The Puffer Forum

Since november 2008 I've a Fahaka. I have the idea that he is very happy; he is looking healthy, joyfull, plenty of water, plenty of places for food-search-partys..But.. He isn't growing that fast as it is told (1 inch/2,3cm a month). When I got him he was about 3-4 cm, now he is only 7-8cm... While it's 7 months ago! Should I worry about his health conditions while he is looking that happy and he is that active?

He's living in a 300liter tank with lots of plants but not to many. This is a picture from a few weeks ago, some more crypto's where added and some african fern is attached to the wood. (background missing, still looking for one I like)


The water conditions are fine (as far I can tell):
pH 7,5
KH 7
GH 10
NH3/NH4 0mg/l
NO3 25mg/l
NO2 0mg/l

Once a month I do a water change, 60 liters out, 60 fresh liters in. No water conditions used (Dutch water, very good quality!). The water is filtered by Eheim external filters: 950l/h and 1050l/h.

Anyone an idea why my Fahaka isn't growing as 'he should do' ?

Usually, we do 50% water changes per week, but since you've got such a little guy, that shouldn't be a problem. Try to keep nitrates below 20, though - maybe do changes every two weeks.

That shouldn't have an effect on your problem, though. What I suspect is that he was kept in too small a tank for too long before you got him. That could have stunted him. Of course, your tank is too small for the average adult size, but it shouldn't stunt a fahaka that size. So, I think it happened before you got him. That's just a guess, though.

pufferfish are like children none are exactly the same. some grow fast others dont catch up till late on in life... i wouldnt worry too much the params look fine

@LilGreenPuffer: Would rather look silly, such a small fahaka in bigger tank He'll get a bigger tank, if he grows... No worries there. With 50% water change every week I don't agree if you have a good working eco-system. But that's another discussion

The fahaka was directly imported from Africa, he was 24 hours at the LFS. Only during transfer (not more then 48 hours) and in the LFS there where more fahaka's in the tank: 0,5ltr water per fahaka (terrible!). At the LFS they where with this numbers in that small tank because they where selecting at the moment I went there (healthy from sick for treatment). Not sure if the timespan was long enough to stunt him.. I suppose not.

@Flash.dan: Hmmm good point.. They are very widely spread so small differences could be normal..

Fantastic aquascaping job!

kxebs wrote:@LilGreenPuffer: Would rather look silly, such a small fahaka in bigger tank He'll get a bigger tank, if he grows... No worries there. With 50% water change every week I don't agree if you have a good working eco-system. But that's another discussion

The fahaka was directly imported from Africa, he was 24 hours at the LFS. Only during transfer (not more then 48 hours) and in the LFS there where more fahaka's in the tank: 0,5ltr water per fahaka (terrible!). At the LFS they where with this numbers in that small tank because they where selecting at the moment I went there (healthy from sick for treatment). Not sure if the timespan was long enough to stunt him.. I suppose not.

@Flash.dan: Hmmm good point.. They are very widely spread so small differences could be normal..

Forty-eight hours definitely wouldn't be enough.

Yeah, I agree, the small tank is fine for now, and your bioload is too small for the weekly 50% changes, as I said.

Theres many variables in cases like this, such as tank size, waterchanges, and feeding. If hes happy i wouldnt worry

I was speaking to a girl at a LFS up london (not so local then I suppose:D ) and she said that a lot of Fahakas differ from region to region. She said they sometimes get 50 in and there are always a few different looking types of Fahaka in there?!

Maybe from different regions the size or growth rate can differ slightly?!

As far as I know, there's only one type of fahaka. Lots of puffers are sold under the wrong names, and the fish store folks don't know any better. Of course, correct me if I'm wrong about this, but I think there's only one type.

I think Corvus mentioned before that there are subspecies.

It's in this thread viewtopic.php?f=11&t=9775&p=98689

In this thread there is mention of a 6 inch Fahaka.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:As far as I know, there's only one type of fahaka. Lots of puffers are sold under the wrong names, and the fish store folks don't know any better. Of course, correct me if I'm wrong about this, but I think there's only one type.

I also think there's one kind but they differe from region to region. Now and again you see one that's small and already has it's stripes and then you'll see young ones that are more spotted (think that was Bakeat90's Fahaka). The girl said the Cross River Puffer is thought to be a sub breed of Fahaka to (I'm sure Corvus said this to)
She said the same for SAP's which I must say I have noticed myself. I've seen SAP's that have black blotchy backs rather than perfect bands (they were def all SAP's, they were in the same tank as Bollo when I bought him and were exactly the same in shape apart from the markings on their backs. Because of this at the time I thought the SAP's with black blotchy backs were females and the very defined banded SAP's were males. I posted a thread when I first joined but was told you cannot tell the difference between male and female SAP's. I never got back to the LFS to get pix as it's out of the way from me.

Idontknow wrote:It's in this thread viewtopic.php?f=11&t=9775&p=98689

In this thread there is mention of a 6 inch Fahaka.

Just had a read of that nad it's very intresting

Hmm could be a different kind, but the chance is very very small. Concluding is, be more patient and don't worry as long as he's happy. If he's still the same size in 6 months, the chance that he came from Lake Turkana is a lot bigger I suppose.

I can always ask the LFS where the Fahaka's came from, if they register it...

There are lots of different regional variants in fish, fish from different collection points can achieve different sizes and vary in colouration etc....