My cobra snakehead has stopped eating

[Chrislisk]

Everything your saying is really helpful. So here’s an update. Since eating the one piece of white fish about 4 days ago which is all she has eaten in the last 10 days she still hasn’t eaten.

she is still say on top of the filter and not active at all really. I’ve tried mybest to get some photos again, tricky with all the plants.

 

[Ca5566]

Everything your saying is really helpful. So here’s an update. Since eating the one piece of white fish about 4 days ago which is all she has eaten in the last 10 days she still hasn’t eaten.

she is still say on top of the filter and not active at all really. I’ve tried mybest to get some photos again, tricky with all the plants.

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Mine likes to chill above the filter too for some reason, maybe its just easy access to the surface for air, depending on the size of that piece of fish that was fed it might actually be enough for her to last even a week

 

[BigBeardDaHuZi]

Everything you have said is inline with how I keep her. I’ve really tried hard to keep her as she would like. She is kept outside in my garage with a heater set to 16 degrees (60-61f) and let the season raise the water temp to give her a summer period, right now her water is about 20 and over xmas it was down around 15 at times.

Her tank is an aqua vogue 250so it’s 120 long x 45cm deep and 50cm high which I understand is ok for a single Auranti.

Knowing they love old water I’ve not changed it for about 3-4 months now as the parameters have been perfect. I tested last week when she hasn’t eaten and the nitrates were at the highest they have been but still only around 20 maybe even less, the tank is heavily planted.

I was going to do a 30% water change anyway on the lead into summer and then not do another till end of year and just top up depending if it needed it.

Since my initial post she has eaten one Lance fish. She is not very mobile but then she really isn’t mobile much unless eating, she just seems less mobile than normal and not eating as much as normal.
She was feeding on between 4-8 massivore pellets then nothing for about 3-4 days but now she has had like one Lance fish in the last 7-10 days.

Her fins are not clamped she just sits perched in my hanging plants or on top of the internal filter which is always her favourite place.

here’s a photo of her tank.

Any advice from someone who is very aware of these fish or has one is much appreciated.

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Gorgeous tank mate. Really well scaped

 

[BobsBitchyBottom]

Ok thanks for the advise. She has just eaten a frozen Lance fish which I’m really pleased with. I will do a water change tomorrow, tbh I didn’t do one as I was under the impression what we changed for these fish is pretty much an annual affair until nitrates build way way way higher, But that said I will do one tomorrow. As for her tank…..sadly I won’t be able to get her a bigger tank, I do have a 500 5ft tank but that homes my Oscar and severums. If the tank is too small
For her to be happy in for the foreseeable then I would have to consider rehoming her which would be a sad situation.

Very glad she's eating and seems better!
You know your fish the best, if she seems happy in her tank, that's all good!
I wasn't trying to indicate you're not caring well for her.
With the whole water change thing,and general care for Channas, it seems there are, two different schools/ways.
Some as you say, change the water once a year and try to not do anything at all in between.
I do a 10-15% water change every week.
I was advised to by breeders and others in the field. It seemed less risky for me as a beginner aswell.
He really did hate it at first?? but these fish are nothing if not clever and adaptable! Now he doesn't bat an eye and actually seems to enjoy them.
The same people told me to keep one temperature all year! People on here made the good point that he was going to need hibernation, and that it would lower the risk of infection.
Since everything's always changing including what we know of fish keeping,I try to modify and learn from as many sources as possible. Whatever works as long as the animals are ok. ?

 

[BobsBitchyBottom]

Don't want to come off rude, but a comment by another user above makes no sense. Snakeheads do not need oxygen in the water. They breathe atmospheric air only. So when it floats near the surface it does not mean the water is not oxygenated. Instead observe for signs of stress or sickness, such as clamped tails and fins or pale colouration.

First thing i'd suggest is check your water temperature. Aurantimaculata are sub tropical and they require cool temperature and seasonal drops in temperatures. If kept in warm water for long period, they get bacteria infection which starts with fin rot/white spots and which becomes really hard to cure.

Snakeheads hate large water changes, they love aged water. Indonesian breeders do long periods without water changes(think 3 to 6 months) They are sure to know alot more than we do since they do it for a living and we are doing it for hobby. But anyway I do a 20% water change for my aurantimaculata once a month. And top up twice a week for evaporation because its tank is using cooling fan right now. Will be upgrading his tank cooling with a jbj arctica chiller next week.

And for tank size i assume its 4 feet by 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet yes? Its not huge, but its enough for a single aurantimaculata. I have seen them in smaller tanks and the fish is still in great condition. Because Aurantimaculatas gets less active when they get bigger. Not to be rude, but the guy with 240 liter for a fire n ice, thats overkill. Snakeheads are not regular aquarium fishes. They usually live in small pools of water and migrate when it dries up so they are fine as long as the tank size is adequate and reasonable for their size. No need for overkill as they will not utilize the space much like other fishes.

They do come up for air!
But because they are river fish, they are used to either nearly still water in the basins, or getting that supplementary oxygen under water from the streams aswell. They are also used to having a choice between them.
I'm not a guy, I'm a girl As I said to op,they know their fish the best and if they seem happy then that's great!
My Channa had grown so much, and so when I was able to get him a bigger tank, I did.
I completely understand not everyone is able to, cost and space wise. Or just that they'd rather not! He would have been ok in the old one I'm sure, but seeing what a difference the bigger tank made for him settled it for me.
I'm intrigued by the monthly water changes! Haven't heard anybody do that.
May I ask what temperature ranges you keep yours in?

