#predator fish

Look Ma, no fins!

Cara agar ikan channa galak sebenarnya sangat bergantung pada bagaimana kita memahami insting alami mereka sebagai predator. Banyak penghobi pemula merasa frustrasi ketika melihat ikan gabus hias kesayangannya justru diam mematung di dasar aquarium, bersembunyi di pojokan, atau malah lari ketakutan saat didekati. Padahal, ekspektasi saat memelihara snakehead fish adalah melihat mereka aktif, merespon jari, dan menunjukkan gaya flaring (mengembangkan insang) yang gagah.

Jika channa milikmu saat ini bermental "tempe" alias penakut, jangan buru-buru memvonis ikan tersebut berkualitas buruk. Hampir semua jenis channa bisa dilatih menjadi fighter sejati.

Namun, ada satu rahasia besar yang sering dilewatkan penghobi: mental ikan channa tidak dibentuk dalam semalam. Ini adalah soal konsistensi, kondisi air, dan stimulasi yang tepat.

Mari kita bongkar semua rahasia dari para keeper senior tentang cara mencetak channa yang super agresif, aktif berenang, dan memiliki mental baja yang terjaga.

Mengapa Ikan Channa Kesayanganmu Mager dan Tidak Galak?

Sebelum masuk ke teknik pelatihan, kita harus menemukan akar masalahnya. Channa yang pasif dan tidak agresif biasanya sedang mengalami salah satu dari tiga hal ini:

Stres Adaptasi: Ini sangat wajar terjadi pada ikan yang baru dibeli atau baru dipindah ke aquarium tank baru. Mereka butuh waktu untuk mengenali teritori barunya.

Parameter Air Buruk: Ikan predator butuh air yang nyaman. Jika amonia tinggi atau suhu terlalu dingin, insting bertahan hidup mereka akan menyuruh mereka untuk diam dan menghemat energi.

Overfeeding (Terlalu Kenyang): Ini adalah kesalahan paling umum. Ikan predator yang perutnya selalu penuh tidak punya alasan untuk menjadi agresif. Insting berburu mereka mati karena makanan selalu tersedia tanpa perlu usaha.

Jika ikanmu sehat secara fisik namun mentalnya drop, saatnya melakukan intervensi. Bagi kamu yang baru memulai hobi ini, sangat disarankan untuk memahami dasarnya terlebih dahulu melalui perawatan ikan channa untuk pemula agar langkah pelatihan mental nanti berjalan lebih maksimal.

12 Cara Agar Ikan Channa Galak, Agresif, dan Mental Terjaga

Berikut adalah langkah-langkah praktis dan teruji untuk membangkitkan predator behaviour ikan channa kamu.

1. Terapkan Puasa Berkala (Fasting Method)

Kunci utama memancing agresivitas channa adalah rasa lapar. Di habitat aslinya, ikan ini tidak makan setiap hari. Terus-menerus memberikan pakan justru membuat channa menjadi malas dan gemuk.

Cobalah mempuasakan ikan selama 1 hingga 3 hari (tergantung ukuran ikan). Saat ikan lapar, insting berburunya akan langsung aktif. Dia akan mulai berenang ke sana kemari mencari mangsa. Saat itulah kamu bisa mulai memberikan stimulasi.

2. Lakukan Terapi Cermin (Mirror Flaring)

Ini adalah teknik paling klasik namun sangat efektif. Ikan channa adalah ikan teritorial. Ketika melihat bayangannya sendiri di cermin, dia akan mengira ada channa lain yang masuk ke wilayahnya.

Cara melakukan terapi cermin yang benar:

Tempelkan cermin di luar kaca aquarium selama 5 hingga 10 menit saja.

Biarkan ikan marah dan mengembangkan insangnya (flaring).

Jangan lakukan terlalu lama! Jika lebih dari 15 menit setiap hari, ikan bisa merasa stres dan lelah, yang berujung pada hilangnya ketertarikan pada cermin. Lakukan 1-2 kali sehari cukup.

