Forgive me for asking

[lilacamy931]

Got my snakeheads and they are beautiful have two questions, the first is simple, as they hate water changes and to draw out to monthlies, do you spot check their tanks and say turkey bast out poop if seen? Or leave and keep eye on params?

Second which is the forgiving bit - I wish to give them a varied diet and read about feeder fish being fed to snakeheads. I was thinking of cultivating my own guppies say and feeding in with a varied diet, would appreciate what your working practices are.

Please dont flame, I understand that some do not agree with feeding live fish at all and I can understand those view points certainly but my own view is it is different from feeding other live things (personal opinion) and really could do with factual answers - e.g. is it good for them, gut loading the fish, varied diet, helps instincts etc.

 

[knifegill]

They only hate water changes if you wait too long to do them and it causes a huge parameter swing. Regular changes are pretty much always best.

Removing turds is always a good idea.

Goldfish and other cyprinids like rosy reds are not a good food because they contain thiaminase, most other ideas like frogs, guppies, etc. are fine in moderation.

 

[lilacamy931]

Thanks for that knifegill, so with water changes then are we talking like other fish such as weekly or bi weekly?

In terms of moderation would that be once a week or really as a treat (thanks very much, just need to check!)

 

[leather]

You probably can't change the water too much, I'd do at least once a week. I don't know much about snakeheads, but pretty much all other predatory fish are waste factories. You didn't say anything about tank size versus fish size. That is your biggest determining factor.

 

[knifegill]

Right. You'll do whatever water changes are necessary to keep your nitrates low enough for good health. The sizes of your fish and tank help to spell that out, along with quality and frequency of feeding. The simplest and best tool for knowing when to change your water is your nitrAte test kit. When your nitrAtes get above 20ppm, do a 50% water change to bring them down to 10ppm and you're good for about a week if your tank is big enough and the fish isn't eating like a horse.

Live plants help a little, too. I'm not a plant person so I just have java moss, water lettuce and elodea in my tanks.

*Different hobbyists accept different acceptable ranges for nitrAte accumulation. I am comfortable, as is my Oscar, in the 10ppm to 20ppm window. Others will let it crawl higher and others shoot for 0ppm.

 

[lilacamy931]

Thanks for that guys, as new to the species, I am using my liquid test kit regularly to keep an eye on the stats. Im exactly the same as you Knifegill, generally I keep my nitrates in all tanks at 5, but never ever let above 20, im keeping a log stat book so guess time tell on water changes, thanks guys x

 

[octofasciatus]

Hi there, welcome to the hobby. I have to disagree with the replies so far. I only carry out water changes 4-5 times a year. I remove no more than 20% of the water on each occasion and top up with rain water that I keep in a container in the garden. I have practised this method for several years and my fish are healthy and display some great colours. I do clean the filter every 4 weeks to prevent the impeller failing due to clogging up.
Keeping real plants helps with the natural nitrogen cycle also.

As far as diet goes I make a mix of whole prawns (legs/eyes/heads included) and mussells which i mince together with a bit of added discus enzyme and vitamin powder then freeze in ice cube trays. I also add waxworms and earthworms to the tanks every few weeks.

This works for me, and is my tried and tested method. Which channa do you keep by the way?
Good luck