Channa bleheri (Rainbow Snakehead, Belher's Snakehead)

This species was discovered by Heiko Bleher during one of his expeditions to India in 1991. It has since become one of the most popular snakeheads and is now commercially bred and easily obtained.

It is a very colourful species, but variable, typically sporting some mixture of red, yellow, green, and blue on its body.

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Fish information (behaviour and breeding):

Snakeheads can make excellent pets, being hardy, long-lived, outgoing, and easy to tame. All are predators though, so substantially smaller tankmates will be viewed as potential prey. But this species seems to feed primarily on invertebrates, particularly worms and insect larvae, and acclimates readily to aquarium conditions.

This species can be kept in community tanks with fish too large to swallow (rainbowfish, medium sized barbs, silver dollars, etc.). Its small adult size (typically around 13-16 cm) makes this species one of the best snakeheads for home aquaria and one of the few that can be bred relatively easily.

Family Group:	Snakeheads
Distribution	Brahmaputra River basin in India
Temperature	24-28 C
Size	Up to 20 cm in the wild, smaller in aquaria
Water Parameters	Adaptable, but avoid extremes
Water PH	6.0-8.0
Diet	Special Needs
Sociability	Peaceful
Schooling Fish	No
Care Level	Easy
Water Chemistry	Adaptable

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Shop stock

The latest shops to have this fish stocked in-store are listed below. Click on a shop name for full shop details, or click the link below the shops to view ALL shops that stock this fish.

	Abacus Aquatics	Kent	DA15 8DJ
	Aquatic Design Centre	London	SW12 0PS
	Woodford Aquatics	London	E18 1EJ
	Wholesale Tropicals	London	E2 0AA

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Other fish added to TFF recently:

Other fish added to TFF/TF2YD recently can be viewed below.

	Scientific Name	Common Name
	Trigonostigma somphongsi	Siamese Dwarf Rasbora
		-
	Channa melasoma	Black Snakehead
	Hyphessobrycon melanostichos	-
	Moenkhausia copei	Tetra Copei