The Puffer Forum

We've heard from several sources that Fahaka puffers become very inactive and boring as they mature. This description fit our Fahaka, Loki, a nine inch fish of unknown age, very well. Loki spent almost all of his time buried in the sand or sitting on the bottom. When we fed him, he would often ignore the food completely when buried in the sand, or if sitting on the bottom he very slowly moved over to it and would then slowly chow it down. This was the rule until just recently when his personality changed completely.

About 3 weeks ago, we noticed that on fishbase the recommended temperature range for Fahaka puffers was 78-82. We turned the heater up on his heater from 76 to 81 and wow, what a change. He is now swimming about most of the time, never buries himself in the sand, and has become very attentive to any activity near his tank.

Does our experience fit with what other Fahaka keepers have found with this species?

Edited: typos

that is really interesting, thanks for sharing that with us. It will be interesting if anyone else has any similar feedback

I keep my tank relatively warm, 80 degrees, and he is very active unless he has eaten a large meal. Age wise he does not fit in with your puffer (he is maybe a year old) but I will see in the future. Good info though.

Mine is always more active in the summer months, and it's almost definitely from the temperature. I have to up the number of feedings accordingly.

I guess that turning up the heat can increase in the fishes' metabolism.

I brought home a Fahaka that is about 2 1/2 inches long..was stoked to have even found one...his tank water at the LFS was super cold..maybe 74-75 degrees. They keep them cold to keep parasites off.
When i brought him home to his tank i had the heat at about 78 degrees. i had to let the water cool a bit before adding him, and then gradually increased it over about 12 hrs.
He was super lazy too. maybe trying to conserve the heat...slowed metabolism..Now..his tank is set at 79 degrees and hes an active happy fish.
If only i could get him to eat non-live food we would be in buisness.
Cant wait till he gets big.
He seems to prefer ghost shrimp to anything else.
for now..probably his size.
Crystal k