My Juvenile Channa Micropeltes

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ddv_nk12

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 20, 2013
17
0
1
Malaysia
Hi everyone. I bought a juvenile C. Micropeltes 2 weeks ago. I have a few doubts that I'm hoping to clear.

First, it's about feeding. I have been feeding it with small shrimps and fish. I feed about 20 small fishes every 2 days. I have read that owners of this fish usually overfeed. Am I also over-feeding? How often should I feed it?

Next, my Channa is about 6-inches long now. Roughly, how old is it?

And I have seen videos where the channa actually follows your fingers and fists. But mine isn't doing that. It swims away and hides behind the driftwoods and plants. Why is that so? Is there any way for me to train it to follow my hand movements?

Here is a picture of my Channa Micropeltes.

 
I don't think there's much to worry about over-feeding but if you feed with live feeder fishes, you should be sure that they are not carrying diseases.

The length of the fish cannot be used to get the accurate age of the fish. My guess would be anywhere from 2 to 5 months.

The fish is more likely to pay attention to you when it is hungry and also when it has got used to you. Since you got it (a single fish and not a group) about 2 weeks ago, it is hard to say whether it has settled down completely and not too easily frightened or still it is still very timid.

You may, as a start, try to do as what you see others did in their video but with food (e.g. shrimp) between fingers and when it is hungry and see if it will follow you.
 
Thank you for your reply.

I will try out the shrimp trick when it is hungry next. It is still not big enough to cause any injury to my fingers right?

I was just curious about the age of the fish. I also read somewhere in MFK that they tend to grow 2-2.5'' a month till they are about 4'' long. And then, 1-1.5'' inch a month till they are about 18''. Anyone to second this statement? However, based on this, your guess must be right.

How can I ensure that the live feeder fishes are not carrying any diseases? I read that in order to avoid this, we need to actually keep these fishes in another tank with proper filtration and so on for some time before using them as feeds. Is this correct? Are there any other ways to feed this fish without having to worry about diseases?

Due to the amount of food they eat, they actually excrete quite a lot of wastes. I see some owners have sand while the others don't. Won't it be more difficult to clean the tank with sand or stones in it? I am currently not using any stones or sand simply because I find it more difficult to clean the tank. How do you guys reckon me overcoming this issue?

Thank you.
 
I noticed a new behaviour in my fish today. It opens its mouth really big quite a number of times, almost like the way we yawn. Is it normal? I have been having it for 2 weeks now but never noticed such behaviour. I have not been feeding it for three days now as I am trying to make it starve to try feeding with frozen worms. And today, I have also put in some plants into the tank. Apart from that, I assume everything else is the same. Could these changes cause it to do that mouth-opening thing?
 
It is normal for them to do it, mine also do the same. If you keep only one fish it's suitable to put some plants. If more better you put some drift woods other than plants. But not too crowded due to their behavior love to swim freely than hiding. You'll see them more 'friendly' with you when the time come.
 
ya it is normal for them to (yawn) mine do it all the time as for the skittish behavior that is also normal for a single fish .in my experiance they do better in groups as I have three that I have raised together and they were not skittish at all .I also raised a single one which was verry skittish . as for it doing any damage to ur finger I have been bit a cupple times up to when they were about 14 inches it wasn't plesent but not that bad but I would not want to get bit now as they are monsters and have big teeth lol

Sent from my SGH-I747M using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
Yawning is a common thing. Other fishes - Arowanas, chichlids, etc. also yawn from time to time.

Click on the pciture below to have a BETTER VIEW.

snakehead_yawn.jpg
 
Thank you all for replying. So, fishes will also yawn. I just learned it.

Can't wait to make it more friendly with me.
 
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