't personally kept the two species you're after -- and act accordingly.

Cheers, Neale

Neale a quick question, in the Rio125 in my Sig would you think that a Channa (Bleheri/Gachua) would be a suitable fish to add or would i be risking the Plecs?

 

[andywg]

seems to be a bit of a misnomer that one (micro = small)

For anyone interested, the peltes part seems to come from small shield (hence us using pelt for animal fur). So perhaps the giant snakehead was considered to have some small fur, or a tiny piece of armour? Finding the etymology of the name is proving quite difficult.

 

[The-Wolf]

very interesting andy, thanks for that snippet

 

[§tudz]

C. gachua can be both VERY aggressive and very docile.I kept four specimines in a 33gallon tank and two of them attack and killed one of the other snakeheads and damaged the 3rd. I also have a large C. gachua in my 120gallon with large fish and I've had no issues (that Ive seen) with them.

I recently bought a C. bleheri, but he is very small only about 2" and was getting battered about by the bay oscars and tigerfish, I plan to keep it with C. gachua in the 33gallon tank when its much bigger.

They are great fish and they can be hand fed but watch those fingers are they have sharp teeth, and if your planning to get them, try to get your before October when they will be reducing or stopping import.

 

[DarkEntity]

I'd have thought mixing a small, peaceful species of Channa with a bristlenose cat, Congo tetras and a climbing perch or two would be fine. As others have said, there may be some variation. I've not kept C. gachua or C. bleheri so can't speak for their temperament. But C. asiatica is generally very mild, and C. stewarti seems to be too.

I kept mine in 200 gallon tanks, one freshwater, the other (low-end) brackish, and in neither case were there problems. The tank size is probably a factor. Usually when you see dwarf snakeheads with (largish) community fish, they're in nice big tanks, and that probably prevents arguments over territory. In a smallish tank like yours, things might be different. Definitely canvas opinions on this -- as I say, I haven't personally kept the two species you're after -- and act accordingly.

Cheers, Neale

Neale a quick question, in the Rio125 in my Sig would you think that a Channa (Bleheri/Gachua) would be a suitable fish to add or would i be risking the Plecs?

Thanks for that, ive spoken to CFC about this idea and also a couple of others, it seems the concensus is that Bleheri's are generally more doscile, but as with Puffers they seem to all be slightly different.

 

[NottsFishy]

Cheers guys

I am thinking of getting a snakehead once i have a tank setup for one so just trying to find some info on them before hand.