Scary Moment with New Fahaka

[Buddha]

Well I have been waiting and waiting to get my fahaka. Last saturday I find a LFS that ofcourse allways has in puffers. I go there and after 2 hours of looking for just the right fahaka, I bring home "Mother".

She has adapted to her tank nicely and has found all the caves and other goodies in the tank. Eating great, mixture of worms and shrimp and snail's.

Well I get home yesterday after a extremely long day and go get Mother her dinner, walk upstairs and go in to sit and watch her eat. When I get to her tank I cannot find her, not in any caves or anything. To my horror I look at the inlet pipe of my Fluval and she is stuck to the end. I immediately turn off the filter and unplug the tube. Go to the tube and try to break the suction. I end up having to shake the tube and he swims freely. Her stomach was being sucked into the tube, don't know for how long she was there. She is about 2 inch's long and her stomach was almost streched to 1 inch!!
I ofcourse am horrified that she will be dead. After an hour of watching her intently and seeing her stomach go down in swelling, she goes back to swimming around the tank like nothing is wrong. I go back in a few hours later, dangle in a worm and she goes right for it and devour's the thing.

This morning I wake up and turn on her light and she is actling like nothing is wrong..

WHEW I am totally relieved that as it looks now she is fine. i have since taken out the fluval and replaced it with a Aqua Clear until I figure out what to do to make it "puffer proof"

By the way... Hello to the forum!!

[crazedpuffer]

Welcome to the forum! That is a scary experience. Something like that happened to me only it was a dwarf puffer that got sucked totally in. Ever since I always put a sponge over the intake part of the filter. Glad to hear things are alright!

[Buddha]

Well I could have not asked for a better Fahaka!!! Mother as we call her(get it Mother Fahaka!)is growing at an alarming rate. She has more than oubled in size and is now around 6-7 inch's. She eats a good steady diet of Fiddler Crabs, Snails, Shrimp(whole from the bait department), and some feeder fish. She is a very smart fish! I threw in some feeder fish and they swan around and she tryed and tryed to catch them, but to no avail. Then I wake up in the morning to see her lying motionless parralel next to the heater letting the fish swim in front of her. When one swam close enough she pounced out and snagged em!

I have found her a new tank and she will be moving so I can get my MBU from the LFS!!! The MBU at the store is roughly 8" allready and full of excitement! I scored a 240 Gallon for the MBU and a 125 Gallon for Mother! I will get some pictures up here tonight!

Have a great day!

[Pufferpunk]

Best not to feed your puffer feeders Read about that in our Library.

240g won't be large enpough for an adult mbu. There is a thread on them at the top of this forum & more info on them again, in the Library.

[Buddha]

I know 240G is to small. But until I am able to score my 600G from my buddy, this is what I am stuck with. The 600G is 4ftx6ftx8ft. The MBU will only be in the 240 for a year MAX.

[Boxermom]

600g isn't big enough either, we recommend an absolute minimum of 1000g, as they get quite huge and are very active.

[viejaman]

your fahaka grew 5inches in 30 days?

[Pufferpunk]

Hmmm... now that IS weird!

[Buddha]

He was roughly 2-3 inch's when I got him. He is eating a very steady diet and not over feeding. The tank he was in at the LFS was about the size of a 2 gallon tank. Now he has 125 Gallon tank and has fun swimming around. I cannot explain his growth other than he is a happy fat puffer.
I just think this will be my last post here as I think some of the member's here have a superiority complex. I am so sorry that I am a novice puffer owner. I did do all of my research before I got him and have done everything I can to make him happy. I think some of you forget that at one time you too were a novice in this also. Thanks so much for making this a great experience!

[manutius]

Please do not get that MBU until you have a huge tank, please read my MBU article

[viejaman]

I didnt mean that I dont beleive the growth its just amazing!!

[Pufferpunk]

That is amazing growth--maybe making up for stunting in the 2g.

[Buddha]

I have decided to not get the MBU. I do understand that they need a larger tank than i can buy at the present time. My LFS just got in on a trade a 8" Arrowhead. I think he will be my newest puffer. Someone in Phoenix would like to trade me for my 240 gallon for 2 125's. Now I will have 3 125's and only 2 fish!! I would love to be able to find a Congo Puffer like Punk's, Bright Red. Does anyone know where I might be able to buy one?

[manutius]

I'm glad you haev reconsidered the Mbu, a Suvatti is a great choice as is the Miurus. One of my wish list puffers

[Ariadne]

I have seen a few people get lucky finding colored congos through private sales, bolth on this site in the for sale forum and on the aquatic predators site in their fish sale forum. I have seen that variety of fish in red, orange, yellow and brown/black, honestly they all looked pretty stunning, but I can understand having a favorite for sure. I wish you luck tracking one down and please post us pictures it never gets old looking at pictures of lucky puffers in a good home.