The Puffer Forum

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/for/1774344912.html

Im planning on buying a baby fahaka. would this be a waste? should i start with a small tank then work my way up?

A fahaka in a 120? You should never need to go larger. 120-125 is perfect as far as I know.

would it be a hassle to start hat big for a baby fahaka? i know eventually i will need one that size. just wasnt sure if anyone recommends getting a smaller one first and doing all that wc for such a small fish

I would think he would rather enjoy having all that space to grow into. Shouldnt be an issue.

No fish lives in such a small volume of water that any tank should be considered "too big" to start. If you get a tiny puffer then starting in a 55 or so(since they tend to be so cheap sold second-hand) until the beast is a good half foot long might make feeding easier, but I say go for the full tank rightaways.

You wouldn't even have to cycle it!

Hey PP can you please elaborate on this?

Is $275 worth it for all the items listed? would i need more filtration?

Yeah but you could always offer him less or ask him to toss in free delivery. Forget using the UGF though.

That tank isn't the *best* shape for a Fahaka as its only 18" front to back (most 120's are 48x24), and that can make it a bit hard for the fish to turn easily when its full grown. That's the reason we generally recommend 120's over 125's, just the shape.

But that is an excellent price for a tank AND stand. The filters are decent, you won't need the undergravel part but powerheads always come in handy. The light won't grow plants but hey, its a light, and fahakas tend to bite plants anyways.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy it at that price!

maybe ill ask for the free shipping.

So the 18: f to b should be a minor issue?

Is is because the tank is so large that I would not need to cycle it since i would be doing large wc as well?

You wouldn't need to worry about a cycle simply because a baby fahaka won't come close to producing enough waste to bring ammonia and nitrite issues up in 125 gallons of water You probably wouldn't even need to do 50% changes until it gets bigger either, 10% a week will likely be plenty. But given the good water quality and room to grow, your fahaka will likely grow pretty darn fast and you'll be doing 50% changes before long

The 18" front to back isn't great.. but I think the length of the tank makes up for that in sheer swimming room, gives the fish plenty of room to straighten out and stretch their spine?

Personally, I wouldn't turtledove too much on that price.. used tanks generally go for $1-2 per gallon depending on condition, but stands, especially for big tanks, are expensive and look up the cost on those filters.. not cheap. I bet that setup will go fast. And looking at it from the seller's view, I wouldn't want to be responsible for delivery, its hard to carry those things! And what if they break it halfway there, they just lost their $$.

Myaj wrote:You wouldn't need to worry about a cycle simply because a baby fahaka won't come close to producing enough waste to bring ammonia and nitrite issues up in 125 gallons of water You probably wouldn't even need to do 50% changes until it gets bigger either, 10% a week will likely be plenty. But given the good water quality and room to grow, your fahaka will likely grow pretty darn fast and you'll be doing 50% changes before long

The 18" front to back isn't great.. but I think the length of the tank makes up for that in sheer swimming room, gives the fish plenty of room to straighten out and stretch their spine?

Personally, I wouldn't turtledove too much on that price.. used tanks generally go for $1-2 per gallon depending on condition, but stands, especially for big tanks, are expensive and look up the cost on those filters.. not cheap. I bet that setup will go fast. And looking at it from the seller's view, I wouldn't want to be responsible for delivery, its hard to carry those things! And what if they break it halfway there, they just lost their $$.

good point. so the tank will eventually cycle itself from the fish/food right? Im going to take a look at the tank shortly.
What if I were to go with a 50 gallon tank to start with..would that need to be cycled?

ok so he offered it for $250 really tempted to buying this....

If I were you, I'd jump on that deal for sure. I wouldn't think on it too long or you will lose out when someone else sees the deal. I would go ahead and let him start out in the huge tank, it might seem a little 'silly' at first, but you could make the whole thing very interesting, lots of hides and lots of things to explore. You could also leave a larger area open for him to play in the sand. What I would do to find a deal like that close to home... I've been babysitting CL for some time in my area, turns out the BEST deal I found had a misprint: $350 for 150gal tank, stand and all the goodies (was a great deal) till I found out it was actually only a $50gal.

I have my baby fahaka in that sort of size tank and it is good to know he will grow properly and I will never have to worry about upgrading. As above I havent had to worry too much on water issues, though I still do 30% water change weekly at this size. Just my two cents

should i make this a bb tank then add sand when he gets bigger? or should i add sand from the start?