Fahaka Puffer Growth and Observations Log

[Hilly]

I will update this thread periodically as he grows and develops character traits.
For now heres my first weeks observations from bringing him home.

After being acclimatised in the bag for 45 mins, the puffer was released.
After a quick look around the puffer moved to the right hand side of the tank and took shelter under a plant, as it became gradually more used to its surroundings it slowly began to explore but still only venturing in the right hand side of the tank. Never moving too far from the plant it initially sought refuge under.
Eventually it came out a bit more to the front of the tank to see what I was doing, any fast movements seemed to startle it at first, however I took this opportunity to try some food.
I thought I would try some dry food to start with, I have been unsuccessful in the past with it but for an initial small feeding it was worth a try, I dropped in a Hikari Massivore Delite pellet. To start off with he completely ignored this then after some time he took a few bites out of it but he didn’t seem too impressed with it so it was removed.
The puffer must have been on shop tank hours as when it hit about 8pm, he retired under his plant and did not move for the rest of the night.

The following day I decided to try a Hikari Sinking Carnivore pellet, it was in the morning and he seemed quite active, this was completely ignored so it was removed.
I had the tank light on and noticed that he became less active when this was on and retreated to cover so I turned it off just leaving the tank to be illuminated by natural light, after the light was turned off he was more active so I made the assumption that he either didn’t like bright light (Mogwai voice) or it made him feel more vulnerable as he was still unsure of his surroundings.
As evening began I decided to try him on some meatier food, my first choice is Mussel as I have had really good success with this. I cut a small piece off and defrosted it in a glass filled with tank water; I then removed the Mussel and dropped it in. It was attacked with vigour and completely devoured. After he had eaten he retired under his plant and remained there for the rest of the night.

The puffer was becoming more confident of its surroundings coming out more; it was getting braver and would venture into the left side of the tank but always returned to the right where he felt safest.
He was not fed today and in the evening he disappeared. After 10 minutes of searching, I spotted a pair of eyes sticking out of the sand. I had never had a puffer that had buried itself before so this came as a bit of a shock. Fish seemed to be on a cycle where it went to sleep around 8pm.

After a few days with no tank light and just lighting from daylight and other illuminations during the evening I decided to move the tank light further away from the tank as it has no hood and is in a temporary position on my unused fireplace this was easy so it was lifted about 8 inches from the tank and sat on the mantelpiece so it illuminated the tank but wasn’t direct. He seemed to appreciate this more indirect lighting. Although this may just be coincidence as it had been a few more days and he was becoming more settled.
I tried a second frozen meaty food in the evening of Whitebait, I cut off the tail piece, and defrosted in the same manner as the Mussel and dropped it in, this was also completely devoured.

Observations on Behaviour:
Now he was a lot more settled and confident in the tank, his character traits started to come out. He seems more active in the morning and evening. When he’s resting he seems to have a few favourite places where he rests generally under the cover of plants, sometimes he will just lay on top of the sand, other times he will choose to bury himself all or part way. As with some other puffers i've had if I get in his face too much he will open his mouth and bare his teeth. No teeth grinding at me yet.

Most of the time he is quite light, he does go darker when he’s asleep or annoyed displaying mottled patterns breaking up his yellow lines, however I have once spotted his go dark leaving his body lines intact, i’m hoping as he matures these lines will become very striking but at this size it’s too soon to tell.
He is very interactive and inquisitive, moving around the substrate and blowing the sand looking for something to eat. I never expected him to camouflage so well with plant and logs, hovering in leaf cover makes him almost impossible to see at a glance.
This particular puffer seems to test things out by biting them; he’s a definite biter; logs, plants, filters glass. Practically everything in the tank has been bite tested, luckily the heater has a plastic cover and it’s about the only thing he hasn’t bitten.
Even at this size he seems fearless, his tank is adjacent to a larger tank with an Oscar and a couple of Bichirs, there is about an 8 inch gap and if he spots one of these fish he attacks the glass furiously. A fish that is currently about 20 times his mass doesn’t seem to spook him; he just seems to want to attack.
Even after only a week of ownership he seems to have grown in size confirming the estimated growth rate of about an inch a month for the first year.

To be continued......

[Myaj]

What size tank are you starting him in Hilly?

And.. where are the pictures!!

