Rarely bred. The pair circles and embraces among floating plants, scattering eggs in the surface vegetation; both parents guard the eggs. The female is said to feed the fry with infertile eggs. Remove the young after 6-8 weeks before the parents eat them. Some reports describe cave spawning.
A pair in a large tank.
1,000 L tank with plants and caves.
Warm water and heavy feeding.
Up to about 500 eggs scattered among surface plants; they hatch in about 24 hours and the fry swim freely about 3 days later.
Fry feed on baby brine shrimp.
One breeding tank for the african snakehead, drawn to scale from the breeding guide.
Water: 26–30 °C · pH 6–7.5
A plan from the breeding guide and an adult size of 50 cm. Tank shape is a standard 2 : 1 : 1.2 box, at least 6 adult lengths long. Check each step in the guide above.
A row of tanks on their own stands for breeding the african snakehead in numbers.
In total: 3 tanks, about 5,000 L of water. A litre of water weighs about 1 kg, so check that the floor and rack can take the weight.
Sizes are worked out from the breeding tank in the guide. Tanks fit a standard 120 cm rack when they can; bigger tanks go on their own stands.
Females are plumper and larger than males.
Typical for open substrate spawners
Grow up a group and let a pair choose each other. Give them a flat stone or broad leaf.
The pair cleans the stone and lays rows of eggs. Both guard them.
Wrigglers hatch in 2–4 days and are moved to pits by the parents.
Feed baby brine shrimp several times a day. Parents often herd the fry.
Move fry to a grow-out tank before the parents spawn again.
A general guide for this breeding type. Days change with temperature and species.
Grow up a group and let a pair choose each other. Give them a flat stone or broad leaf.
Set up a virtual breeding tank and see what would likely happen.
An educational estimate from the breeding rules, not a promise.