Chinese Asiatica Snakehead (Channa Asiatica) 6-8 cm

These beautiful snakeheads are one of only a few snakeheads known to travel short distances overland to find other ponds in the wild.

Native to China, Taiwan and Northern Vietnam where they inhabit freshwater rivers, lakes, and ponds heavily saturated in plant and organic material. They typically lie in ambush to feed on their prey.

They can handle a wide range of parameters and temperatures partly due to them being able to breathe atmospheric air.

They don't like strong currents so we suggest keeping flow rates low.

A heavily planted tank with substrate made up of soft sand and plenty of organic material helps them to hide as they would in the wild.

As great jumpers, we recommend a tight fitting lid to ensure these beautiful fish do not jump out of the aquarium.

They require a "wintering period" temperature drop of 10℃ and summer temperature of 25 - 27 ℃ to mimic the wet and dry seasons.

Care

• Temperature: 10-26℃

• pH: 6.0-8.0

• dGH: 5-20 degrees

• Size: 30-40 cm in the wild 25-30 cm in captivity

• Diet: these snakeheads are ambush experts eating high protein diets consisting of shrimp, bloodworm, earthworms, small fish, crickets, cockroaches,
  

Breeding They can be successfully bred in captivity providing they have had their wintering period.

When temperatures rise again, the male will search for a female and the pair will challenge each other, so there could be some aggression and nipped fins.

Once paired, the male spins around the female and both eggs and sperm are released.

The eggs float to the surface and are guarded by both parents.

The developing fry are highly cannibalistic, so be prepared to separate any fry that are visibly smaller.