New setup advice for my lil man, pretty please

[neko1]

you def need a lit. Without your channa is gone jump out and die.

I could recommend something but it probably makes no sense since we might not have the same winters / summers since i live in europe. But here i just do my winters his winters and my summer his summer. In the summer i keep my bleheri at 26 C and in winter at 18 or lower if possible.

my oldest snakehead became 5 years old, then jumped through the lit and ... welp. Learned the hard way that when a snakehead gets big u might need a stone on the lit the one i got now should be around 2 years.

You can just do whatever season you are in now. I wouldnt rapidly drop or raise temperature. Just do it slowly over 2 to 3 months or something.
some more info on how to do seasons:
'Snakehead cannot have year round warm temperatures and need to have a cooling period. Some keepers just do that and reduce feeding. Others simulate full winter conditions. This involves adding more leaves to the water, letting the ph drop fairly low and letting the water level drop. The air becomes more humid during this. Come spring or once things warm up do daily water changes for a couple of weeks to simulate rainfall. You can continue a regular routine then. During the winter they may hide more, not accept food or interact '

this is kinda extreme if you ask me, i never do the daily water changes for weeks to stimulate rainfall. I dont even think its good tbh, since my snakehead doesnt really like it when i do waterchanges.

 

[BobsBitchyBottom]

Thank you again all for inputs!
More questions?? I swear I'm grateful for any answer I can get:
What kind of substrate do yall use?
I'm doing bare bottomed for now as I had to do a hard restart.
I've been told gravel above 3 mm is too big as they may swallow it and it would be too big to pass through his gastric system. Also mine likes to dig and hang out on the bottom.
But most Channa tanks I've seen do proper gravel.
Also: do yall abstain from filters altogether?
The regular aquarium thing of filter should handle 10 times the total per hour seems rare with Channa keepers. I understand because they don't like the currents, and heavily planted tanks don't last the same way with heavy flow.
Do you really just change the water twice a year? Does it not get smelly at all because its heavily planted?
Do use water conditioners or bacteria additives such as Nitrivec or Seachem Stability?
Last one: do you use UVC?

 

[BobsBitchyBottom]

you def need a lit. Without your channa is gone jump out and die.

I could recommend something but it probably makes no sense since we might not have the same winters / summers since i live in europe. But here i just do my winters his winters and my summer his summer. In the summer i keep my bleheri at 26 C and in winter at 18 or lower if possible.

my oldest snakehead became 5 years old, then jumped through the lit and ... welp. Learned the hard way that when a snakehead gets big u might need a stone on the lit the one i got now should be around 2 years.

You can just do whatever season you are in now. I wouldnt rapidly drop or raise temperature. Just do it slowly over 2 to 3 months or something.

Oh I wouldn't do literally no lid?, but would fix fine mesh net to glass panes, secure welllll to the tank and probably weigh it down aswell.
Cause yeah, these fish really know what they want! Bless em?
I'm in Europe too! Sounds like we'd probably have the same temps naturally.

I'm so sorry you lost your Channa.
IIt jumped so hard the lid lifted?!!
What kind was it if you don't mind me asking? Again I'm sorry for your loss, it have been heartbreaking.
Glad I was on the right track.
Will start with one degree lower on heater this week and see how far I get before it's warm out again.
Will probably just be a mini-hibernation for this year as the coldest period is soon over.

 

[neko1]

i do sand, i always do sand. Gravel gets poop stuck in it and then i find it hard to clean. While with sand the poop just lays on the sand easy to suck out.
i do waterchanges every week, but try to keep it to a minimun of 30%. I would do this aswell if you would go for the smaller tank instead of the 1.2m
they do leave a mess after eating.

I never use water conditioners. I do use my own grown bacteria out of other tank systems in my house. But i mostly only do this when i start a new tank and then only the first weeks.
I use normal aquarium led light. Is uvc important? I do get some sunlight on the tank which he apparently likes since he sometimes is sunbathing.

 

[neko1]

Oh I wouldn't do literally no lid?, but would fix fine mesh net to glass panes, secure welllll to the tank and probably weigh it down aswell.
Cause yeah, these fish really know what they want! Bless em?
I'm in Europe too! Sounds like we'd probably have the same temps naturally.

I'm so sorry you lost your Channa.
IIt jumped so hard the lid lifted?!!
What kind was it if you don't mind me asking? Again I'm sorry for your loss, it have been heartbreaking.
Glad I was on the right track.
Will start with one degree lower on heater this week and see how far I get before it's warm out again.
Will probably just be a mini-hibernation for this year as the coldest period is soon over.

i started with guacha, then i had a andrao (that was the jumper) after that i had a parachanna africana, (still dont know why it died, did great for 7 months and was just gone the next morning, all parameters were fine all other fish were fine) And now i have my bleheri

 

[BobsBitchyBottom]

you def need a lit. Without your channa is gone jump out and die.

I could recommend something but it probably makes no sense since we might not have the same winters / summers since i live in europe. But here i just do my winters his winters and my summer his summer. In the summer i keep my bleheri at 26 C and in winter at 18 or lower if possible.

my oldest snakehead became 5 years old, then jumped through the lit and ... welp. Learned the hard way that when a snakehead gets big u might need a stone on the lit the one i got now should be around 2 years.

