New snakehead set up
- Thread starter Achilles1763
- Start date
tbh no... not at this time. They are all still very jumpy/not eating yet... but if issues arise I will sort it.
Fine I get it... I am more worried about the auranti at the moment. He was fine in the shop and eating well, but the say I picked him up he had the cut on his lower lip. No idea how as he was on his own! We assumed he was trying to get into the tank next to him as he has managed once already and was discovered merrily shredding some earth eaters. But since I have got him home he has just hovered on the plants near the surface and will not eat! When I try and tweezer feed him he swims away! Is this just him still being stroppy and needing to settle in still or is this a serious problem I need to address proactively.
And the pulchra are fine, feeding well and chasing each other about.
And the pulchra are fine, feeding well and chasing each other about.
Could be different factors, I believe that's his way of showing you he's the boss and isn't happy with you. They do that every now and then, when you move a plant they liked where it was, move something in the tank, or you turned off the light when he was busy doing something! Consider aurantis to be as moody as your woman. 
It could also be that the pulchras are making him nervous, uneasy, or straight out scared (I didn't check the size difference if any).
There's a reason people advise against keeping different species of channas, apart from the obvious damocles sword over the head of one another, there's also the fact channas despise tank mates, and will usually hide at the bottom/under floating cover if they don't feel secure about their tank mates.
It could also be that the pulchras are making him nervous, uneasy, or straight out scared (I didn't check the size difference if any).
There's a reason people advise against keeping different species of channas, apart from the obvious damocles sword over the head of one another, there's also the fact channas despise tank mates, and will usually hide at the bottom/under floating cover if they don't feel secure about their tank mates.
Damn!! I can't have another one of those in the bloody house! They sound a lot like puffers in that case then. The pulchra are tiny... about 3 inches and skinny compared to the auranti at a good 8-9 inches, so I cannot imagine he is scared of them. He is actually moving around the tank a lot more today... so fingers crossed he has settled in. I am off to the lfs to get a bunch of live food today just to get him eating.
I know what everyone says about tank mates, but I have a pleuro in my 220g and I have previously had stewartii and an auranti in a 200g cichlid comm tank and they were great tank mates (pity the pike cichlid didn't agree smh). I think they are similar to puffers, my fahaka has lived in a comm since she was the since of a pound coin.... she is now 18 inches and a real pussy cat!
I'll let you know how the live food goes.
I know what everyone says about tank mates, but I have a pleuro in my 220g and I have previously had stewartii and an auranti in a 200g cichlid comm tank and they were great tank mates (pity the pike cichlid didn't agree smh). I think they are similar to puffers, my fahaka has lived in a comm since she was the since of a pound coin.... she is now 18 inches and a real pussy cat!
I'll let you know how the live food goes.
I think all animals are the same, humans included. I think it's down to the individual fish. Some will get on in community tanks when there's enough space /territories for all the egos and others wont, they may not flourish though. I find snakeheads are pretty intolerant to their own species(auranti with auranti and so on) from my own experience. I think we can all agree on one thing though, the older they get, the less tolerant they are.
I've had bleheris in a tank with plenty of other fish too. Fact of the matter is, they don't make good tankmates. They were not the top dogs, so they sat in corners, hid all day, and lost their colors. When one of them got torn apart, I took them out.
Other comm was with the aurantis, as I said earlier, they cleaned the tank of any other fish.
We all learn from our mistakes, but this is a gruesome mistake to try, the pulchras are going to die, there is no way around it.
Other comm was with the aurantis, as I said earlier, they cleaned the tank of any other fish.
We all learn from our mistakes, but this is a gruesome mistake to try, the pulchras are going to die, there is no way around it.
Update: Auranti is finally eating! Still wants nothing to do with the smelt but I got some live river shrimp and platies from the lfs and they went down very well! Both the auranti and the pulchra are feeding well on frozen blood worms now.... I will use that as a base and start to vary the diet as they get more settled. Hopefully morio worms and locusts.
On a side note, I normally use catfish as substrate cleaners in my predator tanks, given the SH mentality and seasonal water temp fluctuation, is this something I could do and if so what species could manage this. This is more of a way to keep the tank clean than anything and reduce water degradation. I have ordered a bunch of java moss to grow over the rocks to increase the natural burrow look for the auranti and I have been told it's a great natural filter. Thanks again.
On a side note, I normally use catfish as substrate cleaners in my predator tanks, given the SH mentality and seasonal water temp fluctuation, is this something I could do and if so what species could manage this. This is more of a way to keep the tank clean than anything and reduce water degradation. I have ordered a bunch of java moss to grow over the rocks to increase the natural burrow look for the auranti and I have been told it's a great natural filter. Thanks again.
