He has arrived - New Fahaka

[crazedpuffer]

That is so awesome! If I ever get a fahaka I want one that small!

[spoot]

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!

Be sure to quarantine any live food for at least 4 weeks before introducing to your fahaka tank.

[xxSarahxx]

I can't believe how tiny he is... he's gorgeous!
Any names yet??
Krill or mysis is also fairly high in protein and not that fatty so if he'll gobble those it might help him but some weight on as I have to admit he is a little skinny.
Where did you get him from?

[beachbum]

I think I'm going to name him Hannibal. Watching videos on YouTube.com, I think the name fits quite well. lol And knowing their temperment of tankmates and reading pufferpunk's thread on breading, I think it all fits... I bought him off of Aquabid.com from a fella name Aquatictreasure.. I'm pretty sure that was his name. I need to give him rave reviews.

Went by the store today and picked up snails that they love to get rid of.. Grabbed a bunch, I crushed the shells and soaked the snail itself in Jungle's IP treatment... He didn't go for them, so I pulled them out and later I soaked blood worms in it and he ate maybe 2 or 3 pieces. So that isn't working. He pays more attention to me than the food I put in there. I think he's doing okay... I'm looking at him now and it appears that he is eating a few more pieces of the blood worm I put in the corner of the tank. I'll try krill or mysis next.

On the other hand, I bought Pimafix and Melafix and dosed that up for 100gals. Water looks like tons of little air bubbles or maybe salt, but its the medication. He had some nips on his tail, so that will help. Should I dose up the water itself with that Jungle stuff instead of dipping it in his food?

Before all that I did another 25% WC and took the carbon out of my Fluval 405..

I mean he's just all over the tank swimming from the bottom to the top and all around. Now he's poking around towards the top of the tank.



Edit: Looks like I'll have to get the rest of the bloodworms out a little later. Not eating the rest.

[Nick]

If thats java fern planted in the tank, you might want to pull it out of the gravel and tie it too the roots. The "root" piece is actually designed for climbing rock and wood and tends to rot if it doesn't get enough water circulation. It will be a lot of fun to watch your tiny fish become a monster

[Imotep]

Congrats on your new little one. I have found at work (lfs/ps) that baby puffers, esp. fahaka that size do well on live brine, frozen blood worm and brine and then can move to mysis.

Imotep, my 12 inch Fahaka is just over a year old and I got him at the size of yours. I kept him in a 30gal community tank til he started picking on his tankmates. He was 4 or 5 inches long when he finally had to be moved to his own tank.....like a switch he started maiming other fish.

Yesterday I brought home another little one and have him in the 30 community again. He was not doing well at work.....he was in with another baby and it was noticeably bigger, bullied him. That and work tanks do NOT have heaters but rely on the room temp....so vary this time of year. I tend to bring home and foster anything that has trouble. Some of the fish go back when they are stable and some stay. This is why I have an 18" Marbled Sailfin Cat. It was 3" and had ick when it came in. It got better.

[beachbum]

If thats java fern planted in the tank, you might want to pull it out of the gravel and tie it too the roots. The "root" piece is actually designed for climbing rock and wood and tends to rot if it doesn't get enough water circulation. It will be a lot of fun to watch your tiny fish become a monster

It is java fern. I would like to add a few more plants, but there are 2 things holding me back. First, to see how he treats the plants, and will allow them to stay. The other, I want the environment to stabilize (treating for IPs and making sure he gets big/healthy) then adding Co2 would cause the pH to rise. And its already around 7.8 ... So I'll have to worry about all that later. But yeah, I'll tie some of that onto a few things to see how it does.

Congrats on your new little one. I have found at work (lfs/ps) that baby puffers, esp. fahaka that size do well on live brine, frozen blood worm and brine and then can move to mysis.

Imotep, my 12 inch Fahaka is just over a year old and I got him at the size of yours. I kept him in a 30gal community tank til he started picking on his tankmates. He was 4 or 5 inches long when he finally had to be moved to his own tank.....like a switch he started maiming other fish.

Yesterday I brought home another little one and have him in the 30 community again. He was not doing well at work.....he was in with another baby and it was noticeably bigger, bullied him. That and work tanks do NOT have heaters but rely on the room temp....so vary this time of year. I tend to bring home and foster anything that has trouble. Some of the fish go back when they are stable and some stay. This is why I have an 18" Marbled Sailfin Cat. It was 3" and had ick when it came in. It got better.

I tried mysis, he didn't go for it. Hopefully the redtail shark eats it up (I'll do a large WC tomorrow since it's the 3rd day of treatment for IPs)... So I added bloodworm and saw him nibble at it. I hope he starts getting more enthused about eating (so I can see him eat instead of hoping he is eating while I'm not looking)

[Imotep]

Yeah, I meant to move him to mysis when he grows a bit. Mine and the ones at work go for blood worms and live brine best. Then they move to small snails and frozen/thawed brine. Once they put on a month or so growth they will go for mysis. I also feed them a couple four times a day, small amounts.

By the time Imotep was unable to share his tank (4 or 5 inches) he was eating ghost shrimp and marble sized snails.
Now he gets krill, mystery snails and crayfish.

[beachbum]

Sounds good, I hope to see him get bigger. My main concern now is getting myself comfortable that he's good to go.

I let some bloodworms sit in a cup of Prazi-Pro for over an hour and I did witness him take a few nibbles. Then he saw me watching and came to the top. Hopefully he eats the rest by tonight and it is still effective.

Imotep is a beautiful looking fahaka, btw.

[beachbum]

I have had Prazi-Pro in the tank for about 6 days. And have had Bloodworms sitting in the medication over night for past few days. He doesn't seem to eat them. I catch him picking at it, but can't say I've seen with my own eyes him eating it.

He still looks skinny, should I be worried?

The pleco seems to be benefiting. His "stool" has 2 white sections to it.

[Imotep]

I don't know what Prazi Pro is so I have no experience with it. Personally I would just get him eating brine or blood worms and worry about treating it with stuff later.

[beachbum]

Prazi-Pro uses Praziquantel that is a medication to treat IPs. I provided him with 2 treatments on the recommended 3-4 days between each treatment. I'll do about a 80 or 90% WC tomorrow and start feeding him Bloodworms without the treatment in there.

If anyone suggests continuing the treatments, please mention it.

[KIONG]

Hmm the small guy most prob hate eatin treated food. He's very skinny, have him eating some untreated brine shrimp or bloodworm first, get his weight up and then treat him with Prazi-pro. I think when he's in acceptable weight, and still refuse those medicated food, forgo-ing a meal would most prob have him accept the treated food.

Your small fry rocks. Imagine the satisfaction when they grow big!

[Neilsie]

Meet JJ the Fahaka he is about 9" now and hopefully yours will get to this size one day. Good luck

Neil

[beachbum]

That is what I'll do then. He has been treated for a week now and has nibbled a bit on medicated food so hopefully a bit has went into his system. I can't wait to see him the size of JJ! lol I'll do a 90% WC today and feed him non-medicated bloodworms.