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I was wondering if anyone could tell me about these fish?

Haha, lucky Canadians... Though Snakeheads are slowly becoming banned up there too, if I'm not mistaken.

Well, it depends on the species, but basically you've got an aggressive predatory fish. That can walk on land. And breathe atmospheric oxygen.:%) Depending on the species, you're looking at a medium size fish to a huge fish.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

that eat everything.

It's being banned in many areas....mainly because people get them, can't keep them, then dump them in local waterways where....as was mentioned they eat everything.

It's given the sci fi channel plenty of material for B rated movies like Frankenfish and Snakehead Terror .

Unless you're positive you'll be able to keep it, I'd suggest not getting one.

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig line Restoration*

Snakeheads (Family Channidae) are related to the Anabantids (Gouramis & kin), can breathe atmospheric air, and are TOUGH. If ever you see them slopping around in tubs in a chinese fishmonger's in Hong Kong, you'll know HOW tough.

However, these things are EXTREMELY predatory, viciously aggressive toward almost anything that moves, and grow to huge sizes. A big one can feed a family of four with ease, and that's super size portions to boot. For example, Channa micropeltes, the most popular species (because its juveniles are amazing looking fish) reaches around a metre in length fully grown. And has a CAVERNOUS mouth that will swallow a fish a third of the Snakehead's size with ease. Oh, and a big one can take a large chunk out of your hand if you're not careful.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

hey fish guy,

well i didnt know anything about snakeheads till i saw your post and it got me curious, so i did a little searching and these are pretty awesome fish! i dont know if there are any available in your area (there are definately none here... australia's so strict!) but there are some beautiful dwarf channas you can get, they reach about 20cm each. theres a great site on them www.snakeheads.org good luck and let us know how your snakehead story unfolds

I can't recall if I posted this in the pre-archiving era, but since I had it sitting on my hard drive at home, I thought I'd let you read it. All you need to know about Snakeheads in a nutshell, so to speak!

Labyrinths With A Difference - Snakeheads

Mention 'Labyrinth Fishes' to most aquarists, and the first fishes that come to mind are members of the Family Anabantidae - assorted Gouramis such as the Pearl and Blue Gourami, the beautiful Dwarf and Honey Gouramis, and of course that perennial favourite, the Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens. However, while all members of the Anabantidae have labyrinth organs to allow them to breathe atmospheric air, not all Labyrinth Fishes are Anabantids.

Snakeheads belong to a different Family, the Channidae. These fishes have several plus points, but also several very big minus points. On the plus side, they are tough, have a wide tolerance of differing water chemistry parameters, are disease resistant and will take to aquarium life without too much trouble. However, the minus points mean that few people will willingly take them on. The two biggest minus points are their size - in their native habitat, they are food fishes, some species reaching a metre in length (!) - and their predatory lifestyle. Snakeheads simply can NOT be kept with any other fish not intended as food, and since they have cavernous mouths with appetites to match, they can devour sizeable prey with ease. Indeed, Snakeheads are unlikely to live peaceably with any other fishes in the aquarium, even fishes bigger than themselves, as they are aggressive, belligerent fishes that require huge amounts of space, and chances are they will kill the other occupants with considerable relish. Indeed, it is difficult to keep more than one Snakehead together in an aquarium, because cannibalism is an unpleasant feature of these fishes, certainly in the aquarium. This combination of aggression, voracious predatory nature and large size, soon puts most aquarists off. Even if given large quarters (and for adults, make that huge quarters) Snakeheads will not mellow in temperament in the least, and are comparable in this respect to Green and Red Terrors, two Cichlids with a well-deserved reputation for extreme pugnacity and belligerence. If anything, they are worse, in that they would probably eat any Green Terrors that shared their home, an indication of just how aggressive and predatory these fishes are!

However, they are unbelievably tough - the venerable Innes book tells of how Chinese fishmongers keep them in tubs, and chop steaks off them. Apparently they withstand this brutal treatment for some time, and yield quite a few fish fillets before they finally die. Needless to say, a fish as tough as this will present few maintenance problems with respect to hardiness, but again, the vexed questions of aggression and large size will always loom over these fishes. Feeding presents no problems, other than satisfying their cavernous appetites, preferably with live fishes, although it may be possible to persuade them to eat dead foods. Anyone tempted to train a Snakehead to eat pieces of tuna or sausage is best advised NOT to do it by hand, in case the fish adds one's fingertips to the menu!

