Channa Marulioides problem

[Malte81]

I picked up a trio Marulioides from a guy who wants to sell all his tanks and fishes.
They are about 25 inches big, very dark in colour and have some torned fins.
The old home was about 4000 litres and now they are in a 1400 litre tank.
Two of the trio seems not to like each other very much and they start to fight a little.
The two dont have any problems with the third channa and get along with him just fine.
I think that the dark colouration is from stress inside the group.
The best way would be to sell one of the two that wont get along with each other.
But which one should i sell ???
When i have a pair now and sell one fish it could be that i end up with two females for example.
I cannot sex the channas.
It would be great if any of the experienced channa keepers can give me a advice.
For now i have a divider in the tank.
(the last owner had the same problems in the bigger tank ! )

First picture is one of the two fighters.

Second picture is the other fighter.(the one at the top)

Third picture is the one they all get along with.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Well, why would you buy them in the first place? You're downed size the original tank from 4000L (a bit over 1000G) to 1400L (around 370G). If you sell the bully one and the other 2 will turn against each other once the order is broken (if they are not a pair), in case you have a pair then they will kill all other tankmates. If you keep the strongest one and sell the other 2 then after its established to new tank it will kill other tank mates...either way you can only keep 1 in your tank size or a pair if there was a pair. Beside, it didn't work with original owner in much bigger tank than your then how it's gonna work in your tank lol.

 

[Malte81]

Did you have experiences with channa marulioides ?
They are not like other Channas and very friendly towards other fishes.
I think the only problem is when a pair wants to spawn. (Same game with big cichlids)
The old owner said there were very small fights here and there but nothing serious.
I dont had the time to watch them a week before i took them.
I think the tank will be ok for a pair and a few other fishes they are not very active.
It would be great if anybody can say if i have male or female but i think this will be difficult.
The other point is the black colour.
Is it from stress or are they sick?
At the moment one of the three is aggressive but only against one of the three.
All other combinations work just fine.
Maybe they need more time to settle down a bit.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

No, I used to have dozen Juv. Channa marulius (bought them cause LFS miss labeled with Marulioides) and their behave similar to your channa species, they are friendly/peaceful when they are young, they are aggressive once they mature especially when a pair is formed...they wanted their own tank. The black color is probably stresses to new environments. Anyway, very nice channa you got there. Have fun and good luck!

 

[Malte81]

Channa marulius is known to be very agressive towards tankmates when they reach a bigger size.
I know somebody who have to keep his marulius alone in one tank.
Marulioides is known to be the best channa when it comes to a community tank.
I will give them a little more time and then we will see what happens.
Good luck with your marulias !
They are also very nice looking channas.