snakehead for 5x2x2

[robroy]

I've a 5x2x2 which houses 3 Dats, 14" P. endlicheri, 10" P. delhezi, 10 P. p. buettikoferi, 7" malabar leaffish, 5" Banded Leaffish.
Could the tank house a Snakehead and if so what species could people recommend (I realise the tank might be packed)? We've quite a good a good selection avaialble over here in UK.
Thanks
ROB

 

[tropheus]

I've a 5x2x2 which houses 3 Dats, 14" P. endlicheri, 10" P. delhezi, 10 P. p. buettikoferi, 7" malabar leaffish, 5" Banded Leaffish.
Could the tank house a Snakehead and if so what species could people recommend (I realise the tank might be packed)? We've quite a good a good selection avaialble over here in UK.
Thanks
ROB

rob the only one that might work ( and i must stress might, it would be total trail and error and could work out expensive if it goes wrong) is parachana obscura , your buettikoferi is far to aggressive for most and will probably bully most channa , your 14" endi would eat a smaller snakehead and your leaffish would get eaten off a larger snakehead , you would also need a tropical snakehead to match the water conditions in your tank ,

pleuro would need more swimming space than 5ft and most the other channa will either grow too big or be very expensive or impossable to find . then you have the problem of tank space personally i would not house a 15" obscura with any more than 1 or two more fish in that size tank.

if it was me , i would leave the channa out of that tank , or keep the polys and a channa but loose the butti and dats , but hey man its your tank and you stock it how you wish , after all it would be poor if we all kept exactly the same thing , but whatever you decide just do not get a sub-tropical or any thing from the larger snakeheads group , this includes micropeltes ,maruila , as they are the ones you will be offered the most and are all unsuitable for your tank

oh and another problem you may face , 99% of all channa in the uk for sale are juvies around 10cm long and would be food for most of the things in your tank . a decent sized channa 13" and above will cost a fair bit in the uk expect around £70-£100 for specamin obscura a lot more for some of the other species

cheers col

 

[robroy]

rob the only one that might work ( and i must stress might, it would be total trail and error and could work out expensive if it goes wrong) is parachana obscura , your buettikoferi is far to aggressive for most and will probably bully most channa , your 14" endi would eat a smaller snakehead and your leaffish would get eaten off a larger snakehead , you would also need a tropical snakehead to match the water conditions in your tank ,

pleuro would need more swimming space than 5ft and most the other channa will either grow too big or be very expensive or impossable to find . then you have the problem of tank space personally i would not house a 15" obscura with any more than 1 or two more fish in that size tank.

if it was me , i would leave the channa out of that tank , or keep the polys and a channa but loose the butti and dats , but hey man its your tank and you stock it how you wish , after all it would be poor if we all kept exactly the same thing , but whatever you decide just do not get a sub-tropical or any thing from the larger snakeheads group , this includes micropeltes ,maruila , as they are the ones you will be offered the most and are all unsuitable for your tank

oh and another problem you may face , 99% of all channa in the uk for sale are juvies around 10cm long and would be food for most of the things in your tank . a decent sized channa 13" and above will cost a fair bit in the uk expect around £70-£100 for specamin obscura a lot more for some of the other species

cheers col

Thanks for the informative reply Col-I know from this site that you know your Channa. I'll leave things as they are unless I see a decent sized obscura-I kept one of these years ago and found them quite peaceful for SH's.
BTW the Buetti I meant Polypterus palmas buettikoferi-I think you thought I meant Tilapia! Even I'm not that crazy mate!
Cheers
ROB

 

[robroy]

Col do you know much about Parachanna africana? Wildwoods have them on sale.
ROB

 

[jelly]

Africana max at 12", fairly simaler to Obscura but in a smaller package.

They do have an individual Obscura at Wildwoods about 4" you would need to grow it out a bit. I would put a fair amount of cash on the Obscura eating the leaffish when it gets larger. I have lost a number of fish I considered to large to my Obscura through consumption rather than aggression.

I have a 16"-17" obscura at the moment and have kept it with a number of different fish with very little issue, unless something else starts it.

There are a number of other options as well. Melasoma is one I have fancied giving a go. Lucius is another. Wildwoods have a really good Punctata 'Fluero green' about 10" at the moment.

 

[ReeceTheBeast]

if your from the UK you can go bolton and buy snakeheads like bulchuras for 38 quid or from manchester one 12.60 mariuls

 

[tropheus]

ah rob , your right i thought you where talking about butti the riverine cichlid , personally i have not kept africana but have heard they are a bit shyer than obscura and prefer more hiding places ,as my obscuras genrally hang out at the surface under some plants , the size of africana is much more suited to your tank though so maybe worth a try ,

if your from the UK you can go bolton and buy snakeheads like bulchuras for 38 quid or from manchester one 12.60 mariuls

reece i take it you mean pulchra here , pulchra are totally unsuitable as they are sub-tropical and robs tank is tropical also £38 is no longer considered cheep for them , there are 3 people selling them on aq classified for £10 or under and a lot of shops now stock them at £20-£25 , although marulia tolerates many temps so that would not pose a problem ,it unfortunatly will reach a minimum of 3ft in the aquarium and robs tank is 2ft wide so allso rule that one out ,

cheers col

 

[robroy]

ah rob , your right i thought you where talking about butti the riverine cichlid , personally i have not kept africana but have heard they are a bit shyer than obscura and prefer more hiding places ,as my obscuras genrally hang out at the surface under some plants , the size of africana is much more suited to your tank though so maybe worth a try ,



reece i take it you mean pulchra here , pulchra are totally unsuitable as they are sub-tropical and robs tank is tropical also £38 is no longer considered cheep for them , there are 3 people selling them on aq classified for £10 or under and a lot of shops now stock them at £20-£25 , although marulia tolerates many temps so that would not pose a problem ,it unfortunatly will reach a minimum of 3ft in the aquarium and robs tank is 2ft wide so allso rule that one out ,

cheers col

Thanks again Col-I'm aware of the temp for Pulchra from your previous threads and well aware of the size of marulia too. Might chance it and get an africana as Wildwoods have some in.

 

[D'iu-lay]

Col do you know much about Parachanna africana?

Parachanna would make a good community tank. They are a bit territorial at times but will get along nicely with bichirs. They are not known to attack fish at the top level. Parachanna are like bichirs and prefer to hide under driftwoods or pretend to be a driftwood branch. They can be shy and active depending on their mood. I personally prefer parachanna over channa gachua for the active personality. I think parachanna is a better choice than obscura for your tank.

 

[robroy]

Parachanna would make a good community tank. They are a bit territorial at times but will get along nicely with bichirs. They are not known to attack fish at the top level. Parachanna are like bichirs and prefer to hide under driftwoods or pretend to be a driftwood branch. They can be shy and active depending on their mood. I personally prefer parachanna over channa gachua for the active personality. I think parachanna is a better choice than obscura for your tank.

Well i'm very close to getting an africana-just deliberating over finances (I'll have to get it sent to me) but it does look nice. I think its better too as it does get smaller it seems than the obscura