[Hilly]

Currently using my 20 yr old 46g tank, that used to have the Sabahensis, they built them to last in those days. Dimensions are 46Hx12Wx18H. I had to set it up in a rush but luckily about 2 months ago I added my 2 eheim internals to my Oscar tank so they were put in as I brought him home. Theres some bogwood in there some fake plants and an artificial trunk thing. I kept the aragonite substrate which I used to have with the Sabahensis, I prefer it to the standard aquarium sand as its heavier and doesnt get sucked up but still allows him to bury in it as he chooses and the colour of it is better. Currently doing a 30% water change every 3 days, nitrates arent above 10 when ive tested and im immediately removing anything uneaten by hand but its giving me peace of mind.

The plan is to keep him in this until he's around the 6-7" mark at which time I will move him into a 120g. I've been doing a lot of research lately on building glass tanks so when the time comes im going to price up the glass and depending on cost have ago at building it myself. If its only slightly cheaper than what I can buy from tank builders I wont bother. But I do like a challenge. Im also considering having an optiwhite/starphire front panel to show off his true colours.

A couple of shots in this thread Thread

And the 2 videos ive done of him:
Vid 1
Vid 2

I need to charge up the camera for some better high res shots.

[Nick]

Hungry puffer likes to eat! The "fattening them up" phase after the stress of importing a puffer is great, I love watching them gradually lose their "chin" and getting wider and wider in their backsides from above.

[Hilly]

Well he's definitely bulking up Nick, hes constantly beggng for food but im keeping him honest and only feeding him every other day. Growth rate is defintely noitceable, he seems to be piling it on. I've noticed in the last 4 days he's picking the same spot as a resting place at night. He picks a spot just behind a piece of bogwood to bury himself in. If I cant find him I look there straight away and 99% of the time hes there.

[Hilly]

A quick observation I have noticed a pattern appearing on burying and not burying in the substrate. On the day he has been fed he wont bury and then the next day he will. As he was fed every other day this was as regular as clockwork, the last feeding before today I left it 2 days after his last feed and he buried on both of those days and today after stripping every piece of meat from a cockle hes gone to sleep on top of the sand. We'll see if this continues as he gets bigger.

[Nick]

This is exactly the kind of longitudinal observational study that should really be done for each type of fish we try to keep, preferably many times. Awesome.

[Hilly]

After 3 weeks I have hand feeding sucess, as brief as it was, the piece of Mussel was small and he was getting decidedly close to my fingers.

I tried it a few days ago with a cockle and he was close to taking the food but was still a little cautious, but his confidence has been growing in strides, particularly when I clean the tank out or put my hand in to remove uneaten food there is a lunge at me. So he will hand feed but will this fearlessness of my hand be my undoing in the future... We shall see.

[Brandon8521]

That would make me nervous. I am trying to feed my gsp with neon green chopsticks to hopefully when he gets bigger not get nips.

[Hilly]

Just over a week ago, I did a little tank re-arrangement, I had several fake plants scatterd across the tank I have moved all of these into the centre of the tank creating a canopy above. I also move a piece of bogwood on top of 2 others creating a bridge. Since I have made these 2 alterations he has stopped burying himself at night. He chooses now mostly to sleep between the roots of the fake plants hidden from above via the canopy.

Size wise I would say he is just over an inch longer than when I got him. Being fed every other day apart from when he is given Mussel and then I may leave it 3 days as it seems to make him more sluggish than Cockles or Whitebait. This would be in line with the estimated 1 inch a month for the first year.

In terms of fear of being timid when my hand is in the tank, that is now zero, his posture if I am cleaning is aggressive and he isnt afraid to have a go at me circling continuously darting towards my hand if I stay still too long.

[Hilly]

Seems that my fahaka has lost a nostril filament, its been like that for a while, I can only assume hes bumped into something spooked and ripped it off. I was hoping it would grow back but its been several weeks and its just a little stump forming so it wont ever be like it was before but it doesnt seem to affect him in any other way.

[Hilly]

Usually I feed in the same spot and tonight I decided to drop it in the opposite side of the tank. There is a 2ft flourescent tube so usually he gets fed in the darker side of the tank. As the food landed on the bottom he bolted over to it and then stopped dead in his tracks. He didnt seem to like the fact the food was in a well lit area. He looked quite perplexed by it and took cover under a plant and picked at it very cautiously. Usually it would have been finished off by now.

Turned the tank light off and the second it went dark he started feeding again. Seems this particular Fahaka doesnt like eating his food in well lit areas and prefersthe security of the dark side. (No Darth Vader Smiley Available)

[xrayjeeper83]

Mine gets mad if I dont drop the food in the same place every time. Light doesnt seem to be the issue, more the fact he actually has to swim across the tank and way from his hole.

I think Its time for some pictures too lol

[Hilly]

I tried to get some the other day and they were absolute rubbish, will try again when my camera is charged.

[Hilly]

Managed to get one or two before he turned his back on me.