You can just do whatever season you are in now. I wouldnt rapidly drop or raise temperature. Just do it slowly over 2 to 3 months or something.
some more info on how to do seasons:
'Snakehead cannot have year round warm temperatures and need to have a cooling period. Some keepers just do that and reduce feeding. Others simulate full winter conditions. This involves adding more leaves to the water, letting the ph drop fairly low and letting the water level drop. The air becomes more humid during this. Come spring or once things warm up do daily water changes for a couple of weeks to simulate rainfall. You can continue a regular routine then. During the winter they may hide more, not accept food or interact '

this is kinda extreme if you ask me, i never do the daily water changes for weeks to stimulate rainfall. I dont even think its good tbh, since my snakehead doesnt really like it when i do waterchanges.

Huh!!!
Never heard of the daily changes before! I'm sure the Channa loooove that??
No mine hates them, acts like a little great white shark thrashing around every timea, then retires to plot revenge when I'm done.
I was just gonna build something similar to a rain machine, like what reptiles have.
Where is this quote from please?

Okay!
Do you turn the lights off completely or just shorten the time they'll be on, during the hibernation period? Do you take some plants out or are they not affected by less lights?
Is the complete hiding and no food solely during the coldest temps? ?

 

[neko1]

Huh!!!
Never heard of the daily changes before! I'm sure the Channa loooove that??
No mine hates them, acts like a little great white shark thrashing around every timea, then retires to plot revenge when I'm done.
I was just gonna build something similar to a rain machine, like what reptiles have.
Where is this quote from please?

Okay!
Do you turn the lights off completely or just shorten the time they'll be on, during the hibernation period? Do you take some plants out or are they not affected by less lights?
Is the complete hiding and no food solely during the coldest temps? ?

i shortened time by 2 hours. I dont take plants out, leave them all in. He goes into periods of not eating, less active and he just lays around doing nothing. He is not hiding but its kinda boring during winter seasons. But im super hyped for him to be active in summer.
I made a vid of my tank, but its still need to upload but here it is:

 

[BobsBitchyBottom]

i do sand, i always do sand. Gravel gets poop stuck in it and then i find it hard to clean. While with sand the poop just lays on the sand easy to suck out.
i do waterchanges every week, but try to keep it to a minimun of 30%. I would do this aswell if you would go for the smaller tank instead of the 1.2m
they do leave a mess after eating.

I never use water conditioners. I do use my own grown bacteria out of other tank systems in my house. But i mostly only do this when i start a new tank and then only the first weeks.
I use normal aquarium led light. Is uvc important? I do get some sunlight on the tank which he apparently likes since he sometimes is sunbathing.

Yeah I'm looking for sand, I wanted black as he really loves it but seems a tall order! As of now have not found one that is appropriate for bottom dwellers and non toxic or non magnetic.
What kinda sand do you use?

SO relieved someone does regular water changes still!
2 per year seemed, if not extreme, very smelly?
And mine's a messy boy too.
When the water is balanced and healthy I do 15 ‰ a week max.

That's so cool that you have your own bacteria!!! Very goals.
UVC is a water sterilizer!
It eliminates pathogens(harmful bacteria and most algae) getting into the tank, or prospering there. Excellent precaution to never have to get to a point of medicating the fish and/or tank,and for my fish especially since he's wild caught and therefore more susceptible to disease but probably less able to handle medication.
Usually one connects it to the filter.

 

[BobsBitchyBottom]

i shortened time by 2 hours. I dont take plants out, leave them all in. He goes into periods of not eating, less active and he just lays around doing nothing. He is not hiding but its kinda boring during winter seasons. But im super hyped for him to be active in summer.
I made a vid of my tank, but its still need to upload but here it is:

Little beeeeean?????
Very very cute. Does he get along with his tank mates? Not v aggressive I'm guessing.

 

[neko1]

Yeah I'm looking for sand, I wanted black as he really loves it but seems a tall order! As of now have not found one that is appropriate for bottom dwellers and non toxic or non magnetic.
What kinda sand do you use?

SO relieved someone does regular water changes still!
2 per year seemed, if not extreme, very smelly?
And mine's a messy boy too.
When the water is balanced and healthy I do 15 ‰ a week max.

That's so cool that you have your own bacteria!!! Very goals.
UVC is a water sterilizer!
It eliminates pathogens(harmful bacteria and most algae) getting into the tank, or prospering there. Excellent precaution to never have to get to a point of medicating the fish and/or tank,and for my fish especially since he's wild caught and therefore more susceptible to disease but probably less able to handle medication.
Usually one connects it to the filter.

I mean everyone has his own bacteria in filters, just a matter of having a steady tank already and a good giant ass filter XD

Uvc as in light right? i mean i have heard about it but unless you only feed life caught food you arent gone run into diseases or parasites so easily.

Never really had tank mates with snakeheads but then i found these two paradise fish. They also need seasons and are out of the same area as the snakehead. They are quite aggressive, they dont attack the snakehead but they dont flee aswell. And that leaves the snakehead kinda confused, and after being confused for a bit he decided to leave them alone. That was around 4 months ago so im guessing its gone be fine even when summer comes.