The Puffer Forum

hi guys quick question on fahaka.
first shes in a 180 gallon has few tank mates, water temp is 79-81 ph. 8.0 : ammonia 0. - 0.1 nitrite 0.-0.1 nitrate 0.1 - 0.2
tanks been fully cycled for long time im curious as to why the puffer skin goes blotchy on top.? at first I thought she was camo ing for an ambush or perhaps chlorine when i do water changes, but the timing never coincides with any of that is it a mood maby? or food.
I feed her frozen shrimps muscles in shell and occasional live crayfish, she has some goldfish comets in there to keep her active but from the occasional head she bites off she tends to just bully them. any advice?.

mine gets blotchy and dark in color sometimes too. I think its a mood thing.

Most puffers change their color depending on their moods.. if they are sleeping, hiding, hunting, begging, cold, etc. If the belly goes dark and black, that often isn't good, but then again, there are some puffers that just tend to have darker coloration than others.

So yes, generally it is a sort of camoflague. Now, if its skinny, breathing fast, rubbing on rocks, etc, those are things that should make you worry a bit more.

Nice job giving a Fahaka a 180 too!

I would avoid the goldfish tankmates.. I personally don't have a ton of problems with feeding live feeders (many people do) but the key is that they have to be HEALTHY feeders, and the only real way you know that is if you are breeding them yourself. The "junk" feeders that they sell at fish stores are full of parasties and diseases, and there's no quicker way to kill your fish than to feed it crap food full of IP's and sickness.

Maybe instead introduce a small school of something fast and smart, like tiger barbs, and avoid the comets in the future? That's my "dream tank", a 210 with a Fahaka and a school of green tiger barbs.

My fahaka rarely gets the nice defined stripes I see in so many other really gorgeous fahakas. I love him anyway...

I am breeding my own comets,
the blotchyness im refering to is mainly on her top, ive never seen it on sides to date.
id love to add a school of neons or something like that. "if my filters wouldnt suck there insides out."
or take a look into tiger barbs not sure what them are but i do have lots of room provided they can out swim the fahaka
and p.s. i like your fahaka pufferpunk weather mine gets color or not there just to much personality to not love em.
thanks for info.

Please stop GF to your fahaka, they can cause fatty liver disease:
library/feeding/feeders/

See the feeding article for better diet ideas.

When sleeping, after a fat meal, when i clean tank, when he's pissed off mine gets really blotchy! Almost black!
But when he's apparently starving (which is always) he's really colorfull!

turnd out she didnt like the comets after i removed them back to miss beautiful.

I doubt the comets liked it in there either. They're coldwater fish with the potential to get several feet long that should be in outdoor ponds.