Strategy for hands-in-tank with Fahaka...

[Ohyouknow]

So, it used to be a cute idea to hand feed my fahaka when it was little. I never did it though, after I saw what those powerful little beaks can do. Vicious has broken the surface trying to get at my fingers, and makes a beeline for them if I stick them in the tank. When he was in the smaller tank, my hands were in it very little, and I could corner him if need be.... However, in this new large tank, I am literally up to my armpits to reach the bottom of the tank. With the water moving, I find it hard to see where Vicious is at all times... I made a hand held vac for quick poop removal, (a rod from some old blinds, skinny airline tubing and a couple rubberbands... I coiled the airline tubing, and have the end in a gallon milk jug.. kind of like a carry along canister siphon vac. LOL ) However, I need to get in there and do some ornament moving/cleaning tomorrow - I tried to do it today, and even though I just fed him he still made a beeline for me anytime I started reaching in the tank. I can sit there and watch, and he'll retreat off and be lazy, but it's like he SMELLS me hit the water... NOM NOM NOM... out I go... I wait... rinse and repeat.

Anyone have any helpful tricks or hints? would it be worth it to remove him during cleaning? Would it stress him too much?

....Or would his bite not be as bad as it seems to be when he eats? (should I not be scared??)

[J-P]

kevlar gloves .. you can get them from any food prep / restaurant supply store.

They will not ease the pressure of a bite but at least you won't loose a finger

[JRC3]

You could try a pair of these for some protection.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCatalo ... 12&offset=

And I use this to clean the poop and extra food every other day or as needed.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... &lmdn=Fish

I suck it out into a 3 gallon bucket and then pour it back in to the tank through one of those reusable mesh coffee filters. The whole process takes just a few minutes. The long ridged part has two sections and can be as long as 22". You can also add the gravel vac adapter but I just use without for sand. This is what it looks like hanging from my 29g for reference of length and depth.



Only good thing to come out of BiOrb imho...But it has been one of the best $10 I ever spent.

[xrayjeeper83]

Bloat has been tryin to attack me lately, but if i make a move toward him he tends to run

[JoseDepacos]

Anyone have any helpful tricks or hints?

Quit being such a wuss.

[pufferpuggirl]

Obie used to be the same way. When I'd put my hands in the water to adjust the filter, he would fly right over and looked like he was going to munch on my fingers, and of course, I would take my hands out immediately.
Well, I decided to challenge Obie a few days ago and instead of removing my hands, I kept doing what I was doing. Funny how he stopped and started backing up. So now he's a bit wary of me when my hands are in the water.

Thing is, not all puffers are alike and I would not want someone to do what I've done and end up getting a nasty bite. So I would just be very careful whatever you do. I'm not sure I would remove your puffer, that might be too stressful, but you might want to get some sort of divider and keep your guy separated from where you are working in the tank so he can't bite you.

[lesleyanndunn]

LMAO i know how you feel!
my wee blurt fahaka is right there when im doing my WC
im surprised he hasnt stuck to the syphon yet hes that close and nosey!

he bit me once when i was syphoning, and now i've to divert him to the other side of the tank with something that takes him a while to eat!
like a large snail etc
he still follows me around after that as well, but if he goes too close to my hand,
i shoo him away with my hand or the syphon and he does back off
he loses interest after 10mins and then just watches from further away

its when they get bigger that i am more wary lol

[Ohyouknow]

LOL I do feel like a wuss, but at the same time IDK... I am gonna try to play 'chicken' with him like PPG did, (I'll probably back out though) and just try to keep him shoo'd away. I just have a feeling I'll have to work up some kind of divider eventually though... whenever he starts his 'hunting' me thing when I'm in the tank, he even gets his 'warpaint colors' on (dark contrast, with dark eyes).. It's quite intimidating, and DOES make him harder to spot right away.

BTW, gloves are a great idea, and I'll have to show you what I do my daily sweeping with ( normally hands in tank are not an issue!)

[xrayjeeper83]

Bloat has gotten me once so far and it didnt hurt. If he gets much bigger he will be doing some damage though

[Ohyouknow]

How big is Bloat these days? I think I got an accurate measurement the other day - 4" without tail, 5" or so with.

[Pufferpunk]

As per previous comments from RTR:

Aways respect a puffer jaws. Hand-feeding may be cute, but in this house it is done with instruments. I do not want any association between my fingers and food.

My dominant male Fahaka was the only fish I have kept of which I was physically afraid. I had to put a divider in to work in the tank - him on one side and me on the other. It was not rare for him to damage his mouth trying to smash the eggcrate divider - so I had to sandwich filterfloss pads on the eggcrate to reduce his vision of the other end of the tank when I was vacuuming or planting. He attacked anything going into the tank, plastic, metal, or live. Unbelievably nasty-tempered beast.

[RTR]

I fully sympathize. When I had the bg Fahakas.there were two non-aggressive ones (later turned out to be one female and one male) and one male absolute terror. That one - from the time he was juvenile, ~8-9" total length (in a 75), he would attack anything that went into the water - siphon, feeding forceps (stainless steel 12"), or the plastic "grabbers" (Eheim) or my hands. I had previously given up hand feeding directly (by fingers), in favor of always using tongs or forceps or the grabbers - I did not want my hands ever associated with food (I was still in the lab then and could not work with any fresh scratches, cuts or abrasions - couldn't scrub my hands, so no scrub,no work. You learn quickly to protect your hands). None of the other puffers ever really worried me, but that juvenile mad fish did. When he was moved to a 120 soon after, I built in channels for an eggcrate divider at the mid-line of the tank. When I needed to do anything in the tank, even routine poop-siphoning (Python) between real vacuumings, I put in the divider. Soon he was moved to a 180, but with provision for a doubled divider - I was afraid he could break through a single thickness - which he finally did.

After that first tank upgrade I never did any in-tank work without the divider in place. I had such in all the big puff tanks, but that one was the only one in which it was a routine-use item.

Discretion is the better part of valor. Plan ahead rather than winning a Darwin award.

HTH

[Pufferpunk]

Filbert is the pussycat in his tank, always being bullied by the equal-sized goldspot pleco who does attack the Python & will try his best to poke me with his very sharp spikes.

[xrayjeeper83]

How big is Bloat these days? I think I got an accurate measurement the other day - 4" without tail, 5" or so with.

around 4.5 with tail