Polypterus lapradei
£47.99
Rainbow snakehead from India, a colourful 15 cm dwarf Channa. Carnivorous, cooler-water (20-26C), best in a 120 L species tank.
Adult size is the maximum length this species reaches at full maturity (scientific sources). The livestock you receive will be younger and smaller — pick a size variant above for the actual shipping size. Photos are AI-enhanced, so the animal may show subtle colour or marking differences.
Channa bleheri
Rainbow snakehead from India, a colourful 15 cm dwarf Channa. Carnivorous, cooler-water (20-26C), best in a 120 L species tank.
Adult size is the maximum length this species reaches at full maturity (scientific sources). The livestock you receive will be younger and smaller — pick a size variant above for the actual shipping size. Photos are AI-enhanced, so the animal may show subtle colour or marking differences.
Maintain these water conditions for optimal health and vibrant colors
India’s rainbow snakehead has a way of converting sceptics. Channa bleheri pairs brilliant, multi-hued colouring with the fascinating behaviour that has built snakehead keeping into a devoted corner of the hobby — a predator, certainly, but a compact one at around 15cm, and far more manageable than the giants of the genus. We rate it Moderate care and recommend it to keepers ready for a fish with genuine character rather than another community staple.
Crucially, this is a cooler-water tropical: 20–26°C is the correct band, and warmer than that sits outside its range. Soft, gently acidic to neutral water of pH 6.0–7.5 and 1–12 dGH completes the picture, in an aquarium of at least 120 litres. As a carnivore it takes meaty foods, holding station in the middle layers of the tank. The proven formula is a species tank housing one fish or a compatible pair. Tankmates are possible but the bar is high: very robust, similarly sized fish that cannot fit in its mouth and that tolerate the cooler water. Cross off small fish, shrimp and other small invertebrates, fin-nippers, highly aggressive cichlids and boisterous, hyperactive species.
Mid-water is where you will actually see it. Unlike the bottom-hugging predators of the catfish world, Channa bleheri holds the middle layers, which makes it a remarkably visible fish for something so deliberate. A compatible pair doubles the spectacle where the fish accept one another, but resist any urge to round out the tank with extras: the avoid list above exists because this carnivore wrote it. With eight years of expected lifespan and extra territoriality around breeding, this is a fish to plan for, not improvise around.
Commit to the species-tank approach unless you can meet every tankmate criterion above — half-measures cost fish. Done right, a rainbow snakehead becomes the most-watched animal in the house. Channa bleheri travels to any UK address by licensed live-animal courier, accompanied by our live arrival guarantee.
24–28°C · pH 6–7.8 · 600L
24–28°C · pH 7–8.2 · 500L
24–28°C · pH 6.5–7.8 · 300L
20–25°C · pH 6–7.5 · 80L
18–26°C · pH 6.5–8 · 30L
23–27°C · pH 7.4–8.4 · 500L
20–27°C · pH 6–7 · 54L
23–27°C · pH 7.4–8.4 · 150L
20–24°C · pH 7–8 · 45L
24–28°C · pH 6.5–7.5 · 2000L
24–28°C · pH 7.5–8.5 · 200L
24–28°C · pH 5.5–7 · 60L
18–25°C · pH 6–8 · 100L
24–28°C · pH 7–8 · 120L
18–28°C · pH 6.5–8 · 20L
24–27°C · pH 7.5–8.8 · 150L
22–26°C · pH 6–7.5 · 60L
24–28°C · pH 7.5–8.5 · 40L
24–28°C · pH 7.5–8.5 · 500L