I just got a fahaka!! what next?

[Dimond24]

Hi guys,

I just got a fahaka puffer 2 days ago and currently he is in a 75gal with 5 chiclids. He has small rocks for gravel and plenty of live plants. We are setting up a 150 gal for him next week, but for now any advice on feeding and keeping? I have offered feeding him small crayfish and rosies. He was not intersted. He did finally eat a mealworm from me today but he seems very shy. He will swim a little but spends most of his time at the bottom corner of the tank. Any advice is appreciated.. Thanks in advance!!

[groovitudedude]

Congrats! You've come to the right place to talk about puffers! Keep an eye out for color changes and heavy breathing, a common sign of unhealthy puffers, but it just sounds like he's still adjusting. When I first read your thread, I was like "Uh-oh... Another person with a giant puffer for a tank less than 100G..." but then I read the 150G part and I let out a sigh of relief. How big is he? Want to try posting a pic of the tank/puffer?

[Jase]

Congrats on the new puffer and welcome!
Keep an eye on how he gets along with the cichlids. they aren't really a community puffer, so just beware.

[Pufferpunk]

He probably won't need a meal for a while, after he eats all those cichlids.

[spoot]

Welcome, take a look at pufferpedia under the learn tab for care sheet on your fahaka.

[crazedpuffer]

Welcome!
And hows he gettin along with those cichlids?

[Dimond24]

Thanks guys!! He is about 2 inches long. I have been watching him.. the first day he was breathing very hard and turned ghost white. We had to go out and change so much with our tank. We realized our nitrate had been very high.. so out came some chemicals and water change already and live plants.. out with the old. after all that stress on the porr little guy, he started to calm down. I know that they are very aggressive ( i hope he doesnt eat the chiclids because i like them, but i like hime more). I wanted to wait to get one until we had the larger tank ready but i could not find them anywhere and then i was at the lfs on sunday and they had this lil guy in the back corner, didnt know anything about him and had him very cheap so i couldnt resist. He doesnt seem to like me much lol everytime i walk in the room if he is swimming he goes to his corner. So the pic was kinda hard to take.

[Pufferpunk]

He's adorable! Couldn't you have paid for him & have them hold him? As soon as he gets comfortable in there, the cichlids are probably toast.

What chemicals are you refering to? What was the nitrate & what is it now? Should be <20.

[SpockthePuffer]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the puffer! He is quite the cute little guy!

Once he gets used to you and learns that you are the one that feeds him he won't hide from you. It just takes time for them to get used to their new living space.

[Jase]

he's a cute lil puffer!

[Dimond24]

We had used some amquel plus for the nitrate and also i heard that the live plants help remove it. It was off the reading chart.. but now is around 30 we have been treating the water for 3 days now. I just came home for lunch and he is actually swimming alot. He has nipped some fishy fins and he did not hide when i looked at him. YAY!

[yunachin]

Very nice Fahaka. I think it is possible that he may make those cichlids dinner as he gets older. You may want to consider a different tank for them.

[groovitudedude]

Hi guys,

I just got a fahaka puffer 2 days ago and currently he is in a 75gal with 5 chiclids. He has small rocks for gravel and plenty of live plants. We are setting up a 150 gal for him next week, but for now any advice on feeding and keeping? I have offered feeding him small crayfish and rosies. He was not intersted. He did finally eat a mealworm from me today but he seems very shy. He will swim a little but spends most of his time at the bottom corner of the tank. Any advice is appreciated.. Thanks in advance!!

Yes, there is a bigger tank in store, yunachin