Dwarf Snakehead

[shubunkin]

will dwarf snakeheads live with malawis, ive got the usual ones , yellow labs, couple of peacocks and some that were given to me that im not sure of, also there are black neons, penguin tetras, black widows, serpae tetras and quite a few others, these non malawis were in my sons tank and he had to give up the tank they were in so we put them in mine and they have been fine for over a year now, my original question is rather urgent as these fish, they are about 3 inches long may be arriving in the next week or so. any advice very welcome, thanks, kev

[Brhino]

I don't have any personal experience but it seems like an 8" predatory fish would be extremely bad for your small community fish like your tetras.

[shubunkin]

I don't have any personal experience but it seems like an 8" predatory fish would be extremely bad for your small community fish like your tetras.

i will be taking the small community fish out this weekend im doing a partial swap for the snakeheads

[escamosa]

Could be a risky move, in my opinion, Kev. Do you know exactly what kind of Snakeheads they are? There's about 5 or 6, maybe more species of them and most of them can be pretty nasty towards other smaller species of fish. They can grow to 10+ inches too, and they can move like lightening when they really want to. Really, they have quite a few different needs compared to Malawi cichlids, and because of this you could find that you run into some kind of trouble. They need to be able to come to the surface as easy as possible to get air. Because they're ambushing feeders, they really need to have a gravelly substrate instead of sand because of how they can be very good at stirring the bottom of the tanks up, releasing heaps of fine particles of substrate into the water, which then clog up your filtration. And their diet is far far more meatier than Malawi cichlids. Also, if the species of Snakeheads are a smaller species, then the Cichlids could very well pick on them when they get to be bigger and more territorial.

[shubunkin]

thanks for the reply, ive been reading up about them and as you say, they do need a meatier diet than malawis, the species is quoted as channa pulchra, the anal fin is bright blue in the adult, ive not seen these fish yet but im told they are 3-4 inches long at the moment and grow to 8 inches, and are peaceful, the name snakehead seems to dispell that though, my books dont actually cover this species for some reason so im having to rely on the internet, i think im experienced enough to realise if i cant keep these fish correctly that i should leave well alone and im coming to that stage now

[AllenIsbell]

Post pictures of this beast!

[shubunkin]

not sure how to put pics up, there are loads of them on you tube though

[FinalJenemba]

Ever seen a snakehead eat? They can and will eat fish the same size as them selves, anything smaller wont stand a chance. Keepers regularly feed the larger ones adult bass and the like. I have never seen them kept with anything but other snakeheads.

Awesome fish though, wish they where legal here :(