The Puffer Forum

hello,my name is edyta and i have a 60 gallon cichlid tank and i recently got a7 inch fahaka puffer about 7days ago i check my water quality and i had a little problem with nirate and nirite i did a 20 percent water change and i put in cycle ive been checking since i did that and the water quality got better it reads ammonia 0ppm ph at 7.2 nitire 0ppm and nitrate at 5.0 what should i do because i dont want to lose this puffer he is active at times and other times he sits on the bottom i have a two week grace period where i can return him and get my money back he seems interested in some of the food i gave him but doesnt touch it ive tried feeding crayfish which is now swimming around in my tank and krill and clams and beefheart but i do not let the food sit i take it out if its not eaten im running out of choice and my cichlids dont touch him if anything there afraid of him please help what should i do

I'm afraid 60g just isn't large enough for a 7" puffer, especially if there are other fish in with him. Although I don't think those fish are going to last very long with a Fahaka--they eat their tank mates. Adding that much of a bioload all at once will stress the biological balance of the tank & will take quite some time to even out, if ever. Since all that the product, Cycle is, is dead bacteria (total junk!), all you are doing by adding that is adding to the already stressed biooad. My suggestion would be to return either the fahaka or all your other fish (beforee they get eaten). Then, the tank could handle the bioload of just the fahaka.

So what can i do to keep my fahaka puffer and my cichlids is there hope for puffers to live with other fish????

so what kind of conditioners are good to have a tank cycled

I also just got a puffer (moved all of my cichlids out) and put the Fahaka in a 90 gallon. Would that be large enough for one Fahaka or will I have to upgrade?

Cerberus

120g is considered the minimum

edy wrote:so what kind of conditioners are good to have a tank cycled

Biospira thats been refridgerated are good to cycle a tank.

I've used a couple diferent water conditioners. It just needs to take care of chlorine and the choloramines.

Cerberus wrote:I also just got a puffer (moved all of my cichlids out) and put the Fahaka in a 90 gallon. Would that be large enough for one Fahaka or will I have to upgrade?

Cerberus

the 90 should last you a while but as he gets to full size 14+" then you will need to have him in a 120 or bigger.

edy wrote:So what can i do to keep my fahaka puffer and my cichlids is there hope for puffers to live with other fish????

not a fahaka, sorry.

you could try a school of fast moving tetras. But otherwise, fahakas are notorious for destroying their tankmates. I have a

Beef hears are not a good source of diet. Too high in protein and fat. Snails, Clams, Cockles, Mussels, earthworms, shrimp, and perhaps squid.

edy wrote:So what can i do to keep my fahaka puffer and my cichlids is there hope for puffers to live with other fish????

puffers will live with other fish! just not yours!

if you want to keep chilids + a fahaka... buy another tank pref a HUGE one for your fahaka... or take him to the LFS so they can house him in a better home