Channa Assam Blue

[markh3eu]

Channa Assam Blue.

I bought 2 of these snakeheads. and i would like someone to tell me if there is anyway that i can sex them. They both have different size and shaped heads also they are different in size, i dont know if this means anything... Another thing is that they are always with each other in the tank. Is this a good thing?. i will post some pictures up off them and the tank they are in. They are in a 3ft 180l Tank so should me more than enough for just the 2. If anyone has any advice let me know .View attachment 991903

 

[-DC-]

Hi,

Nice little snakehead, the species name is channa andrao, should help with research! I dont keep this specific species but i do keep several other very similar species.

Typically to get a pair you need to start out with several individuals and a par will split off, there's always the chance you get lucky though and get a pair that was forming out of the shop though so hopefully you got lucky. If they stick together it is a good sign but might also just be young and just hiding sometimes once they settle in fights break out over who's keeping the tank for themselves lol

Sexing them can be difficult. Size is a very inaccurate thing to go by, but if it helps i've raised out 4 species out and in all cases the females were bigger and grew faster, but it's not a guarntee.

Second thing to look at is head shape. Males tend to have a more "arrow shaped" head. Looking at them from above you can see the back of the head is wider then the body and nose is more narrow, from the side it's more of a steady slop from the back of the scull to the front . Females have rounder more blunt heads, viewed from above the nose is rounder and back of the scull is roughly the same width as the body. From the side again the head is more rounded and blunt.

The other thing to check is dorsal fin, Males dorsal will grow longer in ratio to it's body and more arched shaped, females dorsal tends to be shorter when compared to the width of the body, and more uniform in length from to back.

In all cases the older and more mature the fish is the easier it'll be to see the differences, young fish are very difficult to sex so it's a bit of a guess game at this point, but those are the things to look for!

 

[markh3eu]

Okay, thanks for getting back to me. I will defo look out for what you have said. Also another question if you can help. I don't have that many plants in my tank and to be honest I don't know how to go about doing a planted aquarium... Isit pricey to make a decent planted aquarium for them ?. Thanks.

 

[-DC-]

Okay, thanks for getting back to me. I will defo look out for what you have said. Also another question if you can help. I don't have that many plants in my tank and to be honest I don't know how to go about doing a planted aquarium... Isit pricey to make a decent planted aquarium for them ?. Thanks.

Only as pricey as you want it to be , but you can get a wide variety of cheap plants . They like floating cover so stick to low light pants, Water sprite is great stuff because it'll grow as a floater or can be rooted and becomes a stem plant. It also grows and reproduces at a ridiculous rate in just about any conditions.

 

[-DC-]

Just wanted to add, lighting wise you can save money by using coil florescent, the "daylight" [6500k] work perfectly for growing plants, and since it'll be low light with floaters there is no need for added fertalisers or C02.

You might also want to consider leaf litter , they will enjoy the cover it provides and the tannins released as a result are beneficial, plus it makes for a nice natural look.

 

[markh3eu]

Okay thank you so much for your help.