# snakeheads



## luxsey (Jul 26, 2003)

i was just wondering why snakeheads are illegal in the u.s any ideas?


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

because some people relese them into the wild, and they are capable of desimating native species.

blame irrisponsible people who buy things they cant look after and are to stupid to sell them


----------



## Iceman (Apr 28, 2003)

yep when they get to big for there tank irresponsible owners dump them in local bodies of water and they'll clean out all native fish, there a hardy fish that can withstand alot of water conditions, not too mention there very good predators


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

and they can cross land to spread into other areas


----------



## luxsey (Jul 26, 2003)

i had a feeling it might be something like that,i dont think there are many fish illegal here in the u.k because its so bloddy cold none of them could survive,i saw a massive snakehead when i bought my first rhom it must have been about 4ft long what a monster looked evil


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

snakeheads are a perfect organism, man. Live anywhere, f*ck anywhere, kill anything.


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

luxsey said:


> i had a feeling it might be something like that,i dont think there are many fish illegal here in the u.k because its so bloddy cold none of them could survive,i saw a massive snakehead when i bought my first rhom it must have been about 4ft long what a monster looked evil


 where in the UK are you from?

I'm from Newcastle


----------



## luxsey (Jul 26, 2003)

im from exeter in devon saw that snakehead at wharf aquatics in nottingham thats the only place in england i could find a decent size rhom bit of a drive though


----------



## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

piranha45 said:


> snakeheads are a perfect organism, man. Live anywhere, f*ck anywhere, kill anything.


 very weel said..


----------



## Lahot (May 20, 2003)

was it someone on here who had a snakehead jump out of the tank and attack their foot?


----------



## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

Some asshat released one in a MD pond last year and all hell broke loose. Authorities freaked out as the fish had bred. They had to poison the lake and do a whole bunch of other stuff to get them out.


----------



## Mr.P (Jul 14, 2003)

Can't you still buy them though?


----------



## Lahot (May 20, 2003)

from my understanding, you can buy them, but it is illegal to ship them. Since it is illegal to ship them there really isn't a legal way to buy them


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

Mr.P said:


> Can't you still buy them though?


 in most states, yes

as someone else already said tho u can't bring em across state lines.

actually you can, just dont get caught


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

Xenon said:


> Some asshat released one in a MD pond last year and all hell broke loose. Authorities freaked out as the fish had bred. They had to poison the lake and do a whole bunch of other stuff to get them out.


 yes, god forbid we lose even one lake full of our treasured perch walleyes and bluegill


----------



## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

lose the perch, walleyes, and bluegill, lose the fish that feed off them, then the birds that feed off them, then the mammals that feed off them.

Come on now man, this is 5th grade earth science shibby.

Dont dump your exotic fish, period.


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

luxsey said:


> im from exeter in devon saw that snakehead at wharf aquatics in nottingham thats the only place in england i could find a decent size rhom bit of a drive though


 you can get Rhoms shipped to the UK


----------



## luxsey (Jul 26, 2003)

i have already ordered a 12" rhom from george at shark aquarium but thanks for the advice anyway


----------



## Polypterus (May 4, 2003)

Xenon said:


> lose the perch, walleyes, and bluegill, lose the fish that feed off them, then the birds that feed off them, then the mammals that feed off them.
> 
> Come on now man, this is 5th grade earth science shibby.
> 
> Dont dump your exotic fish, period.


 Amen, Well spoken


----------



## DiXoN (Jan 31, 2003)

luxsey said:


> im from exeter in devon saw that snakehead at wharf aquatics in nottingham thats the only place in england i could find a decent size rhom bit of a drive though


 i contacted them for cariba last year they told me no chance so i got my piraya through fishpost and th euk piranha club.
the cariba is due in october

anyway i have seen snakeheads for sale in th uk a few times not as big as the one you mentioned only about 5-6''.
as for the us it sucks that they ban fish and the us seems to be the worst for bannings but it all stems from poor fish keepers releasing fish
dixon


----------



## Polypterus (May 4, 2003)

> as for the us it sucks that they ban fish and the us seems to be the worst for bannings but it all stems from poor fish keepers releasing fish


Amen again, for such Enlightenment from across the pond
Someday we yanks will get the point, at least I hope, or I'm
Moving to England, or sorry the Netherlands.


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

well noone is denying that releasing fish is bad, in fact of all the fish-release threads Ive ever seen noone ever said otherwise, but banning the damned fish over it is still lame in my book, but I guess there's others out there who care for natural ecosystems more than myself


----------



## Howzit (Aug 6, 2003)

Hey i wanted to get a snakehead but i know too little. Im in Canada so its all good and legal







.
I need to know how big they get, what they eat, what kind of setup i need, and how long they will live.

I am open to all other info to, and a good website would be nice.

later


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

piranha45 said:


> well noone is denying that releasing fish is bad, in fact of all the fish-release threads Ive ever seen noone ever said otherwise, but banning the damned fish over it is still lame in my book, but I guess there's others out there who care for natural ecosystems more than myself


 I personally support all bans which prevent stupid people being able to buy potentially harmfull creatures and relesing them into the wild









perhaps suitable people should be able to buy a licience



> Hey i wanted to get a snakehead but i know too little. Im in Canada so its all good and legal
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Firstly Welcome to PFury









OK well the website I am reccomending is this one right here as we will provide you with a barrage of information








the size of the snakehead will depend on the species, as will the tank size, and to some extent the food source, but generally I am guessing you want a big mean fish eating machine, so I will cover the red snakehead briefly here _Channa micropeltes_


































Sci Name: Channa micropeltes 
Family: Channidae 
Origin: India; Thailand; Burma; Malaysia 
Max Size: 39" 
pH: Neutral 
Temp: 75-81 F. 
Tank Size: 100 Gallons 
Feeding: Carnivorous

The red snakehead is one of the largest of the snakeheads, and is a large powerfull preditor, it requres a tank which is at least 100 gallons, but much larger is better, they eat loads of fish and may take dead fish or beefheart.
snakeheads are known for their ability of crossing land masses - in the wild they use this ability to move from one lake/pond to the next, and so should NEVER be released into the wild









heres a handy link
heres another handy link
heres a handy link

now if you have any more questions please feel free to ask


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

you can't stick a 3 foot fish in a 100g tank


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

piranha45 said:


> you can't stick a 3 foot fish in a 100g tank


 I agree - I was simply copying the info from the link - I feel so ashamed


----------



## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

> Some asshat released one in a MD pond last year and all hell broke loose. Authorities freaked out as the fish had bred. They had to poison the lake and do a whole bunch of other stuff to get them out.


Two big ironic things about what happened.

1. This wasn't an aquarist. It was someone buying the fish for food/medical purposes. They changed their mind and dumped the two fish.

2. There are only a couple of these fish that are big and temperate. Most of the 28 species are tropicals that wouldn't do any damage.

But we do, of course, have a responsibility to not release fish. There are a ton of Texas cichlids in New Orleans area (I wont even begin talking about south Florida, that's a zoo! ).


----------

