fahaka just arrived!

[viejaman]

feel stupid putting him in a 180, hes smaller than my thumb!! Ill post pics if i can zoom in that close! LOL

[Pufferpunk]

Believe me, he'll be much happier & grow faster in there. Plus, you don't have to worry about cycling it.

[viejaman]

I let the bag sit in the tank for a little while to even out the temp, then put some tank water in the bag for a few minutes then released him, he just kinda bobbed around the bottom for a few minutes and now is just sittin ther motionless. I have the lights off and Ill give him a day to settle. Hope he makes it, are they fragile when young?? hes just so little!

[Pufferpunk]

How skinny is he?

[viejaman]

not at all, quitr round actually, just real small, didi i mention he was small!!!

[Myaj]

He's gonna grow fast!

[viejaman]

well, hes still alive this morning. He swam around a lttle when the lights came on, I offered him a few bloodworms with no success and then he settled back to the bottom again. Ill keep tryin!

[Pufferpunk]

The lil fella is used to live food.

[viejaman]

hes used to live food???

[Peregrine]

Try a piece of krill on a wooden skewer, poke it through the krill, and use the stick to give it some live (twitching) motion, very small movements (you dont want to scare him off)...That is how I got my recently aquired fahaka to eat some thing other than the snails that were present in the tank when he was introduced (tank is now snail free).

[Boxermom]

Mine would never use a skewer or stick or anything, it scared the crap out of him. Just offer them in a small dish or shell and he'll get the idea. It can sometimes take several days, sometimes longer.

I hope you didn't add any bag water to the tank.

[viejaman]

yes i added the bag watre to the tank, it was only about 1/4 gallon to a 180, dont think it hurt anything. Hes only a little over an inch long, even frozen blood worms look big by him!! I guess In just being paranoid, gotta give him some time to settle in.

[Boxermom]

You'd be surprised at how much damage bag water can do to a tank. You should never put the bag water into your tank. It can have all sorts of chemicals, parasites, etc. and nasty stuff in it, even just a small amount in a large tank. Then again, you should never add livestock directly to the main tank without having it in quarantine first for several weeks either.

[viejaman]

yah that makes sense, guess well see.

[Peregrine]

Mine would never use a skewer or stick or anything, it scared the crap out of him. Just offer them in a small dish or shell and he'll get the idea. It can sometimes take several days, sometimes longer.

It is all in how the prey is presented...camoflage the skewer behind a rock or in a plant, so the food is what is primarily visible to the puffer...some subtle movement to get there attention...well worked for me

Actually, it is better to get a younger/smaller puffer...they adjust better to change than older ones lived a longer time in the wild...like people they can get set in their ways and resist change...