Rainbow snakehead info help

[Torrent]

Hi guys I got a rainbow snakehead today and he is doing well so far and I wanted to ask some questions on some of the care. Firstly how much and often should I feed him as he is still only about 10 cm and I have fed him half a frozen bloodworm cube today and I’m not sure if it’s enough. Second what do you tend to feed your snakehead as I have frozen bloodworms and daphnia and some fish flakes. Third is it safe to pick up any food from the food shop like prawns or fish to feed him? Finally could I feed him worms from the garden I live in the Uk if that helps.
Cheers

 

[kno4te]

Madou

 

[Madou]

Congrats on your first snakehead!

Food wise, they tend to eat insects in the wild, so a diet of insects and worms (blood worms are fine when young) twice a day is alright.
As they mature and in winters, you should feed once every other day, or every three days when your water drops below 20°C.

You did your research on the fact they cannot live at a fixed temperature? That is the key factor on whether your channa will make it through the year or not.

 

[Torrent]

Hi thanks for replying I had read that you have to drop temperature of the aquarium to simulate winter and I knew that they were subtropical so I am currently keeping mine at about 21 degrees and was planning to drop the temp in a few months time is that correct?

 

[Torrent]

I was also planning to leave him at room temp for most of the year as he will get up to about 21-22C in the summer maybe slightly hotter during heat waves and around 16-18C in the winter

 

[Madou]

I was also planning to leave him at room temp for most of the year as he will get up to about 21-22C in the summer maybe slightly hotter during heat waves and around 16-18C in the winter

Sounds about right. As metabolism slows, make sure to feed less or they might build up fat.

 

[Torrent]

That’s great. Just one more thig how often should I preform water changes as there is a lot of conflicting information on the frequency as I know they can stress them out quite a bit. Thanks