Giant snakehead

Scientific name: Channa micropeltes

Pronunciation: Cha-nah mee-cro-pel-tees

Size: Between 1-1.5m

Origin: All over the place in southeast Asia, including Java, Sumatra and Borneo, as well as Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Vietnam and Malaysia. There’s also a population in southwest India

Habitat: Likes its water slow or still, so opts for lakes and pools over flowing rivers

Tank size: Nope

Water requirements: Soft and acidic to alkaline water; 6.0-7.8pH, 2-20°H

Temperature: 20-30°C

Temperament: Keep only as a pair, hugely aggressive

Feeding: Offer large meaty foods; whole fish, occasional prawns, silkworm pupae, earthworms, waxworms, crickets, locusts. Insects may require gut loading first with vegetable or cereal

Availability and cost: If you want one, check out the aquarium classified ads first. Most people who buy them are keen to get rid of shortly after. Usually on sale under the less offensive name of Red snakehead

I’m flagging this one as it still seems to be pretty common out there in fish shop world, despite becoming a leviathan that’s only suited to the largest of public aquaria or indoor ponds. And for the best part, the public aquaria don’t want them.

Folks are likely to get duped by the cute looks of the juveniles (in the same vein as many people buy Pangasius catfish and Sailfin plecs) which are like punchy little red cigars — you’re more likely to find it sold under the more innocent sounding name of ‘Red snakehead’ — only to go through a series of colour changes and ending up as some silvery-blue thickset unit with a big black mark down one side and mottling over the top.

Putting it into real terms, here’s a fish that can weight up to 20kg fully grown. Those big sacks of aquarium gravel you see in stores? They’re 25kg. That’s how big we’re talking.

And they’re insatiable with it. They’ll eat anything, including each other. In fact, I’m struggling to think of a more voracious freshwater predator. Unless you already own some huge indoor pond and just want this one species to keep in it, then avoid.