3. Rangsang Insting dengan Pakan Hidup

Pakan pelet memang bagus untuk warna, tetapi untuk urusan mental, pakan hidup (feeder fish) adalah rajanya. Memberikan mangsa hidup seperti jangkrik, ulat hongkong, cacing tanah, atau ikan kecil akan membangunkan insting berburu alami mereka.

Gerakan tak beraturan dari pakan hidup memicu channa untuk mengejar dan menyergap. Jika kamu bingung memilih spesies apa yang paling reaktif terhadap pakan hidup, kamu bisa mengecek jenis ikan channa yang populer dipelihara beserta kecenderungan diet alaminya.

4. Latih Interaksi dengan Jari Tangan

Setelah ikan merespon cermin dan pakan hidup, naikkan levelnya dengan interaksi tangan.

Caranya: sebelum memberi makan, ketuk perlahan kaca aquarium menggunakan jari, atau geser jari dari kiri ke kanan. Biarkan ikan mengikuti gerakan jarimu. Setelah dia merespon dengan mengejar jari atau bahkan flaring ke arah jarimu, berikan pakan sebagai reward. Lama-kelamaan, channa akan mengasosiasikan tanganmu dengan makanan dan teritori, membuatnya selalu agresif setiap kali kamu mendekat.

5. Gunakan Untulan (Tank Mate Sementara)

Teknik "untulan" sangat populer di kalangan penghobi Channa marulioides (Maru) atau Channa auranti. Untulan adalah ikan kecil lain yang dimasukkan ke dalam aquarium (bisa di dalam toples kecil transparan yang dicelupkan ke tank utama) untuk memancing amarah channa tanpa risiko ikan channa terluka parah.

Channa akan berusaha menyerang toples tersebut. Ini melatih mental petarungnya (fighter) tetap tajam.

6. Setting Aquarium Sesuai Karakteristik Habitat

Mental ikan berbanding lurus dengan kenyamanan lingkungannya. Banyak channa merasa tidak aman jika aquarium terlalu terang atau polosan.

Gunakan background warna gelap (hitam).

Gunakan substrat pasir malang merah atau hitam.

Tambahkan sedikit hardscape kayu untuk tempat mereka berlindung saat awal adaptasi. Lingkungan yang gelap membuat predator merasa lebih dominan dan berani keluar.

7. Jaga Kestabilan Suhu dan Parameter Air

Air yang terlalu dingin membuat metabolisme channa lambat, sehingga mereka mager. Pastikan suhu air berada di kisaran hangat yang ideal (sekitar 27°C - 30°C). Jika daerahmu dingin, pertimbangkan untuk menggunakan water heater. Kualitas air yang jernih dan bebas amonia juga wajib dijaga.

8. Rahasia Air Daun Ketapang Pekat

Daun ketapang adalah "obat dewa" bagi para keeper channa. Ekstrak daun ketapang kering tidak hanya menurunkan pH air menyerupai habitat rawa gambut aslinya, tetapi juga menenangkan ikan dan mempercepat proses mutasi warna.

Ikan yang nyaman dengan kondisi air ketapang akan jauh lebih cepat menunjukkan agresivitasnya dibanding di air bening biasa.

9. Atur Durasi Pencahayaan (Lighting)

Jangan menyalakan lampu aquarium 24 jam penuh! Ikan butuh waktu untuk istirahat. Siklus cahaya yang berantakan akan merusak mental channa. Idealnya, nyalakan lampu 8-10 jam saja sehari. Matikan lampu di malam hari agar ikan bisa memulihkan energinya untuk tampil prima keesokan harinya.

10. Penempatan Aquarium di Area Lalu Lalang

Kesalahan pemula adalah menaruh channa penakut di kamar yang sunyi. Hasilnya, saat ada orang lewat sesekali, ikan akan kaget dan mojok.

