The Puffer Forum

Usually when my fahaka eats, he lounges for a little while or hovers around the bottom....not overfed, but a bit fat and lazy.
This morning i came home from work, and he was pacing the sides. I turned on the light and dropped in a couple small chunks of shrimp, he ate, and then went to his usual spot to hang out.
About an hour later i noticed his mouth open and not like wide open, but different...i thought maybe the ammonia was high or the ph was off...since it is a new tank.
I changed about a 1/4 of the water.....he didnt like the water change and hid the entire time...which he usually doesnt do.
now he is pacing the glass AGAIN!!!! But his stomach is still full.
whats with the pacing? should i change more water?? will this affect his pacing?? up and down, quick and slow...up and down side to side.....
It seems like a couple of the plants in there were pretty dead this morning so i took them out...could this cause the ammonia to spike??

HELP!!!!

My husband wont be home till later and i used the last of my water kit..the stores will be closed when he gets home..so i wont be able to test till tomarrow!!!!!!!

Dead plants can cause an ammonia spike, which could possibly be causing him to pace. Or the lack of plants can now be boring him.
Another water change couldn't hurt.

there are both live and fake..those real ones are all going now!!
I am doing a water change. Thank u.

OH MY GOD!!! I took out all the live plants, i rearranged the fake ones, and threw in some big rocks and such...the plants root system smelled HORRIBLE!!!!! Go for DECAYING!!! Must not be enough light to support that type..ewwwww!!!
I changed over half of the water...and it smells better..cleaned out the filtration of any decaying debri....and now it smells better...no more live plants for me. first time i have ever had this problem. i should have know better though.
GEEZ!!!!!
Almost had a puffer suicide! he wanted to jump out when i opened the lid. guess the water even smelled bad to him. hope he does ok.

he'll be fine, if all the water tests ok and he's still pacing don't worry i'd just assume he's bored, but rotting plants was probably the problem

Did you clean the gravel thoroughly? I'd do another 50% WC tonight.

yes i did..siphoned all of the grave to get all the particles out, cleaned the filter, changed 1/2 the water, and now hes doing the hovering. he was all puffed up and thought he was gonna make a run for it.
I spilled some water on a chair and it STUNK!
Poor Satan (fahaka)
Never again!!! Fake plants for now on!
He seems fine now. I panicked!!! LOL

Yeah, live plants aren't always easy to keep. Took me 25 years to learn how to do it right.

how delicate is the fahaka???
can a couple ammonia spikes destroy him permanently?? crazy

Could burn his gills/eyes, since they don't have eyelids or gill covers..

Its been 24 hours and all is well with the tank. Looks like i will need more fake plants though..lol.
I did a water test and all was well.
amazingly...Satan (fahaka) is doing great. not acting funny at all.
He ate this morning and is gliding around happy and full



Thanks for all the help...geez. i will never let my water tests run out again....
And NO MORE live plants..what a nightmare.
Not only am i dealing with a cycling tank and a puffer but the plants goin bad bad it 100x more of an issue!!!!

So glad things are going well for Satan now.

thank u...u have been super helpful

crystalk wrote:Its been 24 hours and all is well with the tank. Looks like i will need more fake plants though..lol.
I did a water test and all was well.
amazingly...Satan (fahaka) is doing great. not acting funny at all.
He ate this morning and is gliding around happy and full



Thanks for all the help...geez. i will never let my water tests run out again....
And NO MORE live plants..what a nightmare.
Not only am i dealing with a cycling tank and a puffer but the plants goin bad bad it 100x more of an issue!!!!

If you get a bunch of fake plants and driftwood, don't put it all in the tank at once. I like to rotate stuff in and out of the tank, if you know what I mean. Changing structure and sight lines give your puffer a change of scenery and different stuff to investigate to keep it from getting totally bored. It also keeps junk from getting hidden and building up in messy little pockets.

Very cool..thanks..like a bird rotating toys in the cage so they dont get bored. LOL>
i know i am not supposed to do this but i bought him a few rosies yesterday...he likes to hunt alot. i put them in a seperate tank and treated them..so in a few days i will give him a couple. he likes to hunt things.
I know in the wild they eat alot of inverts...but....if they didnt eat fish, why do they always hunt them down? i mean he really goes after them. They must have Some fish in there natural diet.