The Puffer Forum

Hi all,

I've had aquariums for well over a decade, and might be at the point where I can finally go big. We're remodeling our basement soon, and have the rough plan of putting an in-wall aquarium in the main open area (with the other side in the utility room). Generally thoughts:

-foot print of between 72x24 to 84x36
-fahaka center piece, potentially 100-200 small schooling fish for color and activity
-pressurized bead filtration

Questions:
-I don't want to go too wide of a tank for cleaning concerns. Any thoughts on that? Bigger is better, but would 84x36 be functionally different than 84x24? Do they swim that direction or just turn around??

-any thoughts on height? 24" at least, but would they utilize going up to 36"? I love the look of tall tanks....

-I've seen videos of fahakas cruising the tank, and just sitting on the sand. I understand that's largely related to recent meals, but what fraction of time are they active, and what fraction are they just lumps???

Once large, I was thinking of feeding live crawfish as a primary diet. Three questions there:

-I can't find concrete data on what to do when getting a live crawfish as far as parasites or diseases go. Do you quarantine them and just watch for death, do you treat with something, etc???

-for filtration I was thinking of having a sump under the tank mostly used for temperature and level control (drip system), could I use that as a long term "storage" for live crawfish?

-people reference soaking dead food in a vitamin mix before feeeding. What about live food...???


For cleaning I'd like to design as low maintance as possible. Bead filters are easy to use and easy to back flush, it won't see any natural light and I'll keep the tank lights minimal to keep algae down, etc. my big question comes in cleaning the substrate (sand). If I keep mostly crawfish what will happen to the shells? Will they sit there forever, rot quickly, get eaten, etc?

What other maintenance things am I missing? Honestly for me the biggest hurdle is time / energy, I'll gladly spend money up front for a lower maintenance system.

Sorry for all of the questions, and thanks in advance for the help!! Going forward with this would be a large time and money commitment and I want / need to get it right the first time, AND know what I'm getting in to.

I promise i'll get back to you on this, just been really busy for a long response & I have an injured hand.

Ha cat bite poor pp

Anyway welcome, I saw your post but don’t have any experience with puffs larger than a half grown gsp lol I do occasionally see fahakas in the lfs and they’re just adorable! I know that I don’t have the space they need and I’m more of a saltwater person now lol

Lots of fahaka-keepers here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1177379729024249/

OK, my hand is better today!
Bigger is always better. That being said, taller is not as important & will make it much more difficult to clean the substrate (the MOST important part of cleaning by hand!) 84x24 is fine.
Consider any tank mates as "swimming food reserves".
Live food must be quarantined & gut-loaded with healthy foods. Many folks breed marmocreb crays. You could definitely breed them in your sump. I have found my fahaka to eat the shells, too but whatever they don't eat, you may want to clean out of the tank. A long-handled pincer has made my life much easier, for larger tanks.
No matter what you do with this tank, the best maintenance you can have is regular, weekly water changes.

Hey, Yoimbrian, did you get the Fahaka? or end up going for something else?
And, Pufferpunk, thanks for directing to the Fahaka facebook page, I asked to join. Much appreciated. I never seem to overload on information about these big guys.