Tempatkan aquarium di area yang lumayan sering dilewati orang (seperti ruang tengah), namun jangan yang terlalu berisik. Biarkan ikan terbiasa melihat pergerakan manusia dari luar kaca. Perlahan, mentalnya akan terbentuk dan tidak lagi takut manusia.

11. Hindari Gerakan Mengagetkan

Walaupun kita melatihnya berinteraksi, jangan pernah memukul kaca aquarium dengan keras atau memasukkan tangan ke dalam air secara tiba-tiba. Ini bukan memancing agresivitas, tapi menanamkan rasa trauma. Lakukan interaksi dengan gerakan mulus dan perlahan.

12. Konsistensi Water Change

Pergantian air rutin (sekitar 20-30% seminggu sekali) menggunakan air yang sudah diendapkan sangat penting. Air baru yang segar biasanya memicu ikan channa menjadi lebih aktif dan lincah berenang. Untuk info lebih detail soal manajemen air ini, kamu bisa melihat panduan di daftar harga ikan channa terbaru yang biasanya juga memuat standar spesifikasi tank per jenis ikannya.

Tabel Makanan Terbaik Agar Channa Cepat Galak

Pemilihan makanan sangat krusial. Berikut tabel perbandingan pakan untuk menaikkan mental dan agresivitas:Jenis Pakan HidupTingkat Respon IkanManfaat Utama untuk ChannaFrekuensi PemberianJangkrikSangat TinggiMemancing insting menyergap di permukaan air (top water)2-3 kali semingguIkan Cere/WaderSangat TinggiMemaksa channa mengejar secara aktif, bagus untuk kardio1 kali semingguUdang SawahTinggiMeningkatkan pigmen warna alami dan menajamkan mata2 kali semingguUlat HongkongSedangMenambah volume tubuh, memicu pencernaan cepatSelinganCacing TanahTinggiKandungan protein luar biasa, mempercepat penyembuhan luka1 kali seminggu

Checklist Harian Menjaga Mental Ikan Channa

Gunakan checklist praktis ini setiap hari untuk memastikan progres latihan mental ikan kesayanganmu tidak jalan di tempat:

[ ] Apakah suhu air stabil di atas 27°C?

[ ] Apakah lampu aquarium sudah dimatikan semalaman?

[ ] Latihan cermin pagi hari (Maksimal 10 menit).

[ ] Tes respon jari sebelum memberi makan.

[ ] Berikan makan secukupnya (jangan sampai perut buncit berlebihan).

[ ] Evaluasi warna air (Tambahkan ketapang jika sudah memudar).

Kesalahan Fatal Pemula yang Membuat Mental Channa Hancur

Dalam proses mencetak channa fighter, banyak yang gagal karena terjebak pada hal-hal ini:

Menggabungkan Channa Tanpa Sekat: Channa adalah predator solitary (hidup menyendiri). Menggabungkan dua channa dalam satu tank tanpa sekat yang memadai tidak akan membuat mereka galak, melainkan salah satunya akan mati atau stres berat hingga mentalnya hancur permanen.

Latihan Cermin Berlebihan: Seperti yang dibahas sebelumnya, cermin berjam-jam membuat channa apatis. Dia sadar bayangan itu tidak bisa dilawan, dan akhirnya dia akan mengabaikannya seumur hidup.

Kuras Air Total (100%): Menguras seluruh air aquarium dan menyikat habis filternya akan membuang bakteri baik dan merusak parameter air secara drastis. Ini jaminan 100% channa akan stres, mojok, dan mentalnya kembali dari nol.

FAQ: Pertanyaan Seputar Agresivitas Ikan Channa

Kenapa ikan channa tidak agresif?

Penyebab utamanya biasanya adaptasi lingkungan baru, kualitas air yang buruk, suhu terlalu dingin, atau ikan terlalu kenyang (overfeeding) sehingga insting berburunya menurun.

Bagaimana cara melatih mental ikan channa?

Kamu bisa melatihnya dengan kombinasi metode puasa, terapi flaring menggunakan cermin selama 5-10 menit sehari, dan memberikan pakan hidup untuk merangsang insting kejar mangsa.

