Fahaka puffer and friends!

[sumfingwong]

So.. my fahaka puffer basically destroys anything it wants to eat.. feeder fish.. crayfish.. snails.. etc..

I bought some bigger feeder goldfish from golds to see if he will move onto bigger feeders. He ate one of them, now there are 2 goldfish living with him about 2 to 3 inches big (fahaka is about 5 to 6 inches) and he doesnt mind them at all. One of them is missing the chin area, but I think its because when he eats crayfish, the 2 goldfish would come in and try to take some bites out of the crayfish.

Today, the fahaka ripped off a claw.. and it looked like straight out of lady and the tramp.. the puffer was munching on one end of the claw and the goldfish on the other. He also waits for the goldfish to finish picking at the crayfish body and then he will start munching on it. The goldfish also picks off floating food stuck to the puffers head .. ahhaha

Who said all fahakas were mean smile.gif

ill try to take some pics. I need to move him into some new diggs soon.

[The Bruce]

around here feeding goldfish to puffers is a no no, they are disease ridden and are generally not good for puffers. The snails, crayfish, and etc. you are feeding him is a much better staple meal

[Ariadne]

When my fahaka was little he did something like this. Somehow endler fry hitch hiked into the big tank in drfitwood or plants or netted shrimps. He killed 2 of them and left one. I tried to net it, but in a planted 150 a fish thats basically a eyeball with scales, it was an exercise in futility. I would try to add fry bites and never saw the endler eat. Then one day I saw he was eating the pieces of food that fell out my glutton puffers mouth. I got all hopeful and thought "oh maybe they are friends!OMG! I could be so lucky and my fahaka could be nice irl!" Well it was later discovered through a series of unfortunate events, that really my fahaka was more "farming" that "friending" that endler was posthumously dubbed "Livestock"

[ACF]

I haven't been so ugly to keep friends with my fahaka but I just threw in a 6" Plecko into his tank. They were circling each other for a good hour! Every time fugz was getting ready to go in for a taste Pleck would swim around to the back of him. It's been an interesting watch and it seems like I think they just might MIGHT get along. Cross my fingers! I want Pleck in there. He cleaned the whole tank last night

[indie]

I had a plec in with my Fahaka, he took a few bites out of his fins. Trouble with Plecs is they add alot to the bio load of the tank as they are very messy!

[Pufferpunk]

I agree--the puffer is already more than enough bioload for a 90g. Double that with a large pleco.

[sumfingwong]

So far so good. they are still getting along. I didnt feed him for 3 almost 4 days (I threw in a couple snails as snacks) to test if he would eat the big goldfish (which I really want him to do) Still.. he wont touch them. I will try to get some pics up tomorrow. Hes about 4 to 5 inches now and the goldfish are about 3 to 4 inches. trying to find new homes for the fish I have in my 60 so I can move these guys in there.

[Pufferpunk]

You really don't want him eating GF. Please read the article on that in our Library, also articles on a much healthier diet.

[sumfingwong]

You really don't want him eating GF. Please read the article on that in our Library, also articles on a much healthier diet.

I've read the articles.. I mix it up.. between lots of snails and feeders. He wont take anything else, he/she is a fricking princess, I have tried krill thawed in tank water.. he doesnt touch it.

I have tried starving him for 4 or 5 days and then try the frozen food.. no go. He only likes live food for some reason. The LFS fed the baby fahakas live food.. so maybe he/she is used to it. Since its main diet since I got him are snails, crayfish, and live feeders.

Any other ways I can try to convert this premadonna to eat frozen food?

[indie]

Feeder fish really arent a healthy diet for your fahaka.
Have you thought about gut loading some shrimp? At least its live, but if you gut load them they will provide your puffer with some nutrition.
Have you tried dangling some prawns on a string in the tank and making it move like live food?
#None of my puffers like krill, they will just spit it back out again. Have you tried mussels? live bloodworms?

Im guessing if he'll eat snails, then he'll eat other dead food. not saying snails are dead, but they dont exactly move fast do they?

[riggers]

Yeah I agree with indie, feeder fish are not healthy, no matter what kind of fish it is. Also, I've read that most people's puffers don't eat krill, so that's probably why you had no success with that.

[flash.dan]

just dont feed him any live food after 5-7 days any puffer wil crack! you really should consider the "appropriate" care this fish needs. and feeder fish just isnt up to par with what they require as a food source. not even as a treat. Ive never fed any of my mbus or fahakas feeders to the point where i wont even feed my mbu dead lance fish as i dotn want them to associate fish as food! ive never had nor met a puffer that doesnt like a big king prawn!

In the long run youll kill the nile puffer because you just arnt caring for it correctly

[sumfingwong]

Ill try some king prawns, after starving it for 5 to 7 days. I know I shouldnt be feeding him too much feeders, but since its sooooo picky I thought I had no choice since the lfs fed it feeders.

[ACF]

I had a plec in with my Fahaka, he took a few bites out of his fins. Trouble with Plecs is they add alot to the bio load of the tank as they are very messy!

O. Hmmm then I guess I will have to take the pleck out. That sucks! They've actually been getting along good. The pleck chases him every once in a while just to get fugz away! Pleck is really doing a great job cleaning up after him though. Hmm well it's been 4 days since I've had the two together, perhaps I'll check the water just too be safe.

[Pufferpunk]

Unless you will upgrade to a bigger tank...