Snakehead not eating

[Fingerling]

Hi MadScientist,

Ever thought of posting a pic for ID? Think once you ID your snakehead, you would be able to aid it better in eating knowing its behaviour, water requirements and if its a more docile or hunter-like ( some snakeheads like their food moving and alive ) Also why dont you give the snakehead its own tank/container/bucket etc till it settles down/start eating.

Your priority now is probably to get him to start eating before trying to wean him into pellets. If its a farmed snakehead, it will have no difficulty taking food the moment it enters your tank. Have you checked if the snakehead is healthy? Check the poo if its white and stringy? If yes, your snakehead probably has internal parasites which explains why its not eating.

Hope this helps.

 

[madscientist]

It didn't poo. I have just posted the photos. My friend is having Channa bleheri. Same problems with mine. Any suggestions? Which food should we try?

 

[madscientist]

Preliminary ID seems to be Channa Gachua

 

[Fingerling]

My guess is its a gachua from india. Does it have any pelvic fins?

Tried my best to count from the pic you attached.
Dorsal fin : about 36-37
Anal fin : about 24-26

If it is a gachua, then just try to fit its water requirements etc.
Foods that you can try are Bloodworms and market shrimp.
Reduced water movement might help.

If it didnt poo, probably means it hasnt eaten for awhile ( Its gonna give in to the food somehow ) . So just keep trying, remove uneaten food and PRAY

Good luck.

 

[Aquaribum]

I checked the archives and found that someone had a siomilar problem, only it was a Red SH, but I would guess that this could work for you as well. It's worth a try.

My reds eating! They bascially wipe out the whole minnows lot.

Here's what i did (not sure if & which did the trick though)
1) added thin layer of gravel (size 1-3mm) and the 2 reds became more relax, not as spooked looking as b4
2) added some water plants and wow they totally settled down. They like swimming between the plants, hiding behind them and resting under them.
3) after the plants i immediately added some shrimps and some irresistable wringingly feeder catfishs and they started picking up on them

 

[madscientist]

Nope, no pelvic fin. Seems like this guy doesn't need flight stabilisers. Tried bloodworm. Didn't work. Heard that prawns contains thiaminese if I remember correctly. Should I boil them? Maybe the bichir ate the poop? haha

From here: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124841, it seems that they just said it's easy to keep.

Oh, they need to feel at home? I wonder if fake plants will work. Plants and I have a long history, :X

Should I try the same for Channa bleheri? Would mealworm work?

 

[Brucki]

HI,

the shown fish is Channa sp. Assam, a subtropical species. It prefers colder water.
It needs hiding places,plants /floating plants, the more the better.

I bred these sp. several times

Sorry, tank got extremely cloudy due to the lack of mechanical filtration and the feces of the fishes are extremely powdery upon breaking.

Got it into a holding tank for candid shots. Sorry for the blur photos.

I was thinking, won't it be tougher to wean it to pellets once it starts eating guppies? Which food would be the most irresistible for SHs? My friend is facing the same exact problem. Wonder what they are thinking. Hmmm...

BTW, colour is very dull. The colouring on the fins are due to the flash.

 

[Fingerling]

No pelvic fins? Then it is not a gachua i suppose. Guess the important thing now is to get that SH eating first. I really suggest removing the bichir for the meantime. Market shrimp dont have to be boiled but you can do so if you want to ( It loses its natural smell when boiled ). You can give it a try making the snakehead feel at home and see if it eats after that.


By the way, what are your water parameters??
That would be one real hungry birchir if it eats poo.

 

[tokyogasmask]

Channa assam.

Why not take it out of his tiny isolation chamber, and get him into a bigger, better tank? Might perk him up a little.
I believe that assams are OK in groups. If you have a tank that can handle it, why not get a few more.

With my Bichirs (and a few of my SH) I have always found that if a new fish is not eating, I use raw chicken. This always seems to turn my fish into blood lusting killers!
I then mix tiny bits of raw chicken in with some blood worms, then after a couple of days I leave out the chicken and just blood worms. Always worked for me.

Your friends Bleheri temps are a little higher than your Assam by the way.

Mealworms are ok, but I wouldn't feed many as I think they are quite hard to digest.

 

[madscientist]

Actually the only meat I didn't try are mussels, scallops, salmon, cod, shark and mealworm. I am thinking of trying them soon. Good news! My SH suddenly ate, though it ate a few mouthfuls only. I introduced the pellets as usual. The difference for today is instead of thawing the bloodworm first, I jut threw the whole cube in. Seems like the SH demands freshness. It ate some pellets along with bloodworm, I am thinking of slowly reducing bloodworm quantity till it loves pellets. So I am left with my friend's Channa bleheri. I live in the tropical region, no chiller in my case. Tried raw chicken before, apparently it was afraid of the chicken, haha. I am trying out mussels on my friend's Channa bleheri today. I am intending to presoak chicken with garlic juice and amino acids extract for my SH tonight.

Cheers!