The Puffer Forum

What's the normal activity levels of a fahaka puffer? My little guy isn't as active as he was. When I first got Ratchet he zoomed all over the tank and did a bit of glass surfing. Now he doesn't really move all that often. He races over to eat his food when I drop it in the tank but then after he's full he goes back to lie down. His color is fine. Ammonia and nitrite are 0 and nitrate is usually around 10ish. He has like five spots that he likes to chill in and he moves from one to the other. He doesn't look sick or listless and he's gained a lot of weight. No more white poops since I treated for IPs. He just doesn't swim as much anymore and I never get to see him swimming with his tail flared out. Is this a fahaka thing? Do they like to lay around a lot? I know they are semi lurkers but this seems a little over the top. The TV is right beside his tank but he lays in the corner closest to the TV so I don't think that's bothering him. There are lots of things in the tank for him to swim around, under, over, through so I hope he's not bored already.

I do not own one but from what I have heard, from other people and my own pre-purchase research, this is fairly normal behavior once they settle in. If you want him more active try doing some tank remodeling once in a while and see if that makes a difference.

Well my fahaka is very active....hes always semi chasing the other fish!lol he swims really fast untill he get about half way , then stops and kinda goes searching in and out of his cave(gaint rock i got from petsmart that has many openings) the only time i see him just hanging on the sand floor is right after his meals....

also im still hoping to have found one of the rare fahakas that dont eat or kill other fish as ive had a bala shark with him since ive first got him and also got some feeder guppies which he ignors complety! i have about 5 big fat healthy feeder guppies.

ooo which does remind me ,when i first got my guy i guess u can say he was no very active but i treated him for ich....and a week later treated for internal parasite! since he did have a semi sunken belly....so if i was u i would try treating for at least i.p and use what worked for me .....jungle labs parasite clear tank buddies. and dont worry about ur fahaka getting overdosed....i used mine full strength

Filbert mostly hangs out in his cave all day.



Unless he sees food!

Pufferpunk wrote:Filbert mostly hangs out in his cave all day.



Unless he sees food!

I'd hide with that funky gravel too....

My fahaka Orry just hang out also. I was wondering if this was normal myself

my little girl active bout 60% of day rest shes a stump.
try adding some bigger comets to tank to let them hunt she really enjoys playing stalker and cruising landscaping
mabey add some rock caves and nooks an cranneys to explore. after i built alot for her she generally only sits after eating
air bubbler massages also a+ in my experiences.
as well i have 3 balas in tank with mine. i too am hoping she wont be a killer but i see the instinct already when its feeding time and anything gets close to her meal they get head bit off.

Dad... beware, Filbert has BIG teeth!

Dark Storm, It is really a bad idea to feed GF to your puffer:
library/feeding/feeders/

she eats shrimps./ mussles / crayfish. just likes to kill the comets.

Yeah Ratchy doesn't get feeder fish. I'm trying to teach him that fish are friends not food rofl. Poor Filbert and his gravel lol. Btw PP I think his colors are beautiful, who needs stripes anyway. Camo is totally in this year. lol

On topic he has been treated for IPs although I keep a close watch on his poops in the event he needs to be treated again. Well I had planned on doing an overhaul on his tank anyway becasue I wanted it to look more like a natural river. So I did. That's helped some plus I love the way it looks now. He was exploring all last night although he did not appreciate my efforts during the redecorating lol. I'll upload some photos tonight. I suppose then that from what everybody else says his activity levels are pretty normal. It seems to depend on how long it's been since he's been fed. If he's just eaten he ain't going nowhere lol but if he's hungry he's all over the tank. Oh well I love him anyway besides its funny when people come into the house and want to know why my tank is empty til I point him out to everybody lol.