Channa Bleheri Anyone?

[Sarcosuchus]

I have never seen Channa Bleheris sold in any local LFS here. But today I saw four of them, just arrived, still in the plastic bag floating in a tank...just got me excited. I baught two, just about 5 inches in length. One is very slender and snake-like, while the other has a standard thickness to it and is a little shorter than the other.

This is my first experience with Channa Bleheri. Do Bleheri owners have any advise for me? Especially the diet..I have baught non-fancy guppies, I have not seen them eating yet, still laying at the bottom, coming up to breathe air and swimming around a little and hiding under bogwoods. Getting used to their new environment I guess..My digicam is with my brother, I will post pictures when I have it with me.

They are very adorable and pretty, slender like snakes too..awesome Bleheris. :)

[Euge]

I love bleheri's stay small and are beautiful. I've had a couple before and all of them have eaten pretty much as soon as they were put in my tanks. (maybe i'm just lucky). I fed them mostly bloodworms and krill. Remember to cover all holes. I've lost a couple of bleheri's cos they jumped out of the smallest hole.

[Sarcosuchus]

I love bleheri's stay small and are beautiful. I've had a couple before and all of them have eaten pretty much as soon as they were put in my tanks. (maybe i'm just lucky). I fed them mostly bloodworms and krill. Remember to cover all holes. I've lost a couple of bleheri's cos they jumped out of the smallest hole.

Thank you for the reply, I saw them eating non-fancy guppies. Then I tried tiny mealworms and one of them ate, the other didn't notice. Do they show aggression toward each other? One of my Bleheris, whose colour is more intense than the other went for a little chase and nip, but the other didn't bother and is just swimming around. Aggressive too, it sees my 50gal tank next to it and it tries to have a fight.

I am sorry you lost a couple from jumping, I was keeping an eye on them and they seem to show that behaviour. One of them was looking at the surface, looking around as if wanting to jump...the other when coming up to breathe air, it rushes and then has its entire head out of the water. The tank has a large enough space for them to jump:( ...being just about 4-5 inches in length and very slender...they can jump anytime they want.

I will see what I can do...hmm...do they eat pellets? I'm not sure if I've seen someone post about being successful at feeding pellets.

[benzjamin13]

Those Snakeheads look great! I wish I could get some. :(

[deangelo]

got 2 of them at around 3-4"..I feed them bloodworms and feeders and I'm gonna try feeding them market shrimp and ghost shrimp..They are a shy fish that usually hide under drift wood and the filter...heres a photo of mine..pardon the messy tank..:)

[stotty]

Channa Bleheri are a cool SH as Euge said they stay small and they are a good looking SH.

Species name: Channa bleheri

Synonym: Channa bleheri

Common name: Rainbow Snakehead

Family: Channidae

Order: Perciformes

Class: Actinopterygii

Maximum size: 20 cm / 8 inches

Environment: freshwater

Origin: Endemic to the Brahmaputra River basin, Assam, India


Water parameters: Temperature 22-28˚C / 72-82˚ F; pH 6-7.5

Also take a look at this

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/predatory/channableheri.php

[Timmy]

I feed mine freeze dried shrimp...

[Sarcosuchus]

I woke up today and saw one of my Bleheris about 4-5 feet away from the tank all dried up and dead. It was such a nice specimen!:cry:

[deangelo]

man that sucks these guys are excellent jumpers..sorry for your loss

[maxinout13]

i have kept these , 2 pair, great specie, honestly one of the nicest and best looking channa, before college when were legal had 2 pair of these and gachuas, did alot of dancing , and before i had them a friend had them, bred mouth brooders, mae gachua kept swallowing the eggs, horrible! channa bleheri im loking to import them into my canada shop , also 9 other specie, outrageous fish they are, when i do needless to say ill be moving to canada part time, vacation and fish keping, asian arrows and sh is enough reason for me, sorry to hear about the loss, they are escape artists for sure!!

[Sarcosuchus]

It was such a nice specimen, nice colour, slender body, big head...*sighs*. Thanks, the other seemed to have showed aggression to this one. I just baught another...and it is running away from the old one that's showing aggression.:(

The one that died had one spot at the edge of its dorsal fin, the one showing aggression had two, I have seen one with three spots. The one I have baught one have one as well. It's pretty and has a nice face.

[jelly]

They are one of my favourites (see my Avatar). They are escape artists, I lost one through a hole smaller than the fish itself. Sorry for your loss. Grab the other two before they go.

I have found they are not great fish eaters. They love inverts, Worms, shrimps Etc.

[KenyanSandBoa]

That is a beautiful fish.

[FueL]

if your bleheri don't "hunt" live fish , try whit criquet.they realy like it and they came very crazy when he smel it.

[dovii88]

omg they are so nice..

[carsanfish]

I love Channa Bleheri :headbang2 :headbang2 :headbang2 !!!! Damn US laws :irked:

[Lan]

rainbowsssss!!!