Right... Slight fly in the ointment, I made the mistake of telling the misses about my plans, and she wasn't loving the idea of a wild caught fish .... Are there any big, bitey tank bred options? It doesn't mean I am ruling out the golden cobra as they look and sound perfect (and I am not ruling out flat lying to her about its origins lol), but I might need a fall back.
You could find bred Channas, most people here have had babies once, you just need to find some in the UK, while being a few months away from breeding season.
It's cool! I have had a chat with my lfs and they can source me half a dozen juvenile golden Cobras quite easily it seems. So I should be all good to go with your original suggestion to form a pair
Just a tip , if bringing them in at this time of year keep in mind that they are in the middle of their winter/dry season .
So for the best results make sure to put then into an unheated tank. I also highly recommend treating new imports with a pimifix /melafix combo right from day one , treat for 1-2 weeks. Auranti are netorious for what's commonly refered to as "Auranti eroding disease" which is a bacterial/fungal combo infection . It trends to hit suddenly and spread rapidly on otherwise healthy looking fish within the first couple weeks of import. My belief is that this has a lot to do with the shock of being caught in the cold/dormant season then moved into heated tanks too quickly because it seems that it occurs a bit less frequently now that people have a better understanding of there subtropical requirements. But if/when it pops up the infection spreads rapidly and is next to impossible to treat. It's a nasty infection that'll go from one discoloured spot to covering all the fish and killing them fish within a couple of days so doing everything preemptively to help make sure it doesn't appear is well worth the effort !
Ah that's makes a lot of sense, I was in a new fishshop today and I saw an Autanti for the first time. My initial feeling of cool! was quickly replaced by urgh! As the poor little fish had most of its tail fin rotting away. He was in a heated tank like you say. I just wish I had a tanks set up (still waiting on my 7ft to arrive from tank builders and my 5ft isn't set up after moving 2 weeks ago) so I could rescue the poor little bugger.
I highly advise against rescuing an Auranti with any sings of fungus ,if it's fins are just torn up that's no big deal it heals fast. But if it has that fungus it is very unlikely to recover.
keep your eye out on ebay, i picked up my group of ornatipinnis for about £60 for 5 at around 1-2" shipped. i keep my group in a 48x20x18 and at 6-8" they are still fine. lots of hides and they do ok.
i don't keep a heater in there and they naturally go off feed when they are colder, so i tend to feed a tiny bit if they go mental for it ill add more if they are bothered i leave it and let them be for a week.
Wooh... It's a death sentence!? ****... Poor little bastard. Makes me want to go back and get him even more... That's a bad way to check out in a 9 inch cube.
I'll keep my eyes pealed hooligan, might be a good option.
