hey everyone,
this is my first post and i don't know if anyone can help or not.
my puffer was freaking me out just about half an hour ago. he was about halfway buried in the sand substrate with a generous dusting of the sand covering his body. he was breathing normally, but it looked really awkward to me so i moved him(physically), and now he is mad and hiding under some driftwood. he ate right after it happened so i think hes gonna be OK, i just want to know if this is normal behavior or not.
he if a 7", 3 year old fahaka currently living in a 55 gal. long all fw tank. there are live plants and driftwood. i have one 10000k actinic and one 10000k daylight, i have an eheim 2217, and about three inches of sand collected and sanitized froma freshwater beach. i recently added two central American cichlids to his tank(I know fahakas are notoriously territorial) and they seem to be fine together.
any information on my puffers strange behavior would be greatly appreciated. also any info on my setup, if it is up to par or not( i know i will eventually need a larger tank) would be appreciated.
please help
nick
My puffer is scaring me
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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Jager
fahakas when young will bury themselves. (its a phase) as they get larger they will outgrow the burying. please do not forcibly move the puffer unless it really is in distress. the stress of you bothering it can be very bad.
cichlids of anytype probably should not be in a 55 gallon with a 7 inch fahaka. they will probably overload the tank with in a short period of time (weeks or months). a larger tank amy be better(150gallon) but do not expect the cichlids to last as they could be killed at any time by your fahaka being territorial.
hope you got a bigger tank for it soon. those guys get big.
cichlids of anytype probably should not be in a 55 gallon with a 7 inch fahaka. they will probably overload the tank with in a short period of time (weeks or months). a larger tank amy be better(150gallon) but do not expect the cichlids to last as they could be killed at any time by your fahaka being territorial.
hope you got a bigger tank for it soon. those guys get big.
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Pufferpunk
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My fahaka is also 3 years old & is close to 12". I'd say your is stunted in that tank. What are you feeding it? When mine gets spooked, he burries himself still.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Some call it a product of a mis-spent youth, I call it Rock n Roll ! 
hey everyone,
thanks for all the responses. my fahaka is back to his normal behavior. whew! i received the puffer as a hand me down pet. he was in a 40 gal. before if you can believe that, and that may be why he is so small still. i do want to get a larger tank for him eventually but these tanks cost $$$ so i am trying to save up for it. he does seem kinda bored tho, so the sooner the better i guess. i never touch my fish or try to move him forcibly, tho last night was an exception because i was worried. its good to know that this is normal. do you think the addition of other fish might have had something to do with this? i have never seen him do it before.
i feed him frozen krill regularly, skipping a day or two a week. and he has been on a regular diet of ghost shrimp and live minnows as well. is this good for him? i think he is still too small for mussels or shrimp.
if the cichlids go, they go. i am not attached to them like i am to my puffer.
thanks again everyone, any other advice would help
nick
thanks for all the responses. my fahaka is back to his normal behavior. whew! i received the puffer as a hand me down pet. he was in a 40 gal. before if you can believe that, and that may be why he is so small still. i do want to get a larger tank for him eventually but these tanks cost $$$ so i am trying to save up for it. he does seem kinda bored tho, so the sooner the better i guess. i never touch my fish or try to move him forcibly, tho last night was an exception because i was worried. its good to know that this is normal. do you think the addition of other fish might have had something to do with this? i have never seen him do it before.
i feed him frozen krill regularly, skipping a day or two a week. and he has been on a regular diet of ghost shrimp and live minnows as well. is this good for him? i think he is still too small for mussels or shrimp.
if the cichlids go, they go. i am not attached to them like i am to my puffer.
thanks again everyone, any other advice would help
nick
-
lisalisa
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32976
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
-
Fahaka_Girl
- Puffer Fry
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- Location: Mansfield, UK
I doubt you will have any problems with mussels, my fahaka goes mad over them, she is so greedy lol
I wouldn't worry to much about the burying, snow white (lol i have just bought 7 dwarfs which is why she is now known as snow white) does it quite often, i cant say i would physically move her though, perhaps if i wanted to loose a finger
I wouldn't worry to much about the burying, snow white (lol i have just bought 7 dwarfs which is why she is now known as snow white) does it quite often, i cant say i would physically move her though, perhaps if i wanted to loose a finger