Care of Channa bleheri

[Enda]

Hi,

Just got one of these from C328, about 4" long now. I have it alone in a 1.5' tank, planted with some crypts and java ferns. I'm currently feeding it with frozen bloodworms, will get soon feeder fish too, but intend to wean it onto dried food (dried shrimp, carnivore pellets) eventually. Any ideas regarding this? I was planning to put in a school of feeder fish for it to slowly eat over time, but I'm afraid it'll gorge itself sick. Will this happen? How ravenous is this species.

Also for this species, what is the ideal water pH and kH? What sort of biotope do they come from? From what I read, I understand that slightly soft and cool water suits it better.

Hope to get some advice from those of you more familiar with snakeheads, since this is my first time keeping Channa.

Thanks.

[Matt Ford]

Hi Enda, C. bleheri is very easy to keep. Although it comes from blackwaters it´s not particularly fussy about water conditions although I´d suggest adding some driftwood and leaf litter if you want to see its best colours. There´s really no need to feed it live fish. I´ve kept several Channa species and never fed any of them on feeders. In fact I suspect the smaller species like bleheri feed mostly on insects and other invertebrates in nature. Frozen meaty stuff is fine, bloodworm, prawns etc. They also love live earthworms if you can get them. You should also keep the tank VERY well-covered as they can escape through the tiniest of holes.

[Aquaria One]

Feeders tend to have diseases because of the poor conditions they are kept. Best get some frozen food like frozen blood worms if you do't want the trouble of keeping mealworms or earth worms in your house.