Fahaka Puffer Growth and Observations Log
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:55 pm
I will update this thread periodically as he grows and develops character traits.
For now heres my first weeks observations from bringing him home.
After being acclimatised in the bag for 45 mins, the puffer was released.
After a quick look around the puffer moved to the right hand side of the tank and took shelter under a plant, as it became gradually more used to its surroundings it slowly began to explore but still only venturing in the right hand side of the tank. Never moving too far from the plant it initially sought refuge under.
Eventually it came out a bit more to the front of the tank to see what I was doing, any fast movements seemed to startle it at first, however I took this opportunity to try some food.
I thought I would try some dry food to start with, I have been unsuccessful in the past with it but for an initial small feeding it was worth a try, I dropped in a Hikari Massivore Delite pellet. To start off with he completely ignored this then after some time he took a few bites out of it but he didn’t seem too impressed with it so it was removed.
The puffer must have been on shop tank hours as when it hit about 8pm, he retired under his plant and did not move for the rest of the night.
The following day I decided to try a Hikari Sinking Carnivore pellet, it was in the morning and he seemed quite active, this was completely ignored so it was removed.
I had the tank light on and noticed that he became less active when this was on and retreated to cover so I turned it off just leaving the tank to be illuminated by natural light, after the light was turned off he was more active so I made the assumption that he either didn’t like bright light (Mogwai voice) or it made him feel more vulnerable as he was still unsure of his surroundings.
As evening began I decided to try him on some meatier food, my first choice is Mussel as I have had really good success with this. I cut a small piece off and defrosted it in a glass filled with tank water; I then removed the Mussel and dropped it in. It was attacked with vigour and completely devoured. After he had eaten he retired under his plant and remained there for the rest of the night.
The puffer was becoming more confident of its surroundings coming out more; it was getting braver and would venture into the left side of the tank but always returned to the right where he felt safest.
He was not fed today and in the evening he disappeared. After 10 minutes of searching, I spotted a pair of eyes sticking out of the sand. I had never had a puffer that had buried itself before so this came as a bit of a shock. Fish seemed to be on a cycle where it went to sleep around 8pm.
After a few days with no tank light and just lighting from daylight and other illuminations during the evening I decided to move the tank light further away from the tank as it has no hood and is in a temporary position on my unused fireplace this was easy so it was lifted about 8 inches from the tank and sat on the mantelpiece so it illuminated the tank but wasn’t direct. He seemed to appreciate this more indirect lighting. Although this may just be coincidence as it had been a few more days and he was becoming more settled.
I tried a second frozen meaty food in the evening of Whitebait, I cut off the tail piece, and defrosted in the same manner as the Mussel and dropped it in, this was also completely devoured.
Observations on Behaviour:
Now he was a lot more settled and confident in the tank, his character traits started to come out. He seems more active in the morning and evening. When he’s resting he seems to have a few favourite places where he rests generally under the cover of plants, sometimes he will just lay on top of the sand, other times he will choose to bury himself all or part way. As with some other puffers i've had if I get in his face too much he will open his mouth and bare his teeth. No teeth grinding at me yet.
Most of the time he is quite light, he does go darker when he’s asleep or annoyed displaying mottled patterns breaking up his yellow lines, however I have once spotted his go dark leaving his body lines intact, i’m hoping as he matures these lines will become very striking but at this size it’s too soon to tell.
He is very interactive and inquisitive, moving around the substrate and blowing the sand looking for something to eat. I never expected him to camouflage so well with plant and logs, hovering in leaf cover makes him almost impossible to see at a glance.
This particular puffer seems to test things out by biting them; he’s a definite biter; logs, plants, filters glass. Practically everything in the tank has been bite tested, luckily the heater has a plastic cover and it’s about the only thing he hasn’t bitten.
Even at this size he seems fearless, his tank is adjacent to a larger tank with an Oscar and a couple of Bichirs, there is about an 8 inch gap and if he spots one of these fish he attacks the glass furiously. A fish that is currently about 20 times his mass doesn’t seem to spook him; he just seems to want to attack.
Even after only a week of ownership he seems to have grown in size confirming the estimated growth rate of about an inch a month for the first year.