In appearance, the best way of describing them is this - imagine an Anaconda with fins. Channa asiatica has a snake-like pattern all over its body, and its large head with equally large mouth leave one in no doubt as to its intentions food wise. Channa micropeltes sometimes appears on sale as a juvenile, when it is attractively striped, but the adult loses this attractive colour pattern and becomes a big, vicious killer into the bargain. One anatomical peculiarity shared by all Snakeheads is the complete absence of pelvic fins, which combined with their elongate bodies and menacing-looking demeanour will make them instantly recognisable, particularly as large adults. Channa micropeltes, the Red Snakehead, sometimes appears in shops, and as 2-inch juveniles, they look rather cute. Put one of these in a community aquarium and disaster will strike in hours - the Red Snakehead may look cute as a juvenile, but it begins its rapacious predatory career very early in life, and after snacking upon your Neons, it will start grown - FAST. Expect a 2-inch specimen to reach nearer 12 inches in a year, and two feet in length in around three years, and if you actually want one of these, plan accordingly. Be prepared for the lovely red striped colouration of the juveniles to be replaced by something much duller and sombre as it grows too. All in all, this (like all other Snakeheads) is a fish that should only be taken on by an advanced aquarist prepared to devote huge quarters to the fish (see below!).

Housing these fishes, should anyone take a fancy to these fishes, is made difficult only by the size of quarters required. For long-term maintenance, consider 500 gallons an absolute bare minimum, and 2,000 nearer the mark. Decorations for the aquarium should be on an appropriate scale - not so much bogwood arches as pieces of small tree - and plants will probably need to be chosen on a similar scale (Victoria Regia Waterlily, anyone?). If it is persuaded to eat dead food, then chances are that it will compete with your pet labrador for tins of dog meat, and with its huge appetite, will almost certainly need high-capacity power filtration to prevent its home becoming a turbid mud soup. However, Snakeheads can survive almost ridiculously high levels of pollutants (which is no excuse for skimping on maintenance), will tolerate 100-degree heat and 60-degree chills (that's Fahrenheit, of course!) with equal fortitude, and will wolf down any meaty food that is offered, particularly live fishes. As mentioned above, if they are weaned onto dead foods, chances are the owner will discover that they eat canned dog food quite happily once thus weaned, and will consume such matter at a prodigious rate. Big ones are self-propelled liquid ammonia factories, so the filtration system is going to be put severely to the test by one of these fishes!

If you happen to be crazy enough to actually like these things, then first, you'll have trouble finding them, as most pet shops won't touch them for the reasons already cited, and second, watch your fingers when performing routine maintenance if you don't want to lose them. The Snakehead might not intentionally set out to snack upon your fingers, but if if feels cornered while you're performing the chores, it'll bite as an instinctive reaction to make you go away. Big ones will leave teeth marks in your arm comparable to a Doberman. With a metre-long specimen, 25 centimetres is head, and most of that is mouth. With suitably powerful musculature to operate it. Effectively, it's a fish that can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a boa constrictor or a crocodile, and has a similar capacity for feeding-related mayhem.

So, if you're looking for a Trivial Pursuit question about Labyrinth Fishes, Snakeheads will provide you with some material. But if you have any sense, you won't go out and buy one unless you are [1] deranged, [2] really know what you're doing (i.e., Shini - this is the sort of fish he'd add to the collection if money was no object), or [3] have enough money to keep it in the manner to which it rapdily demands to become accustomed. While its hardiness is classified as 'bomb proof', it is NOT a beginner's fish because it is capable of amputating fingers with ease! Worse still, trying to keep more than one in anything other than a lake is likely to result in mayhem, because if all else fails, the bigger ones will eat the smaller ones, and they do NOT take prisoners. That mouth is a combination of a gin trap and a car crusher rolled into one, and a large adult can mangle human limbs in much the same way as a rabid Doberman can. Even seasoned oddball keepers such as Richard Hardwick from Practical Fishkeeping magazine treat them with a lot of respect, and if ever you come across one, so should you. Imagine a fish with the mouth gape of a large python and the bad temper of a King Cobra, and you have a typical Snakehead. Be very thankful that they're not venomous into the bargain!

And with that, I shall advise most people to steer clear of them, unless they're called Shini.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002