# Smallest Channa



## highlander (Apr 4, 2005)

Hello,

I get information about small Channa. I allow myself you put questions:

Which is the smallest species of Channa, and which size it makes ? 
Smallest are they as aggressive as the large ones ? 
Which size of aquarium do they need ? 
Can they live with several ? 
Have photographs ?

Thank you in advance

PS: afflicted for the orthography, I speak very badly English


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## wayne the pain (Mar 30, 2004)

Good reference site here :nod: 
http://www.snakeheads.org/


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## snakehead rock (Mar 26, 2006)

hey dude, I am new here but i have been doing the fish thing for a long time. I did alot of research befor buying my channa or snakehead (hate using sci names.). Anyway the Rainbow Snakehead is the smallest you will find. They only grow between 6"-8" but have every thing the big guys do. I just bought one, I kept him in a 10 gal (planning on putting it into a bigger tank soon like a 15 or 20 gal) and do 15% water changes every week and he seems to be happy he is only 4.5" long but he eats alot amount 2 small feeders a day or 3 worms (also a day), mine will not talk anything dead. anyway u need a heater i keep my tank around 83 (they come from the subtropics of asia.) They can be kept by themslefs of in a group. This kind of snakehead unlike its biger brothers does not lose its color with age.(they have very nice color i might add.) Lighting is the same with any other fish although they do prefer dim light. make sure he has a cover for they get out with ease and can last up to 3 days on land if they stay wet. if u want to buy one make sure u have food for him befor u buy him and a lot of it. Anyway allin all not a very hard fish to keep and surely worth the effort. Have fun.


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## jan (Apr 24, 2004)

snakeheads rock said:


> Anyway the Rainbow Sncke head is the smallest you will find. They only grow between 6"-8"


Actually the smallest specie of snakehead is the Channa orientalis. This specie will max out at around 4'' and therefor is often called the smallest specie of snakehead. Here is a pic of an adult:

View attachment 100502


They can live in groups and in a 50 gallon tank you could keep a couple of them. They aren't as agressive as their bigger cousins like the Giant snakehead, but this is also depending on how you define agression. They are predators and will eat and attack smaller fish.

Other good options are the Gachua or the Bleheri (rainbow snakehead like Snakeheads rock already mentioned).


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## snakehead rock (Mar 26, 2006)

Jan is the expert Anyway I have to get one of those, Jan do smaller snakeheads alway lurk at the bottum like the one seen in pic? (my rainbow is always hiding between the plants and only comes out when the light goes out or if their is a feeder in its tank but most of the time it is in the plants) Thnx


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## timmy (Mar 29, 2004)

snakeheads rock said:


> Jan is the expert Anyway I have to get one of those, Jan do smaller snakeheads alway lurk at the bottum like the one seen in pic? (my rainbow is always hiding between the plants and only comes out when the light goes out or if their is a feeder in its tank but most of the time it is in the plants) Thnx


My rainbows come out all the time. The smaller ones tend to be more shy than the bigger cousins, i think mainly the bigger ones can't hide!


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## snakehead rock (Mar 26, 2006)

LoL, How big our yours, mine is around 3".


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## timmy (Mar 29, 2004)

snakeheads rock said:


> LoL, How big our yours, mine is around 3".


Mine range from 3-4.5 in... If you look in the snakehead video section you will see a video!


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## snakehead rock (Mar 26, 2006)

timmy said:


> LoL, How big our yours, mine is around 3".


Mine range from 3-4.5 in... If you look in the snakehead video section you will see a video!
[/quote]

I did. I could not tell their size but I saw they were very active. (That might be because they are in a group.) Mine is by its self at my LFS they had around 6 of them in a tank yhey also were not active maybe it just deoends on the fish?


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