Apakah ikan channa bisa dilatih galak?

Tentu saja! Hampir semua jenis channa memiliki DNA predator bawaan. Dengan stimulasi teritorial dan kontrol pemberian makan yang tepat, insting galaknya bisa dimunculkan.

Makanan apa yang membuat channa agresif?

Pakan hidup seperti jangkrik, ikan cere (feeder fish), udang kecil, dan cacing tanah sangat efektif memicu agresi karena channa harus bergerak mengejar makanannya.

Apakah cermin membuat channa galak?

Ya, cermin membuat channa merasa wilayahnya diinvasi channa lain, sehingga dia akan marah dan mengembangkan insangnya (flaring). Namun pastikan penggunaannya dibatasi agar tidak stres.

Kenapa channa diam di dasar (mager)?

Channa yang mager di dasar (mojok) menandakan dia sedang stres, kedinginan, atau ketakutan. Turunkan volume air, berikan ekstrak daun ketapang, dan tempatkan di area yang sedikit tenang sampai dia beradaptasi.

Berapa lama channa adaptasi di aquarium baru?

Waktu adaptasi bervariasi, biasanya berkisar antara 3 hari hingga 2 minggu. Selama masa ini, wajar jika channa menolak makan atau kurang aktif.

Apakah channa butuh teman (tank mate)?

Secara alami, channa lebih suka hidup sendiri. Tank mate biasanya hanya digunakan sesaat sebagai "untulan" untuk memancing emosi, bukan untuk dipelihara bersama dalam jangka waktu lama.

Kenapa channa takut melihat orang?

Karena ikan belum terbiasa dengan lingkungan di luar kaca. Solusinya, letakkan aquarium di tempat yang sering dilewati manusia dan rutinkan interaksi tangan sebelum memberi pakan.

Apakah puasa bagus untuk channa?

Sangat bagus. Puasa 1-2 hari dalam seminggu meniru kondisi alam liar, membersihkan saluran pencernaan, mencegah obesitas, dan meningkatkan respon lapar yang memicu kelincahan.

Kesimpulan

Membentuk mental ikan gabus hias tidak bisa dilakukan secara instan. Mengetahui cara agar ikan channa galak membutuhkan kesabaran, observasi rutin, dan pemahaman kuat akan insting alami sang predator.

Kuncinya ada pada tiga pilar utama: kenyamanan parameter air, manajemen pola makan (termasuk puasa), dan stimulasi teritorial menggunakan cermin atau jari. Jangan pernah memaksakan interaksi jika ikan sedang sakit atau dalam fase stres berat akibat perpindahan tempat.

This is by no means a tiny fish like the most familiar community tank tetras, because it grows up to a length of 32 centimeters, or 12 and a 1/2 inches. This is a streamlined fish and it hunts close to the tiverbank in moderately flowing channels where there is overhanging vegetation. Some aquarium literature claims that these fish require high water flow, however water flow cannot be critical to their wellbeing, because wild B. maculata also inhabit floodplain lakes. This species is of Neotropical origins, like many of our aquarium fishes, and occurs in the basins of the Rios Amazonas, Tocantins, and Orinoco in northeastern South America. Within this swathe of the southern New World continent, B. maculata is found in both black- and whitewater environments.

Like other fishes of their type, B. maculata make good use of their pectoral fins to stealthily maneuver themselves ready to strike at their prey, whereas the thrust that powers their lunge is provided by their caudal fin. This type of predation is known as the body ram, because the predator projects its entire self at its unfortunate target. Fortunately for the aquarist, the gape of Boulengerella sp precludes their consumption of large prey; their victims must be swallowed whole and headfirst, and for this reason, they select prey that may be manipulated easily in their long, slender, but weak maws. In addition to fishes, B. maculata also hunts some shrimp which requires similar skills.

