Snakeheads

I was in Aquatic Village a few weeks ago and saw some Channa Pulchra or Dwarf Snakeheads for sale. Beautiful fish, well cared for, doesn't get too massive and something I'd like to own in the future. As well as that, the staff know what they are dealing with and how to advise potential customers as to the suitability or not of this fish.

Last weekend I was in two local large chain petshops and saw for sale in both of them, large tanks of Channa Micropeltes aka Red or Giant Snakeheads. Lovely looking fish also and quite small and could even be described as cute.

However, having learned lots of lessons the hard way over the past year, I refrained from making a purchase until I'd done some research.

This is a direct quote from a PFK website article:
Make no bones about it - this fish can inflict serious injury not only to other fish, but also to its keeper. It�s probably one of the most dangerous oddballs one could wish to keep in an aquarium.

If someone came into our shop asking for the freshwater equivalent of a great white shark, the Red snakehead would be for them. With its dark top, white underside, temperament and fine set of teeth, who would argue...?

If sometime in the future I had a 1000 ltr. tank, I'd love to have one as I'm fascinated by these large predators.

My bugbear is the fact that two large chain stores with however well meaning but maybe not so knowledgeable staff are flogging these like goldfish to anybody with a tank and a tenner.

Some poor unsuspecting people probably bought these over the weekend and dumped them into their community tank with their guppies. Within a few months they'll certainly decimate everything in the average tank, and if they live long enough they're quite likely to take a chunk out of the kids and eat the family Jack Russell as well given the chance.

I'm not a fan of needless and endless bureaucracy, but surely there needs to be some control over the trading of fish like these?

How true, however its surely a case of the relevant shop having the correct information at hand and this is done through educating the staff so that people do purchase the fish that are correct for them. I agree, some fish shops sell anything, however the difference between some shops and others is that bit of experience that means an awful lot to a new fishkeeper.
Personally I buy off 2 shops, and one of those shops I only purchase when a certain memeber of staff is there as I know she will a - Know her stuff and b - advise me on the correct fish.

After that there is little we can do about the fish out there in the market. I know there are alot of oddball fish and indeed even piranhas are easy to come by in todays markets. Still the main thing as you can appreciate is never ever buy on impulse. I think when people get a little bit of experience and understanding of the hobby,they quickly spot the good shops from the bad shops.

Gavn