DevonC

I'd be careful of bichirs , I find silver colored fish trigger their feeding response . I havent tried piranha with them but I know balas, silver dollars and tinfoil barbs were all quickly hunted down in with me my bichirs . Even my attempts with larger 6"+. ones that were too large to swallow were an epic fail, although I did get to whiteness the bichirs doing the crocodile style death roll for the first time as they ripped them into peices that could be swallowed!! I would worry any bichir large enough not to be seen as food for the piranha would be large enough to take it down.

Not sure about sources for channa in sask, if anyone comes across any please let me know!! As for my sources I mentioned earlier in the thread they all came from different sources some local some shipped in from out west before bans started to cause problems but none of them sell channa any more.

Next up channa gachua !

Just a few more pleuro shots , Belive it or not this is the same two fish a second later , liturally snapped 2 pics in a row and the green one turned blue as he spun around to face me that's how fast these guys change color!

they all were brought in through diffrent shops some local some out west before bans took hold . None of which can get them any more . There is no easy way to get channa between the bans and their seasonal availability it's more like a constant search for new species and I jump on them when I can! I have debated importing some myself a couple times but between hitting the minimum orders , shipping expenses from overseas and the potential for doa's you have to worry about with any freshly imported wild caught fish it typically works out too be too expensive to be worth while . I do have a couple contacts left that I know could get new species for me by piggybacking on their imports but they are some of the more pricey suppliers and with the low canadian dollar im not in a rush to jump into it. I might this spring of next fall though when the season rolls around for some of the species I want.

Thanks & you are correct , there are bans on all channa In Ontario, Quebec, BC and alberta . I do have 5 bleheri in My collection as well though so I'll show them off next lol Hopefully the dominate pair will breed this spring Those are pics from last year , ill try to get new ones this week as they group is quite split some are very dark blues , but a couple devoloped to look like what is now being traded as blerhi sp. "chocolate" or "flame fin". Basically a higher red bleheri with thick red trim on the fins.

Yes I do have a breeding pair of Aurantimaculata. They are still doing well . They breed annually in the spring . They are also subtropical, from north eastern India and require the winter cool downs. Hard to beat a nice Aurantimaculata beautiful colors and top out around 16" . They are territorial and aggressive toward other fish but have good attitudes around people. I've had ones hand feeding in the past I can clean there tanks easily without worry of attacks. That is unless fry are involved , they are incredible parents and become hyper agressive when they have fry to defend. The male is actually holding a fresh batch of eggs in this pic A freshly hatched fry, less then a week old in this pic. The male keeps them at the surface and quickly gathers them up if you approach . Some of my CB Juvies :

How is this guy doing a year later?

Thanks ! Here's another . Channa Asiatica ! She's my oldest snakehead , the one that started my addiction to channa. She's a big solo female 6+ years old now , unfortunately she brutally killed her male on the first breeding attempts. This ones a subtropical species out of china , they require the colder end of the subtropical temp range & is most active during winter in colder weather. They max out around 14". This species is by far the most territorial agressive fish I've ever seen. By 3" long she had no fear of attacking my hands and was killing fish 3-4x larger then herself, she even attacks new decore if you add anything to the tank . Also the only fish I've seen that regularly bounces off the lid trying to attack my cats or people if you linger in front of her tank for too long !

Thanks, the species is a fully tropical open water predator. They top out around 16" and are very heavy bodied. They are incredibly fast , active & agressive .

Don't worry I'm not in Alberta , I'm in NB where these guys are still legal so I thought I'd share some pics. First up Channa pleuropthalma, these are my newest additions and still quite young but colouring up nicely !

You are correct there is a hybrid of channa maculata x argus that was/is produced in china for commercial purposes. The 2 species are very similar, maculata is basically a smaller tropical version of argus.

Yup , complete bans in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta & BC . Manitoba only has a ban on the Northern Snakehead -Channa Argus . It's too bad the other provinces couldn't have taken the time to research the species and put the ban on the one that matters rather then lumping all snakeheads together. I can understand the reasoning behind to banning a potentially evasive top level Pred like channa argus , but the others are not a risk.

Thanks for the info ! Too bad nobody is fighting this , it seems ridiculous to ban all channa over one potential invasive species . Espicallt so ce most channa look nothing like argus do they should be worried about misidentification. Argus is also rarely traded as aquarium species in the ranges where it has been introduced it was from agricultural sources not hobbiests. I will be righting to find out about the grandfathering thing . Not that I can see them hunting down hobbiests but if they are going to perhaps I could offer them a home if/when they are found. Does Anyone know of any organization in your province who is fighting this?

Maybe I should stick some of my holdbacks up for sale to give people a chance before the ban takes effect . I'm assuming that any that are/were purchased before the ban will be grandfathered in .