SnakeheadsUK
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Parachanna africana By PascalAntler
First of all why is this species called Parachanna?
Sometimes the name Channa is also used for them ....but:
The African species (africana, obscura, insignis) have a different labyrinth organ then the Asian species have..........
It is more primitive in shape (do not ask for Details..........I am not a scientist)
So they were called Parachanna (but if you use Channa everybody will know what you mean)
The maximum size I have seen is about 32cm!
You need a tank with a minimum size of 120cm length and 50 cm deep
The water level is not so important..40 cm is okay!
P. africana is often misidentified with obscura (but different head shape and colouration......and......... Channa asiatica)
There are some similarities between asiatica and africana .
But you can easily identify both species because of the missing pelvic fins at Ch. asiatica!
Also asiatica has white dots and africana has not!
The head shape is nearly the same!
Parachanna africana is for my experience a very calm, sometimes a really shy snakehead that like to hide most of the time!
They like a well structured and planted tank with dim light an floating plant to show full colour and feel comfortable!
Also they like tea coloured water which you will get if you use peat or leaves
(if you live in Europe you can use oak leaves as well)
Also they prefer softer water an a ph around 6-6,5 !
Because it is a tropical species you should keep them around 25-26 °C all the time!
I have not breed them yet, because they are a little bit difficult.....but I have a real pair and hope to manage it this year!
A friend of mine who was in Africa has caught them in a shallow forest stream
hiding under roots of the trees standing at the river!
He brought them to Germany and managed to breed them twice!
He told me that you should have a acidic ph and temperature risen to around 29-30 °C...and of course soft water!
They have floating eggs and are no feeders......this means you have to feed the fry and you can not rely on the mother as with the egg feeding variants of channa
You should treat the larvae’s as I told you in the Ch. asiatica description!
About sexing them:
You need fully grown adults to sex them for sure!
Males have a head that is more sharp edged and not as round as the female’s head!
Feeding africana:
My africana are quite lazy. And do not eat everything.......
They prefer insects, mussels and shrimps!
They do not hunt for fish in my aquarium. Because I do not feed them with live fish!
At a friend of mine they hunt every fish like mad.......
Mine do not!
I also have them together with a couple of Polypterus lapradi(30cm+) and before that I had them together with Ctenopoma kingselye and Ctenopoma acutirostre!
There were no problems at all.........BUT:
This might change if they want to breed....so I have to monitor them carefully!
At the moment I have just one pair........they found each other out of a group of 4 africana......
Picture by Pascal Antler
First of all why is this species called Parachanna?
Sometimes the name Channa is also used for them ....but:
The African species (africana, obscura, insignis) have a different labyrinth organ then the Asian species have..........
It is more primitive in shape (do not ask for Details..........I am not a scientist)
So they were called Parachanna (but if you use Channa everybody will know what you mean)
The maximum size I have seen is about 32cm!
You need a tank with a minimum size of 120cm length and 50 cm deep
The water level is not so important..40 cm is okay!
P. africana is often misidentified with obscura (but different head shape and colouration......and......... Channa asiatica)
There are some similarities between asiatica and africana .
But you can easily identify both species because of the missing pelvic fins at Ch. asiatica!
Also asiatica has white dots and africana has not!
The head shape is nearly the same!
Parachanna africana is for my experience a very calm, sometimes a really shy snakehead that like to hide most of the time!
They like a well structured and planted tank with dim light an floating plant to show full colour and feel comfortable!
Also they like tea coloured water which you will get if you use peat or leaves
(if you live in Europe you can use oak leaves as well)
Also they prefer softer water an a ph around 6-6,5 !
Because it is a tropical species you should keep them around 25-26 °C all the time!
I have not breed them yet, because they are a little bit difficult.....but I have a real pair and hope to manage it this year!
A friend of mine who was in Africa has caught them in a shallow forest stream
hiding under roots of the trees standing at the river!
He brought them to Germany and managed to breed them twice!
He told me that you should have a acidic ph and temperature risen to around 29-30 °C...and of course soft water!
They have floating eggs and are no feeders......this means you have to feed the fry and you can not rely on the mother as with the egg feeding variants of channa
You should treat the larvae’s as I told you in the Ch. asiatica description!
About sexing them:
You need fully grown adults to sex them for sure!
Males have a head that is more sharp edged and not as round as the female’s head!
Also the belly of the females is much rounder ...males look thinner in shape!
If they are spawning they change the colours completely.........males have a light blueish touch then..and the belly is nearly black!!Feeding africana:
My africana are quite lazy. And do not eat everything.......
They prefer insects, mussels and shrimps!
They do not hunt for fish in my aquarium. Because I do not feed them with live fish!
At a friend of mine they hunt every fish like mad.......
Mine do not!
I also have them together with a couple of Polypterus lapradi(30cm+) and before that I had them together with Ctenopoma kingselye and Ctenopoma acutirostre!
There were no problems at all.........BUT:
This might change if they want to breed....so I have to monitor them carefully!
At the moment I have just one pair........they found each other out of a group of 4 africana......
Picture by Pascal Antler
