Not recorded in aquaria. In the wild, fish living in groups form temporary pairs that leave the group to spawn among marginal vegetation and then return; there is presumably no parental care.
A pair in a large tank.
1,000 L tank with plants and caves.
Warm temperatures and heavy feeding.
Hundreds of eggs.
Fry feed on baby brine shrimp and small live foods.
One breeding tank for the ocellated snakehead, drawn to scale from the breeding guide.
Water: 22–28 °C · pH 6–7.5
A plan from the breeding guide and an adult size of 40 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 ocellated 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.
Mature males are slimmer than females; males tend towards a bluish colour pattern, females greenish.
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.