Stress/stereotypical behaviour Fahaka

[Andrea85]

Hi!

My Fahaka, who is just about 10 inches long now, and about 4 years old currently lives in a 375 liters tank, waterparameters are perfect and he feeds on hard food every day, he is in very good condition. About two weeks ago I came home and walked in to the room where his tank is, and he got so scared when he noticed me that he actually jumped out of the tank! In one corner of the tank where I have no cover (now there is cover!) He landed on the floor, perfectly calm, no puffing. I put him back and he looked like nothing had happend.

But since this happend, he has become very stressed and scared, of everything. He is scared of bags, blankets, sudden movement, buckets, pretty much everything. He swims around the tank in panic when he is scared, but do not jump. He has also begun swimming up and down the glass, almost all the time. Still begs for food and greets me when I am near the tank, and he eats just as good as before.

My plan is now to move him to a bigger tank (540 liters, 150 gallons) and make a setup to prevent him from getting bored and stressed. The tank measures 150x60x60 centimeters.

My plan is to use to very big pieces of driftwood, they are large enough to cover almost the whole lenght of the tank. Then a really big amount of plants, Vallisnera Gigante, some Lotuses and floating plants to keep the light dimmed. Filtration 6500 liters/hour.

Is this a good plan, or will he become even more stressed when I move him? He have lived a rough life (hence the small size of him) before I bought him and I want him to feel secure and calm.

[bertie 83]

It will likely stress him to start with, but don't let this put you off. It might just be what he needs to feel more secure. On a side note I would drop down from daily feedings at some point, large hunter predators won't need feeding every day

[Andrea85]

Thanks for your reply Bertie!

I will move him to the bigger tank, hopefully this week, I have ordered background from BTN to prevent him from seeing his own reflection in the glass, and this must be put in the tank before he can move in =) I will reduce his feedings, but he will not get big feedings every day, he gets bigger feedings two or three times a week, then just a snack the other days, perhaps just one snail. But I will cut down on that to, he is a bit on the heavy side.

A secure lid is also gonna be put on the new tank, just in case!

[RTR]

+1 to bertie's comments.

FYI, fish do not see the reflections which fish-keepers see, as they are looking out thru a single pane of glass, while we are looking through one pane of glass at another pane at an angle to the original pane we look through. If you doubt this, find a child's toy "periscope" and test it yourself. Only if you attach a mirror to a tank side or back will a fish see reflections. The widely discussed "reflections" are comm myths in this hobby.

All fish, definitely even including big nasty Fahakas, need "security" areas. Plant thickets are useful, but largish adult puffer can and will remove any plant the do not like. My personal favorite for Fahaka tanks is the common Crinum ( but they do need to be established before the fish moves in or they are likely to be uprooted. Their log leaves will floating just below the water surface are also security blankets for the fish. The bulb extensive root system will cover the entire tank floor and tank up quite a lot of nutrients. Bare tanks are threatening to many fish.

HTH

[bertie 83]

Or stick your head in a tank like I did lol. Not one with fish in though

[RTR]

Good grief Bertie! LOL!!! I have enough eye problems now, I'm not risking a fish tank eye bath.