Although their habits as predators limit their compatibility with potential tankmates, Boulengerella sp. are harmless to those smaller animals that lie outside of their 'predation window'. In fact they are harmless to such fishes as the plant eating silver dollars, which as it happens are also tetras. They are also well suited to life in planted tanks, because they have no interest in eating plants. These are quite a wonderful and fascinating animal that lives alone of in small groups in the wild, though the juveniles are more strictly gregarious. On the downside, these are, however, famously skittish fish that are prone to leap out of the aquarium, or to injure themselves if they rush into the aquarium glass; any tankmates that are chosen must not be boisterous towards them, and they should ideally swim at other levels within the aquarium, whereas B. maculata swims nearer the surface. The juveniles of B. maculata that appear in the aquarium trade, are strictly gregarious and imitate floating debris as their camouflage.

Usually they are described as 'living fossils' and as not having evolved very much - as though they were relictual. Rather the pressures of natural selection have stabilised these creatures, as rather perfect at what they do. The same applies to other ancient animals such as horseshoe crabs, tadpole shrimp, and lungfishes. As opposed to so-called living fossils that have no ancient, similar fossil relatives - such as the echidna; or that differ in important ways from what is known or sometimes assumed about their ancestors - such as the tuatara, the coelacanth, and the vampire squid; and those that are completely modern, such as the Komodo dragon.

The name 'garfish' is derived from an old, Germanic word meaning a spear, and it first applied to an unrelated needlefish, Belone. It is customary to refer to lepisosteids as 'garpikes' to distinguish them from their namesake; but of course, they are not related to the true pikes or esocids, either. Nor are they close allies of the pine characins, the ctenolucids, that are often called gars and appear in the aquarium yrade. All of the belonids, the ctenolucids, and the esocids belong to the main clade or 'family' of fishes, called the teleosts or true finfishes. The gar(pike) clade is related to the teleosts, but their last common ancestry with them is ancient indeed, and garpikes retain traits inferable for ancestral teleosts.

Garpikes are visually striking for their dense scales, which have a different composition from those of typical fishes; the latter have ledd hardened scales. One primitive trait of garfishes is that they can breathe air, although they are obligatorily aquatic. This is because the swim bladder of typical fishes - which is now used as their flotation device - is evolved from a lung, and not the other way around. Unlike gouramis, for example, the garpikes never had to invent a way to breathe air again, because they had never lost their ancestral ability to do so. Another ancient trait of the garpikes is that their tails are vertically asymmetrical. Although not to the same degree as in sharks, their vertebral column extends into the upper portion of their tail fin. Thus they have 'heterocercal' tails, unlike the 'homocercal' tails of most fishes.

Zoologists have traditionally considered garpikes to be members of a grouping named holosteans, that was considered, along with the bowfin, as a sort of primitive grade ancestral to the ordinary fishes, which are called teleosts. For decades zoologists have debated wether the bowfin is closer to the teleosts or to the garpikes; the name of Holostei refers only to the hypothesis that garpikes and bowfins are closely related. All the three clades together comprise the neopterygians, which are the only fishes in the original Pisces. (But the garpikes were misassigned as members of a teleost genus!)

Ancient members of the garfish group occupied broader niches during the Mesozoic, including well known shellfish crushers with deep bodies. Because of their bony scales, these fish are well known from he dorts of fossil beds that yield dinosaurs such as Iguanodon. However recognisable, almost modern type garpikes first appeared in the later Jurassic, and coeval with giant sauropod dinosaurs, plated stegosaurs, fierce allosaurs: flying pterodactyls; marine plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs; and the once astonishing Archaeopteryx - which is now no longer the 'first bird', nor the most primitive. But during the same period of time that separates us from Archaeopteryx, the garpikes have changed little - a situation that is known as 'bradytely'.

Nowadays the garpikes have a Nearctic distribution that extends out into the Antillean archipelago; the latter is usually considered to be of a South American character, in most respects. But even during the Cenozoic, the garpikes had a wider distribution; for example they were fossilized in Germany, at the famous Messel Pit locality. It isn't really clear why this clade flourishes in North America, but went extinct on other continents

Garpikes have a similar superficial resemblance to the crocodile family, as they have massive scales, long toothy jaws, and a similar niche of hunting from a lurking position. Compared to true pikes, the garpikes have very rigid bodies, and this helps them to 'pass' for wood. Indeed they show a preference, in the wild, for associating themselves with tangles of wood in shallow water.

There a few species of garpikes and all of them are similar, although of course they differ among themselves in their precise niche, and their potential lengths. They are no longer traded as commonly as they used to be in Europe, and I have even seen small alligator gars offered for sale in the past. But probably the smallest of the living species, is the shortnose gar (Lepisosteus platostomus) from the Mississippi and Missouri river basins.

L. platostomus typically grow to about 60 centimeters to 24 inches long; but the species may grow to nearly half as long again. This is a species from backwaters and flow moving waters, where it waits near the water surface and hunts fish, amphibians, and insects. This species ambushes terrestrial prey from the water surface, and also functions as a scavenger. It is known to consume more amphibian and terrestrial arthropods as prey than other gar species sharing the dame habitat. Gars seize their prey using a sideways swipe of their heads during the lunge forwards, unlike similarly shaped teleosts which strike directly head on.

Shortnose gars inhabit seasonal climates with a cold season, but begin to spawn when the water temperature reaches 16 to 21 degrees centigrade. From this it may be seen that they are fine in what aquarists call a 'coldwater tank'; one that is unheated at a living g room temperature of 18 to 22 degrees. The species naturally experiences summer temperatures, that are equivalent to our 'tropical' tanks. They are unfussy about the water chemistry and can be thought to prefer broadly circumneutral waters. in the aquarium they should be given tangled wood to lurk around, and tall stem plants to hide among.

Garpikes are obligate carnivores that seize upon small fishes and similar prey animals. However, their gape is not extraordinary, and their craniofacial skeleton limits the size of the prey that they can take. Despite the usual folklore surrounding predatory fishes, gars will accept defrosted, meaty foods. And big, deep bodied tankmates should not be at risk; nor should those with diameters wider than that of the gar. Their conical teeth are plainly optimized for snapping at smaller prey,and as they occupy the upper water column they are easily compatible with many other big fishes. The problem is that even though it is a 'small' gar, even L. platostomus requires a large tank indeed, or an indoor pool.

Tiger or manytoothed moray eels, "Gymnothorax" polyuranodon, are so far the only moray eel species verified to habitually inhabit freshwater environments as adults. Of course their entire life cycle includes a spell in the ocean, which appears to be necessary to anguilliforms, but this is currently the only moray species known to spend its adult life in freshwater.

Adult eels of this species inhabit almost solely coastal freshwaters, both still and moving, so it is considered to be a true freshwater moray, and not an estuarine form that visits upstream. Although it inhabits estuaries also, it is about twice as common in pure freshwater, and avoids strongit brackish salinities. Technically, their life cycle is catadromous, meaning they begin life out at sea, before migrating upstream with age.

Despite the fearsome reputations of morays, the tiger moray has evolved as a specialized, probing forager of small prey, which are probably arthropods. As a consequence, they are safe sharing an aquarium with surprisingly small fishes, because their teeth are small, relative to their own jaws, and their heads have similarly become small relative to their overall length.

The aquarium pH ought to be 7 to 8, and their diet should be meaty morsels, provided in suitably cut sizes. Because these eels are found far upstream in natural environments, the addition of aquarium salt is entirely unecessary, although the low end of brackish salinities, such as 1.005, should not harm these eels, either. As adults, they do not dwell in the sea, so they should never be regarded as marine fishes.

Gymnarchus niloticus, the aba, is a magnificent, tankbusting bonytongue fish with an African distribution. It is recorded from the basins of the Nile, Senegal, Gambia, Volta, Niger and Chad, for which reason peer reviewed literature has claimed it's pH tolerances, are 6.5 to 8.0. However the species is also collected from the shallows of the alkaline Lake Turkana, suggesting a still wider ability to flourish, where the pH is at least 8.6. There the surface temperature of the shallows, gets as high as 27 to 29 degrees centigrade. Gymnarchus grows to almost 170 centimeters, or 68 inches long, and the weight record is 18.5 kilos. Such a large and spectacular fish is suited only to the largest home aquaria, or to heated, indoor ponds. Phonetically speaking, it's closest relatives are the African radiation of fishes, called mormyrids. With these the and shares remarkable electrosensory abilities, but the kinship is by now distant. There is only one species in the genus Gymnarchus. The aba is such an unusual looking animal, that it is difficult to mistake it for any other species within its wide geographical range.

The aba is an air breathing fish dwelling in marginal vegetation and swamps. There the pair bonding fish constructs its nests, which may be about 100 centimetres in diameter, during the season of the innundation. It's diet is mobile prey and primarily other, smaller fishes, but also arthropods and annelids. Juveniles begin as insectivorous, as you might expect, before maturing with size and age, into the adult, carnivorous niche. These prey it locates just as it navigates, relying on a good 'sixth sense' of electroception, an ability shared with its mormyrid relatives. Gymnarchus generates electrical fields using a large organ that runs along most of its length, and this ability is so useful, that the fish can swim backwards as easily as it swims ahead, sending objects as disturbances to its own self-generated electrical field. The unusual mode of swimming employed by this fish is like the Old and New World kbifefishes, but involves the graceful undulation of its dorsal fin, rather than an anal fin. It has completely lost the paired fins of its hypothetical ancestors.

Asian knifefishes or featherbacks, relatives of the African mormyrid clade, are far less popular in aquaria, than are the unrelated knifefishes of South America. Knifefishes are not a natural descent group, but a morphotype, defined by the use of an elongated anal fin, to propel the fish by undulation, while its body is held still. This is very good for precision when swimming, but not for sustained speed. Old and New World knifefishes, also share the use of a "sixth sense" called electroception, that they use to navigate. Naturally, this too is an example of parallel evolution in action.

Chitala ornata, the clown knifefish, is a huge Asian knifefish from Indochina. It grows to 100 centimeters, or 40 inches, and is a known as a popular food fish in its native range. There, it inhabits the waters of large and medium sized rivers, also taking advantage of seasonal floodings, a behaviour that leads to them also occurring in pools and lakes. The rich presence of vegetation, or other natural cover, is important for this ambush predator of nocturnal habits. Rocks or wood provide them with somewhere on which to spawn.

Unfortunately, back in the days when C. ornata was more often exported for sale to aquarists in the past, and the species was a fairly common sight at aquarium retailers, a great many of these potential giants were not housed properly after sale. Being sold as novelties, at immature sizes and without information, to amateur fishkeepers who lacked prior knowledge. But now that the export of C. ornata has died down a lot, buyers are more likely to have better awareness as to the size and predatory habits of this powerful beast.

The clown knifefish is crepescular to nocturnal, so it prefers fairly dim lighting in the aquarium. Rocks or wood are necessary for their welfare, because this predator is instinctively drawn to them for its cover. As with other fishes from Indochinese rivers and their floodplains, C. ornata prefers a range of pH between 6 to 8. The appropriate temperture should be 24 to 28 degrees centigrade. The great size of these fishes, means its presence creates a lot of waste products, and strains the water quality in their aquarium. Biological filtration should therefore be very efficient, as is generally the case with 'predator fishes'.

At the small sizes at which they used to be sold most often, C. ornata are insectivores, and should be provided for as such in the aquarium. Larger C. ornata graduate with size, to take increasingly large prey in the wild, moving onto a diet based on smaller teleost fishes. In the aquarium too, the growing knifefish will similarly require carnivore-apt frozen and fishmongers foods. Most clown knifefishes will also consume proprietary dried foods, if they are suitable for carnivores.