To be continued......
For now heres my first weeks observations from bringing him home.
After being acclimatised in the bag for 45 mins, the puffer was released.
After a quick look around the puffer moved to the right hand side of the tank and took shelter under a plant, as it became gradually more used to its surroundings it slowly began to explore but still only venturing in the right hand side of the tank. Never moving too far from the plant it initially sought refuge under.
Eventually it came out a bit more to the front of the tank to see what I was doing, any fast movements seemed to startle it at first, however I took this opportunity to try some food.
I thought I would try some dry food to start with, I have been unsuccessful in the past with it but for an initial small feeding it was worth a try, I dropped in a Hikari Massivore Delite pellet. To start off with he completely ignored this then after some time he took a few bites out of it but he didn’t seem too impressed with it so it was removed.
The puffer must have been on shop tank hours as when it hit about 8pm, he retired under his plant and did not move for the rest of the night.
The following day I decided to try a Hikari Sinking Carnivore pellet, it was in the morning and he seemed quite active, this was completely ignored so it was removed.
I had the tank light on and noticed that he became less active when this was on and retreated to cover so I turned it off just leaving the tank to be illuminated by natural light, after the light was turned off he was more active so I made the assumption that he either didn’t like bright light (Mogwai voice) or it made him feel more vulnerable as he was still unsure of his surroundings.
As evening began I decided to try him on some meatier food, my first choice is Mussel as I have had really good success with this. I cut a small piece off and defrosted it in a glass filled with tank water; I then removed the Mussel and dropped it in. It was attacked with vigour and completely devoured. After he had eaten he retired under his plant and remained there for the rest of the night.
The puffer was becoming more confident of its surroundings coming out more; it was getting braver and would venture into the left side of the tank but always returned to the right where he felt safest.
He was not fed today and in the evening he disappeared. After 10 minutes of searching, I spotted a pair of eyes sticking out of the sand. I had never had a puffer that had buried itself before so this came as a bit of a shock. Fish seemed to be on a cycle where it went to sleep around 8pm.
After a few days with no tank light and just lighting from daylight and other illuminations during the evening I decided to move the tank light further away from the tank as it has no hood and is in a temporary position on my unused fireplace this was easy so it was lifted about 8 inches from the tank and sat on the mantelpiece so it illuminated the tank but wasn’t direct. He seemed to appreciate this more indirect lighting. Although this may just be coincidence as it had been a few more days and he was becoming more settled.
I tried a second frozen meaty food in the evening of Whitebait, I cut off the tail piece, and defrosted in the same manner as the Mussel and dropped it in, this was also completely devoured.
Observations on Behaviour:
Now he was a lot more settled and confident in the tank, his character traits started to come out. He seems more active in the morning and evening. When he’s resting he seems to have a few favourite places where he rests generally under the cover of plants, sometimes he will just lay on top of the sand, other times he will choose to bury himself all or part way. As with some other puffers i've had if I get in his face too much he will open his mouth and bare his teeth. No teeth grinding at me yet.
Most of the time he is quite light, he does go darker when he’s asleep or annoyed displaying mottled patterns breaking up his yellow lines, however I have once spotted his go dark leaving his body lines intact, i’m hoping as he matures these lines will become very striking but at this size it’s too soon to tell.
He is very interactive and inquisitive, moving around the substrate and blowing the sand looking for something to eat. I never expected him to camouflage so well with plant and logs, hovering in leaf cover makes him almost impossible to see at a glance.
This particular puffer seems to test things out by biting them; he’s a definite biter; logs, plants, filters glass. Practically everything in the tank has been bite tested, luckily the heater has a plastic cover and it’s about the only thing he hasn’t bitten.
Even at this size he seems fearless, his tank is adjacent to a larger tank with an Oscar and a couple of Bichirs, there is about an 8 inch gap and if he spots one of these fish he attacks the glass furiously. A fish that is currently about 20 times his mass doesn’t seem to spook him; he just seems to want to attack.
Even after only a week of ownership he seems to have grown in size confirming the estimated growth rate of about an inch a month for the first year.
To be continued......
