My snakehead not eating : (

[sgland]

Hi everyone! I'm new and this is my first post.

I caught a wild red snakehead(giant snakehead) at my local reservior. It's a juvenille about 9" long. It already been 3 days and it still not eating. I've put live minnow and small frog into the tank but it did not take them. Anyone any advice? Thanks :)

[piranha45]

it will eat when it's hungry enough; right now its just more scared than hungry, but as the days/weeks pass, it will eventually decide its more hungry than anything else. It could go for a whole month without food if it had to, so don't sweat it.

[dialphantom]

yeah hes prolly scared

[sgland]

You guys reply fast! :)

Yeah guess 3 days is too short for a snakehead to be hungry. I'm just too eager to watch him eat.

[dialphantom]

we dont mess around here but hopes he starts eating soon if u was u id take the food out of the tank and in like a couple of days when u notice he swims and is more comfortable then put some feeders in there

[guppy]

You could also put a couple of 1-1 1/2" crayfish in there after trimming off there thumbs, something about the way they move often triggers feeding response. Once they start eating one thing they get more willing to try other things. What state is that reservour in?

[sgland]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Just got a bigger tank and cleared the minnows and frogs for the time being while he settle down.

What state is that reservour in?
I'm not US but Singapore. There are tons of red snakeheads in our reserviors. The juvenilles are especially easy to catch with lures.

[PhullTank57]

Sgland, looks like everybody else has already given good advice... :) GL and keep us all posted!

[sgland]

Thanks for all the advice, ok here's an update.

Yesterday caught another one off my local reservior. It's 1 inch bigger and when i put it into the tank, the current 9incher starts to darken in colors (it been looking pale most of the time) The new one slightly bolder and darker in color and sometimes check out the minnows swimming around, but both not eating. Hope the pale one starts eating soon, kinda heart-breaking to see him pale like that.

btw my tank bottom is empty, is that alright. The sh likes to probe the bottom with their head/body.

[sharks]

Another possibility is that NH3 and NO2 may currently be high because of your systems lack of substrate to act as a biological filter. Frequent partial H2O changes (possibly with source water) may be able to remedy this problem. I would suggest a substrata for this fish.

[PhullTank57]

Thanks for all the advice, ok here's an update.

Yesterday caught another one off my local reservior. It's 1 inch bigger and when i put it into the tank, the current 9incher starts to darken in colors (it been looking pale most of the time) The new one slightly bolder and darker in color and sometimes check out the minnows swimming around, but both not eating. Hope the pale one starts eating soon, kinda heart-breaking to see him pale like that.

btw my tank bottom is empty, is that alright. The sh likes to probe the bottom with their head/body.

Sgland,

Is your tank glass or acrylic??... If there is a reflection that can be seen by the fish... (from bottom of tank)... then I would probably add a thin layer of pea gravel to the tank. I also would add a few floating plants as well. They are most likely still trying to adapt to their new home/environment/surroundings. The Acclimation & Adapting period,,, probably the most important & crutical stages for them! :uhoh: Keep tank lights off or lightly dim for the time being... (1st week or 2 at least?)... do allow some natural sunlight to come into the tank (not directly... nor not too dark)... enough to still be able to keep a safe eye out on them. Keep close observation & monitor any changes in behavior... Hope this was some help to you??... Keep us updated and GL! :headbang2

[rayman45]

imho
if they dont eat withen a week or 2

i would throw them back and try again

[sgland]

Thanks for all the advice. Would probably add some fine gravel to the bottom plus some vegatation to make it more homely for them.

And rayman45, your 33" sh video was awesome!

[sgland]

Ok, here's an update and it's good news! :cheers: My reds eating! They bascially wipe out the whole minnows lot.

Here's what i did (not sure if & which did the trick though)
1) added thin layer of gravel (size 1-3mm) and the 2 reds became more relax, not as spooked looking as b4
2) added some water plants and wow they totally settled down. They like swimming between the plants, hiding behind them and resting under them.
3) after the plants i immediately added some shrimps and some irresistable wringingly feeder catfishs and they started picking up on them.

My guess is the plants settled them down and the catfish fired their feeding instincts.

[tigerfish]

:headbang2 try feeding him pellets,i had 3 2'ers that ate pellets,but i started them off on them. but he may if hes wild, prolly ate floating frog and whatnot

[PhullTank57]

Ok, here's an update and it's good news! My reds eating! They bascially wipe out the whole minnows lot.

Here's what i did (not sure if & which did the trick though)
1) added thin layer of gravel (size 1-3mm) and the 2 reds became more relax, not as spooked looking as b4
2) added some water plants and wow they totally settled down. They like swimming between the plants, hiding behind them and resting under them.
3) after the plants i immediately added some shrimps and some irresistable wringingly feeder catfishs and they started picking up on them.

My guess is the plants settled them down and the catfish fired their feeding instincts.
Congrats! :cheers: