Snakehead Alternative

[bonbon56]

Recently i was reading a book on fish for freshwater aquariums, and I happened upon a species called Channa Orientalis. Really beautiful fish, and a perfect fit for a 75 gallon tank that i'm planning. So i did some more research online, and wouldn't you know, its a species of dwarf snakehead. And of course, snakeheads are illegal in the 50 states. Are there any fish of similar look, size (6-8 inches), and tempermant to the Ceylon Snakehead that are legal?

[bonbon56]

preferably some sort of black water species

[Crispy]

there are pike cichlids from SA that come to mind. there are some dwarf pike species.

also, check out native bowfin, although they get very large, they do closely resemble a snakehead.

[Demjor19]

Not really a small fish, but you can check out the Bowfin. If you get a baby, it should max out under 16" in captivity. They're the closest thing to a Snakehead I can think of.

Here is a crappy cell phone pic of mine

[bonbon56]

thanks for the suggestions. I believe the bowfin is too large for my tank, but I'll look into the pike cichlids, they're very cool!