Do I have to feed snakehead live food ?
- Thread starter monsterfishdude
- Start date
I'm
Thinking of buy 1 it's going in an 160 gallon it's gonna be by it self no orther fish
What foods can I feed it then ?
Thinking of buy 1 it's going in an 160 gallon it's gonna be by it self no orther fish
What foods can I feed it then ?
you feed it meaty food (raw shrimp, squid), or feeders. hard to train it accept pellets. I have visited a snakehead farm before in China (they raise snakehead for food, not for aquarium use), the owner of farm tell me they feed snakehead their self-mixed food, the food is reddish pellet like stuff, and smell like pellet too. Their snakehead are all health and strong, I know these snakehead is not use in aquarium display, but I think it is the same theory of feeding, plus their snakehead looks very beautiful.
Can I feed it smelts ? But smelts are saltwater fish will it hurt the snakehead I've seen people feed it to there fish on YouTube
I guess you can. Because all squids are saltwater creature. I just checked a Chinese website for how to raise snakehead. it says it's best for feed snakehead meaty food, like live or frozen small fish, feeding amount should be 3-10% of snakehead's body weight. In this way the snakehead should grow to mature in 1 year.
Absolutely not, they do not need live and most recommend against it.
The issue with live, or concern, is that any live fish that you feed could be carrying something that your snakehead catches not a good way to loose a prized fish, you could QT feeders before hand to get past this but it means extra tanks and then buying food to feed the feeders in the mean time. A lot of extra cost with no benefit. If your going to go with live feeders as part of the diet i'd recommend a breeding tank with a few cichlids instead of a QT, they are a healthier choice and breed rapidly, no risk of disease if you bred your own.
As for options , chopped shrimp , smelt, talapia etc. are all fine they will except most meaty foods, insects are another option and its eas to breed them yourself. Cockroaches, crickets, meal worms are all popular choices. Mine get a steady supply of june bugs in the spring and grass hoppers in the summer. Like most fish they also enjoy a good meal of earth worms as well.
Pellets of any kind will work also, the thought that snakeheads don't like pellets is a complete myth. they will eat pellets of any kind. I've started juvie fry on pellets , I've also had fresh imports eat them first try.
In my experience once they have settled in channa will eat ANYTHING that you put in the tank to feed them. They are not picky eaters at all. As for how much to feed and what the best diet is it really depends on the species not all snakehead species are the same.
If your dealing with a piscivore species like Micro, diplo or pleuro's then then I'd recommend a mixture of chopped meaty foods (shrimp smelt etc) with pellets to help balance the diet.
For other species epically the auranti/gachua/bleheri complex I would feed mostly insects (i gut load mine with fresh veggies before a feeding) , and again pellets as filler/booster from time to time.
This is how I feed mine ,with the addition of an occasional live treat from time to time when I have to cull fry or knock the population down in my Mbuna tank. If/when you decide on a specific species it'll be easier to make recommendations on care!
The issue with live, or concern, is that any live fish that you feed could be carrying something that your snakehead catches not a good way to loose a prized fish, you could QT feeders before hand to get past this but it means extra tanks and then buying food to feed the feeders in the mean time. A lot of extra cost with no benefit. If your going to go with live feeders as part of the diet i'd recommend a breeding tank with a few cichlids instead of a QT, they are a healthier choice and breed rapidly, no risk of disease if you bred your own.
As for options , chopped shrimp , smelt, talapia etc. are all fine they will except most meaty foods, insects are another option and its eas to breed them yourself. Cockroaches, crickets, meal worms are all popular choices. Mine get a steady supply of june bugs in the spring and grass hoppers in the summer. Like most fish they also enjoy a good meal of earth worms as well.
Pellets of any kind will work also, the thought that snakeheads don't like pellets is a complete myth. they will eat pellets of any kind. I've started juvie fry on pellets , I've also had fresh imports eat them first try.
In my experience once they have settled in channa will eat ANYTHING that you put in the tank to feed them. They are not picky eaters at all. As for how much to feed and what the best diet is it really depends on the species not all snakehead species are the same.
If your dealing with a piscivore species like Micro, diplo or pleuro's then then I'd recommend a mixture of chopped meaty foods (shrimp smelt etc) with pellets to help balance the diet.
For other species epically the auranti/gachua/bleheri complex I would feed mostly insects (i gut load mine with fresh veggies before a feeding) , and again pellets as filler/booster from time to time.
This is how I feed mine ,with the addition of an occasional live treat from time to time when I have to cull fry or knock the population down in my Mbuna tank. If/when you decide on a specific species it'll be easier to make recommendations on care!
I trained mine to eat pellets. Now he goes nuts for them.
Here's what I did,
I bought white fish from market, around 1.5 inch long. Bring them home and use scissors and gently carve a hole through it from the belly inside like you are gutting the fish. But not cutting it open. Just like making a tunnel. Then I proceeded to stuff the pellets inside and make sure they stay inside snugly. Then put the fish in front of my Snakehead.
Did it for 1 week + and now he's crazy for them
He's a very fat channa stratia
Sent from my GT-I9100 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Here's what I did,
I bought white fish from market, around 1.5 inch long. Bring them home and use scissors and gently carve a hole through it from the belly inside like you are gutting the fish. But not cutting it open. Just like making a tunnel. Then I proceeded to stuff the pellets inside and make sure they stay inside snugly. Then put the fish in front of my Snakehead.
Did it for 1 week + and now he's crazy for them
He's a very fat channa stratia
Sent from my GT-I9100 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
I trained mine to eat pellets. Now he goes nuts for them.
Here's what I did,
I bought white fish from market, around 1.5 inch long. Bring them home and use scissors and gently carve a hole through it from the belly inside like you are gutting the fish. But not cutting it open. Just like making a tunnel. Then I proceeded to stuff the pellets inside and make sure they stay inside snugly. Then put the fish in front of my Snakehead.
Did it for 1 week + and now he's crazy for them
He's a very fat channa stratia
Sent from my GT-I9100 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
That will work, i find dipping anything into blood worm also helps with conversion of picky eaters. But not needed with snakeheads, just offer pellets, if they don't eat them scoop them out, wait a week, do it again. In my experience the only time a healthy snakehead wont eat or becomes a picky eater is if it's overfed because they arn't really hungry !