The Puffer Forum

Hi,

I am new to this forum and am glad I found it. I used to have marine puffers such as dogface and others but now, due to time constraint, I focus only on freshwater fish. Couldn't hold it, I recently bought a Fahaka puffer from TNT Aquatics and he just arrived two days ago. He/she is still a baby and only 2 inches long. I have been trying to get him to eat but he has been hiding for two days now, is it normal? He is wild caught.

I currently have some ghost shrimps and small guppies in the tank but he hasn't struck any of them yet. Should I give him more time to acclimate?

Tekken

He's probably just stressed out, he should be fine in a few days.
The feeding article in the library will also help you feed a picky puffer.

give him some more time for sure. Try to feed him frozen bloodworms and other dead/frozen food. The ghost shrimp and guppies aren't a normal part of there diet so they are not a good staple food for them. Also introducing feeders can bring parasites into you water which can harm the you puffer as well.

Read some of the feeding articles in the library and that should give you a better idea as well. If you start him off on dead food it will be cheaper for you and better for him in the long run.


welcome to the forum!!!

read the posts from this giant puffer species forum like "Fahaka will only eat live foods" and you'll know what to expect, as long as he doesn't have a health problem but he is probably just stressed from the long journey from africa, tank to bag to tank to bag, etc..

Tekken wrote:Hi,

I am new to this forum and am glad I found it. I used to have marine puffers such as dogface and others but now, due to time constraint, I focus only on freshwater fish. Couldn't hold it, I recently bought a Fahaka puffer from TNT Aquatics and he just arrived two days ago. He/she is still a baby and only 2 inches long. I have been trying to get him to eat but he has been hiding for two days now, is it normal? He is wild caught.

I currently have some ghost shrimps and small guppies in the tank but he hasn't struck any of them yet. Should I give him more time to acclimate?

Tekken

Too funny! I got one of Danny's fahaka too! Mine wouldn't eat for the first day either and yes, it is common for them to hide at first and they are wild caught. I kept the lights off for the first couple of days and fed small pieces of shrimp. One of my tricks is to take a piece of fishing line and a snap-swivel and put the shrimp on that. Hang it in the tank, lying on the bottom and leave it for a couple of hours. I then take it out and look to see if there are any bite marks on it. Eventually it WILL eat, every one of these fish that I know of from that batch are eating and doing well.

Hi, all and Bawb2u ,

Thanks for the posts. It is good to know, Bawb2u, that you have one from Danny as well. Danny is fantastic and he called today just to see how the puffer is doing; it is not even a big sale for him! Will definitely buy from him again.

I will update once he is eating and coming out.

Thanks!

Wow, that's a good, caring seller. Care to post his info?

Here you go:

http://www.tntaquatics.com/page/page/5636110.htm

I didn't see--where are they located?

Michigan

hahaha..that would be me "fahaka will only eat live foods"...lol.
my fahaka was only eating guppies at the lfs...when i brought him home, it was ghost shrimp and guppies...after a few days of repeatedly putting in dead foods did he actually go for it.
now he goes right to it.
Just love my guy..hes a baby as well. 2 1/2 inches.

TNT is in michigan..i talked to him as well...too bad i didnt find him first...the puffer i got was in cold water and had a growth on his tail. i boosted the water temp to 79-81 degrees and hes doing awesome now.

give him time...he will come out eventually.

Welcome..and good luck.

Hi, all,

A little update: he is finally coming out but still cautious. He also ate a few ghost shrimps last night and today and he is going for the guppies in hunting mode but too slow at the moment. He is still such a baby...

Good news is that after seeing him not getting the shrimps many times, I threw in a big freeze-dried krill and he ate it! I guess he is acclimating gradually.

Puffer is great fun!

Wait a minute! TNT Aquatics is a member of this forum--TINY28 Just saw it.

How funny, I suggest to someone looking for a puffer to get a Fahaka and she got it from tnt as well. His puffer's really get around.

My new puffer is eating fine but he is still hiding under the sponge filter all day long except for a few brief moments and at night. Are yours like that as well? It has been a week exactly. My water parameters are fine.

Interestingly, the other day I was able to "hand feed" him freeze dried krill with a skewer and he ate it; that was fun.