The Puffer Forum

Planning on getting either a fahaka or palembang puffer.

I know they are pretty lazy puffers and tend to stay at the bottom and only come out to hunt, but wondered if its necessary to cover the top up with a hood or canopy.

Actually all puffer should have a top. Fahaka's do and will jump. Not sure about the Palmbang though. Most tanks should have covers anyway to protect the light.

Dadof4 wrote:Actually all puffer should have a top. Fahaka's do and will jump. Not sure about the Palmbang though. Most tanks should have covers anyway to protect the light.

I've never had any experience with my Fahaka jumping (except when I moved him), but still agree about tank covers. Protecting the light is one thing, but the biggest issue for me with an un-covered tank is the evaporation. Also, to add to Fahaka's being lazy... Mine is constantly swimming all over the tank. Maybe he's just still young and energetic? (about 1 year old) Not sure...

There is a lot of activity variation between individual Fahakas. I have kept three of them- one was a near- constant swimmer, one was relatively slothful (both of those were males), and the one female was somewhere in between the other two in activity levels. (The two males were confirmed by necropsy, the female dropped eggs regularly). The hyperactive fish was definitely a jumper as well.

Palembang's puffers tend to be lurkers and not very active. Mine was kept in an open-topped tank, but that is not advised if you can arrange covers. Evaporation is pretty high in warm tank with decent current when there is no coverglass.

RTR wrote:There is a lot of activity variation between individual Fahakas. I have kept three of them- one was a near- constant swimmer, one was relatively slothful (both of those were males), and the one female was somewhere in between the other two in activity levels. (The two males were confirmed by necropsy, the female dropped eggs regularly). The hyperactive fish was definitely a jumper as well.

Palembang's puffers tend to be lurkers and not very active. Mine was kept in an open-topped tank, but that is not advised if you can arrange covers. Evaporation is pretty high in warm tank with decent current when there is no coverglass.

So it would be safe to assume, that the activity levels change per different fish? I do not know if my Fahaka is male or female... How old are they before they would start depositing eggs?

Mine is about 1 yr old (I bought it April 2010 and it was the size of a nickel around and about 1" long). It is now about 7" long.

My female was over 3 years in my care before she started showing and later dropping egg masses along her flanks. It did not not look like normal fat/overweight, as it was mainly along her sides from mid-body, tapering toward the caudal peduncle. I suspected eggs rather than fat as her diet and feeding did not change. But it was some months before I caught her dropping eggs (and eating them). She was not quite fully grown at that time, and never made it past ~16". She was only 6-7 years old when she was killed by a male.

As I only had those 3 fish, I have no way of knowing whether or not the size difference was chance or gender-related. The less-active male was ~ full size, and the same age as he was SFAIK, they were purchased together as quite young fish. The older (by ~ 2 years) very active male was a bit bigger than the younger one, but not a big difference. The older was heavier. but that could be just an exercise function due to the big difference in their activity levels. If the female was not egg-laden, it would be hard to distinguish her from the male of the same age other than by the difference in length. From that limited sample, I suspect that there no obvious sex differences unless the female is egg-loaded. That "look" is enough different in a fish this big to be obvious - once you have seen it, you would not have any problem seeing the difference versus more common fat fish. I have no clue as to how often that sort of egg load shows in other specimens. It was not obvious in photos, but might have shown is a clear video where you could watch the fish swimming. I did not have that equipment, so there are no such records that I have seen.

RTR wrote:My female was over 3 years in my care before she started showing and later dropping egg masses along her flanks. It did not not look like normal fat/overweight, as it was mainly along her sides from mid-body, tapering toward the caudal peduncle. I suspected eggs rather than fat as her diet and feeding did not change. But it was some months before I caught her dropping eggs (and eating them). She was not quite fully grown at that time, and never made it past ~16". She was only 6-7 years old when she was killed by a male.

As I only had those 3 fish, I have no way of knowing whether or not the size difference was chance or gender-related. The less-active male was ~ full size, and the same age as he was SFAIK, they were purchased together as quite young fish. The older (by ~ 2 years) very active male was a bit bigger than the younger one, but not a big difference. The older was heavier. but that could be just an exercise function due to the big difference in their activity levels. If the female was not egg-laden, it would be hard to distinguish her from the male of the same age other than by the difference in length. From that limited sample, I suspect that there no obvious sex differences unless the female is egg-loaded. That "look" is enough different in a fish this big to be obvious - once you have seen it, you would not have any problem seeing the difference versus more common fat fish. I have no clue as to how often that sort of egg load shows in other specimens. It was not obvious in photos, but might have shown is a clear video where you could watch the fish swimming. I did not have that equipment, so there are no such records that I have seen.

Thank you RTR. I will keep an eye on it over the next few years and will report back (whos knows when) I know if it is male or female.

Unless you have a female who drops eggs, you may never be sure. That is one of the difficult things about puffers - no obvious sexual differences. We can't detect their pheromones.

HI, i would agree with you're into wishing.....yes fish tend to jump !!!! so do cover up !!!!!!!