 

[Chrislisk]

Gorgeous tank mate. Really well scaped

Thank you ?

 

[Chrislisk]

Quick update everyone. So since I did a little 15% water change she has started to eat again….Horray! It’s possible she preferred the near to zero nitrates as they had risen a little. It may have been wrong but I added about 6 baby tench as live fish from a pond I look after as they have hundreds! But all are still in the tank and she hasn’t touched one, I assume she will have one when she’s hungry.
Today she ate about 5 massivore pellets which are nearly calories of 2 goldfish, so I know she is ok. I don’t know if it was the little water change or she just wasn’t hungry but she’s ok thank god. Temperature wise mines at 19 at moment. I keep her in my garage with a heater set to 18 so it won’t go below that and let the seasons do the rest, eventually the tank will rise to mid 20s I guess, I believe they like it but it’s her first summer with me.

 

[Ca5566]

Quick update everyone. So since I did a little 15% water change she has started to eat again….Horray! It’s possible she preferred the near to zero nitrates as they had risen a little. It may have been wrong but I added about 6 baby tench as live fish from a pond I look after as they have hundreds! But all are still in the tank and she hasn’t touched one, I assume she will have one when she’s hungry.
Today she ate about 5 massivore pellets which are nearly calories of 2 goldfish, so I know she is ok. I don’t know if it was the little water change or she just wasn’t hungry but she’s ok thank god. Temperature wise mines at 19 at moment. I keep her in my garage with a heater set to 18 so it won’t go below that and let the seasons do the rest, eventually the tank will rise to mid 20s I guess, I believe they like it but it’s her first summer with me.

Could be the rise in temperature that prompted her to eat, could also be that she does not like water with nitrates, thats the fun in fish keeping never run out of stuff to learn? im really glad she started eating again! I'm sure she's as happy as she can be. 20s is perfect summer simulation for them i currently set my chiller to 26 degree to follow their natural habitat season in brahmaputra river basin

 

[Ca5566]

They do come up for air!
But because they are river fish, they are used to either nearly still water in the basins, or getting that supplementary oxygen under water from the streams aswell. They are also used to having a choice between them.
I'm not a guy, I'm a girl As I said to op,they know their fish the best and if they seem happy then that's great!
My Channa had grown so much, and so when I was able to get him a bigger tank, I did.
I completely understand not everyone is able to, cost and space wise. Or just that they'd rather not! He would have been ok in the old one I'm sure, but seeing what a difference the bigger tank made for him settled it for me.
I'm intrigued by the monthly water changes! Haven't heard anybody do that.
May I ask what temperature ranges you keep yours in?

My red sentarum marulioides is kept in a tank without heater or chiller (tropical country for a tropical fish no need to play with temps)

My aurantimaculata tank is following the brahmaputra river basin (aurantimaculata's natural habitat, somewhere in northern india) air temps which i use a telegram bot to update me daily on the temp. since its summer now so its kept in 25 to 26 degree waters with a chiller, then when its the monsoon season might drop to 19 or lower depending on the climate at that point of time.

Regarding the monthly changes, to us hobbyist it might sound too little. But to the indonesians and thais that breed channas for a living that is alot. Usually they change water once per 3 to 6 months as snakeheads are sensitive to chlorine and some experts even say TDS especially young ones plus most snakeheads live in habitats with some ammonia(mostly swamp with constant decaying leaf litter on river bed and dead still water) thats enough to kill normal fishes so a little nitrate does not bother them one bit, infact they would feel right at home

The breeders usually keep them in tank with sand substrate and a simple air sponge filter at most and thats it. Most of the time there's no filters at all for the larger snakeheads.

 

[Ca5566]

My red sentarum marulioides is kept in a tank without heater or chiller (tropical country for a tropical fish no need to play with temps)

My aurantimaculata tank is following the brahmaputra river basin (aurantimaculata's natural habitat, somewhere in northern india) air temps which i use a telegram bot to update me daily on the temp. since its summer now so its kept in 25 to 26 degree waters with a chiller, then when its the monsoon season might drop to 19 or lower depending on the climate at that point of time.

Regarding the monthly changes, to us hobbyist it might sound too little. But to the indonesians and thais that breed channas for a living that is alot. Usually they change water once per 3 to 6 months as snakeheads are sensitive to chlorine and some experts even say TDS especially young ones plus most snakeheads live in habitats with some ammonia(mostly swamp with constant decaying leaf litter on river bed and dead still water) thats enough to kill normal fishes so a little nitrate does not bother them one bit, infact they would feel right at home

The breeders usually keep them in tank with sand substrate and a simple air sponge filter at most and thats it. Most of the time there's no filters at all for the larger snakeheads.

The photo above is a video of a pair of wild aurantis in india from a youtube video, not sure if im allowed to post links so i'll avoid that, anyone whom are interested to see the wild habitat of aurantis and most snakeheads can search on youtube "CHANNA AURANTI DI ALAMNYA DI INDIA" in the video, the water is murky and totally still with lots of decaying and live plants. Which shows serious hobbyist whom wishes to create a biotope on what are the conditions in the wild for most snakeheads

Based on this video i put the smallest pump for my marulioides tank (high flow affects marulioides scale "flower" development) and lowered my canister flow rate of my aurantimaculata and turned the nozzle to hit the wall to minimise current in the tank as im somewhat trying to create a biotope for my channas marulioides tank ph is at 5 with lots of tannins releasing leaves and auranti is maintained at 6.5 to 7 with oyster shells releasing calcium to maintain KH