The Puffer Forum

Have you noticed that your fahaka buries more during certain times of the year? I've had Ares since March. He didn't bury very often unless something stressed him. The past two months it has been EXTREMELY hot here in Texas and his tank often hits 84 degrees. He usually stays buried most of the day and swims around at night. Do you think maybe the sand is keeping him cool? Otherwise there has been no change in him except that he has grown a tremendous amount since I've had him

i live in tucson arizona and my fahaka has only burried once that ive seen so i dont think temp has anything to do with it because my tank is 86-84 and he loves it! my fahaka is SUPER active! hes about 4inches long. how big is yours, now and when you got him? i think he may just like the feeling of it on his skin too... you never know fahakas are wierd.... in a good way!

He was about 5-6 inches when I got him. He's about 10-11inches now. He's very active at night and in the mornings. He does come out during the day when he sees us go to the fridge...lol!!! All he thinks about is eating!!!

yea Cuda too, my fahaka, he is crazy about eating! how often do you feed yours??? and what type of food? ive heard rumors of krill causing lock jaw in puffers and ive mainly been feeding him krill but also a little mussle too. im trying to find a cost effective way to feed him..... thats safe.im used toGSPs where a bag of krill or bloodworms will last a long time not the case with Cuda. also what type of substrate do you use? im thinking of pool filter sand for my 125 when i set it up...

mine is around 9 inchs or so and since I moved he has been burring more

My Fahaka is like 2 1/2 inches long our tank is cooler until I have the money to get a bigger heater... which sucks. But since its cooler he just lays around on the bottom and rarely eats. When he was in the 20G he swam around a lot and was very personable. I think it has to do with the heat of the tank. But then again from what I hear they are lazy anyways lol. Also our fahaka is the most passive fish I have every seen in my life. Which is quite weird. My other friends fahaka is super aggressive!

I think it's just how they feel. Mine used to spend most his time buried, but I have not seen him do it in weeks. He just swims for a bit then rests then dashes across the tank then rests etc

How long is it since you moved him to another tank? Some puffers don't handle moving very well, and need time to adapt to the new environment. Yes, colder water can be a part of the problem too. Fish do get more slow in colder water.

He eats shrimp, mussel, talapia, snails, clams, blackworms, night crawlers and the occasional guppy. He's really aggressive. It's getting scary during water changes and feeding time. I'm afraid he might jump out of his tank one of these days during feeding. He doesn't just eat, he looks like he is murdering his food! I would hate for him to do to my finger what he does to his food!!!

I've had mine since 1" (he's 12" now) & have never seen him bury himself.

I've read (and it seems to hold true) that they do it more often as juveniles, and usually only bury as an adult if stressed. Ramses burrows whenever sleeping, or right after a meal. He's done it once or twice when I'm rearranging or cleaning his tank too, but then more from stress.

Yeah same here! I actually dropped a clam in there today and saw him chew on the shell! It was freaking awesome! Then he ate the meat and some blood worms and went and laid down like a fatty and his colors are still light but his belly is soooooooooooooo yellow! Such a good looking fish!

Oh does yours ever see his reflection and try and attack it?!

All the time! I haven't seen him do it in a few days, but when I first got him he would do that for several hours. He even inflated and deflated at his reflection twice in about 5 minutes. Hopefully he'll grow out of it by the time he's full-grown, as I really don't want cracked glass, and my glass isn't as thick as I would like anyway.

Yeah! It is sooooooo funny watching it. Even though it sounds cruel! lol but he is a funny fish in general! He was following my finger around quite a bit today which was funny to watch!!! lol

Ramses is always watching me, but hasn't associated me with food yet I don't think. I've only had him for a week now and he's already my favorite puffer.