Inactive Fahaka

[robst3]

I have a 1 year old Fahaka puffer who lives in a 500 Litre tank on his own. He is around 9-10 inches long.

He eats fine but is very inactive. When the lights are on he sits under a large piece of bogwood the whole time without moving. With the lights off he is slightly better but still spends 99% of the time sat on the bottom of the tank.

I did all the water tests I could tonight, here are the results:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5-10 mg/l
Phosphate 0.25 mg/l
pH 8.0
15.5 degrees GH or 280mg/l as CaCO3
10 degrees KH or 180mg/l as CaCO3

[robst3]

Forgot to mention - filtration is 2 x Fluval FX5s with outlets set to create plenty of surface movement & oxygenation

[bertie 83]

It is what it is. Mine is lazy too. If I pop out around 3am he is going nuts.

[Pufferpunk]

Mine's lazy too, unless he's hungry.

[RTR]

MY female was lazy/bashful. The two males were more active. I only know the sexes from post-motem examinations, but the female did shed eggs with some regularity. That sample is way to small to say it is a gender thing. It can be just individual differences. Their tanks and equipment were quite similar. All three did spend time resting in the shade of clumps of Crinums.

[robst3]

I upped the water changes to twice weekly (50% each time) and added some more decoration to the tank and changed what I was feeding. Its like a new fish now! Always exploring and is at the surface waiting for food when I come near the tank.

Vid: http://youtu.be/UrfQJTGOOjg

[FADE2BLACK_1973]

Nice aquascape and love the statue..lol. Your Fahaka nice and chubby. Mine is less active if fed everyday but fed every other then he is more active.

[RTR]

Fish really don't need to be chubby. Lean is far healthier.

[robst3]

I disagree. If for some reason the fish is unable to eat for a period of time it is beneficial to have some fat to burn, rather than die of starvation.

[Puffer King]

Fahakas do get bored of eating the same food , i find that regular variation of diet keeps mine active ........she'll go mad for cockles one day and another day not be in the slightest bit interested in it , however dangle something different like a bit of mussel ( as in your lovely vid ) in front of her and shes dancing at the glass like a fish possessed ! .....i think mussel meat in particular is to fahakas like steak is to humans ( non vegetarians anyway !)....although i try to keep the mussel meat as a treat as it contains a lot of thiaminase ......she's currenlty munching her way through 20 or so red crabs that i managed to pick up at bargain price

[Pufferpunk]

I disagree. If for some reason the fish is unable to eat for a period of time it is beneficial to have some fat to burn, rather than die of starvation.

Why would a fish in captivity not be able to eat for some time??? Just like feeding a cat or dog to obesity will shorten it's life & IS animal abuse, same thing with a fish. Many puffers are known to have much shorter lifespans, dying of fatty liver disease from overfeeding due to their adept begging.

[robst3]

An obvious example is if it became ill. Either way my puffer is not obese...

[Puffer King]

a hungry fish is a healthy fish by and large ...........overfeeding is not just detrimental to the fish by consumption but also vastly lowers water quality due to excessive waste .

[robst3]

Agreed, that's why it's important to over filter and clean up any waste food from the tank. I disagree with starving a fish being healthier though. All you will do is stunt it's growth and leave it open to disease through a lack of nutrientse

[Pufferpunk]

Once it is ill (IE, fatty liver disease) it is too late. Are we willing to wait & see?