fahaka thrashing when cleaning tank

[bignose]

hi,

was wondering if anyone has had problems with their puffer thrashing about the tank when cleaning?
i went to clean his tank and as soon as he seen the vacum hose he went crazy!
splashed me a couple of times. i thought he was going to jump out of the tank.

is it just me or does this happen to other people?
kinda funny the puffer hates me because i clean the tank but likes my girlfriend because she feeds him! go figure!!

bignose.

[groovitudedude]

Yeah, I was changing the substrate in my Fahaka's tank today and when refilling it, he jumped out! He started to puff, but I grabbed him in a split second and threw him back in the tank. He's fine now.

[plurmaster]

If you see king kong walking towards you. Im sure you'll freak out too. hahaha go figure.

[bosshogg]

Try feeding first, switch off the light and then do a water change.

[groovitudedude]

Try feeding first, switch off the light and then do a water change.

Yeah, they are less stressed, plus you can get all the uneaten food

[apachepufferman]

Yeah, I was changing the substrate in my Fahaka's tank today and when refilling it, he jumped out! He started to puff, but I grabbed him in a split second and threw him back in the tank. He's fine now.

He jumped out?!! Thats gotta make your heart stop for a second. Mine is still afraid and he just goes to the other side of the tank when i'm cleaning and doing a WC

[edmlfc1]

While changing tanks, I was doing so well.......I caught my GSP in a large bowl, moved the bowl away from the old tank and started to walk to the new tank. Then he jumped out of the bowl and started chatting. I freaked! I wasn't sure if I should grab a net and pick him up or pick him up with my hand. It seemed like I was standing there looking at him for an hour saying hold on baby! hold on I'm coming!. The poor little thing was probally calmer than I was. I scooped him up put him back in the bowl and this time kept my hand over the bowl until I reached the new tank. He is still doing good. Just about gave me a heart attack!. Since that happened he dosen't come anywhere near me when I do a water change. He will shoot across the tank and try to escape. Now Elvis on the other hand will follow me around. Sometimes I think he wants to take a bite. I have to keep an eye on him.

[groovitudedude]

He jumped out?!! Thats gotta make your heart stop for a second. Mine is still afraid and he just goes to the other side of the tank when i'm cleaning and doing a WC

Yeah, my mind raced for a couple of milliseconds, but I kept in mind that he was a puffer. It would have been worse to let him puff and get a net than just to pick him up and plop him back in the tank.

[yunachin]

Mine has gotten past the thrashing point and now tries to sneak up and bite me when I am not looking. He is very ballsy.

[grubbster]

Mine sometimes seems to get spooked by different things - people he doesn't know walking up to the tank (or me in my dressing gown early in the morning!), the vacuum cleaner (proper one not for the tank) and the other day we bought my daughter a bicycle for her birthday - when we wheeled it into the lounge he went mad! It isn't nice to see, he crashes into the sides top and bottom for a short while then hides away

When I clean him out though he is usually fine, I take it quite slowly and he just slowly moves out of the way and after a while keeps swimming around my arm and the gravel vac I'm surprised this doesn't freak him though 'cos it is a 2 person job - me stood on a kitchen chair up to my upper arm in water, my wife holding the other end of the pump, a few big buckets - it must look a sight!

[grubbster]

My wife just quickly vacuumed the lounge and he went mad, smashing into the sides of the tank with a horrid thud He's calmed down now, but somehow he used to be OK with all this. I think it has got worse since my wife went back to work - this means he has been left quietly on his own all day and hot used to the peace. We need to spend more time around him to get him familiar with us all and the distractions in the lounge again - he's generally fine with me though

[The Bruce]

grubbster, you need to invest in a python gravel vac, it'll change your life

[bignose]

I had to place a cutting board on the one side of my tank while I was cleaning the other then with and do the other side.
damn are these puffers MESSY! Was wondering what the feeding schedule for everyone is with these puffers.
I feed once a day because he is growing. Alot of the time he won't even eat the whole prawn.
I'm actually thinking of wheening back to once every other day because he never comes out of his home.

another question is all the pics of other fahakas they have nice full dark red and bright yellow stipes. but my fahaka is very pale with the stripes patchy and almost
non-existant.
is this something I'm doing wrong? or is this just the coloring from one to another

[groovitudedude]

d*** are these puffers MESSY!

Yeah, they are!

[Bawb2u]

I had to place a cutting board on the one side of my tank while I was cleaning the other then with and do the other side.
damn are these puffers MESSY! Was wondering what the feeding schedule for everyone is with these puffers.
I feed once a day because he is growing. Alot of the time he won't even eat the whole prawn.
I'm actually thinking of wheening back to once every other day because he never comes out of his home.

another question is all the pics of other fahakas they have nice full dark red and bright yellow stipes. but my fahaka is very pale with the stripes patchy and almost
non-existant.
is this something I'm doing wrong? or is this just the coloring from one to another

First for the mess: Spot cleaning is your friend. I use a wet/dry filter in a sump so it's alittle easier for me. I have a bucket with a hole and a small bulkhead in it. I put a filter sock over the end of my siphon and suck up left over bits every night into the filter sock while the water flows from the bucket back into my sump. Keeps things clean as a whistle, tankes 5 minutes and reduces any chance on nitrate or ammonia swings.
Second as for the color: It could be several things, fahaka's can change color at will or they can change due to water conditions. It might be a background matching thing. If you don't think it's that, check your water parameters. Check, temperature, PH, ammonia, nitrites,nitrates, KH and GH. I could tell when it was time for a water change with my old fahaka when his colors dulled out. My new one, at 2 inches is already showing nice maroon and yellow coloration in a black background tank with a sand bottom with water at 80F, 7.2PH, 0 Ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10ppm nitrates, 80ppm GH and 80 mg/l KH.