He has arrived - New Fahaka

[beachbum]

I am acclimating him as I type this. Just did another 50% water change before he arrived this morning. Still worried about the Ammonia as it sits about .25 ... Not sure what happened. I dosed it up big time with Prime this time (nothing drastic, but comfortably secure)

So he came to my door step and after cutting the masterfully (over) taped box, we looked into each others eyes for the first time. It was said he was 2 inches, but he can't be any bigger than an inch (if that). He's a small little fella!

Now he's being acclimated, I found an airpump with an air stone to keep the bucket oxygenated and am dripping water into it as we speak. Water parameters, otherwise, are great. Nitrates down to 10, KH is between 4 - 6 degrees, pH still 7.8, and nitrite is at 0...

(would take a pic later on, but he's so small I don't think he'll show up! I will try though...)

[my name is mike]

congrats -- !

[Pufferpunk]

I owuld have done a larger WC, like 80-90%.

[beachbum]

Hopefully adding a new fish won't be necessary, but I'll do that next time, thanks for the tip.


I think he's pretty happy in that big 'ole tank and no fish to bother him.... He's been hunting for food all day. I fed him quite a few blood worms (not a whole block).

I'm curious though, since he's so tiny (size of a multi-vitamin), if ramshorn snails are too much for him. I guess they wouldn't be. Just crush the shell to help the little fella out.

[yunachin]

Wow, he is that small? That is awesome! I am excited to see your photos.

[beachbum]

He really is that small! I was worried at first when I thought to myself, "he'll need extra attention." But he's swimming around, enjoying his new home. It's neat because I have him so young in his life.

Grabbing the digi cam now... =)

[beachbum]

Here is the tank itself. I think once my puffer gets comfortable and things settle down, I may work on a more "natural" look for the tank. It was nice for Cichlids. We shall see... (on the left, the white thing, is used filter material that I added to get the ammonia back down. It is now at 0. And I will be adding a background here soon. I took the old one down since I wasn't pleased with it anymore.)


I tried getting pics of the little fella but he won't slow down! lol I'll have to keep trying for better pics, but these are what I have so far...













*I know they are blurry, I couldn't seem to get a clear shot of him. Perhaps I shouldn't have wasted the bandwidth but I wanted to get some pics to ya!

[yunachin]

Oh he is soooooo cute! I can't believe how tiny he is! I love the decor in your tank especially the bamboo! Good job!

[Pufferpunk]

He's like the size of a dot! Look at how he's gonna love that mangrove in the middle:

[yunachin]

PufferPunk your fahaka is gi-normous. How big is he/she? I can't wait for Kaiser to get big!

[Pufferpunk]

LOL, that was a couple of years ago. He's probably close to a foot now but I haven't measured him in a while (I include the tail).

[spoot]

That is an awesomely small fahaka! Looks a bit skinny, but I'm sure you will plump him up in no time. If the ram's horns are about the size of his eye, he shouldn't have a problem eating them. Maybe let a few big ones loose in the tank to see if he'll leave them alone. It he does, then you have a free source of food

[my name is mike]

tank looks great -- congrats

[manutius]

yeah tnak looke great but I would put a background on. It gives them more security. The puffer looks tiny but I think you should feed it up with mussels and look to treat fro IP's if the belly gets sunken in, it l;ooks a little skinny ATM but that could be from the shipping

[beachbum]

PP, that's awesome! I think he'll liek it as well. I also have thought about what I will need to do in the future once he gets bigger, a lot of that decor will not be any good, except to the pleco. That will be some time away so I'm in no rush. Just food for thought.

Thanks everyone on the tank, and yes Manu, I will swing by today to get a background, he will appeciate it! =)

I'll also stop to get ramshorns from Petsmart (they grow abundantly there and do not sell them, so I come and get freebies. how cool is that?!) As much as he is searching that tank I don't think many baby ramshorns will live long. I'll try it out though!

And Manu, would you recommend cutting up mussles to compare to his size?

And I'll treat for IPs as well just in case...