The Puffer Forum

Hi, my name is Brian. I just acquired a fahaka puffer and am looking for tips/experiences that are that beyond the info found through general research

Thanks.

Welcome Brian, here's some info on your Fahaka Puffer
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=28628

Thanks, that seems to be the general profile for a fahaka throughout the web. My current concern is how long a fahaka(now 6") can live in a 55g tank 48x12x21". I need to decide whether to keep the puffer or not, though having to dedicate just a 120g tank shouldn't be too though.

well mine has grown 1" per month since I got him in december at 2", now over 7" and moving from his 75 gal into a 180 as soon as my substrate comes in.

I would be looking for a larger tank and personally would not keep that fish in a 55 past about 8", so I would say about 2 months.

I would say only 2-3 months without some stunting occurring. With frequent wc's they are fast growers.

" It's best to upgrade when it's possible, because waiting for him to grow to adult size won't likely happen in a 55 gallon, especially if it's the standard 55 gallon, they only hold about 47 actually. It's ok for quarantine, but not long term."

What is going to cause stunting? The water quality or size of the tank?

Both

Well if it is going to be stunted anyways in the 55g then no sense moving it from the 29g for now.

Thanks for everyones comments, probably just have to sell the little guy.

That makes absolutely no sense at all...

I suspect that means that the fish is currently in a 29 and is already stunted - in that tank it cannot really swim, exercise at all.

The fish should already be in a much larger tank.

RTR wrote:I suspect that means that the fish is currently in a 29 and is already stunted - in that tank it cannot really swim, exercise at all.

The fish should already be in a much larger tank.

Funny, a tank that has length 5x, a width 2x and a height 3x the puffer's length, leaves the puffer no room the "really swim" or "exercise at all". Yet the stated tank size for a full grown puffer on this forum is a 120g 24" wide tank. Only 3x length, 1.25x width and 1.25x height.

I don't know if the fish is stunted or not. I just got it with a tank I purchased. Only available tank I had to house it at the time was a 29g tank. I was considering moving to a 55g this weekend after rearranging some stock. But everyone claims the fish will stunt in this tank also. So it would not be worth the effort for me to move the puffer if I am just going to sell it.

if you can't do a 120+ gal tank.. then there is little point. You can keep your fish in what ever you want. Minimum is just that, it is not optimum.

I had a 250 gal tank that I chose not to keep a fahaka in. It turned out to be a wise decision.

J-P wrote:if you can't do a 120+ gal tank.. then there is little point. You can keep your fish in what ever you want. Minimum is just that, it is not optimum.

I had a 250 gal tank that I chose not to keep a fahaka in. It turned out to be a wise decision.

The issue isn't what size tank I will be able to keep this puffer in. The issue is how long i could keep the fish in a 55g. I currently have two dry 210g 7x2x2' tanks, I am not going to set up right now to grow out this fish when it doesn't need it. IME fish don't stunt with tank size they stunt because of water quality. The later is not an issue for me to overcome. What I do find funny is someone telling me this fish doesn't have room to swim in the tank it is in when I can see different. Also by ratio of fish size to tank size this puffer has more swimming room then a full grown adult fahaka in a 180g 6x2x2' tank.

to put it simply, you want to upgrade ASAP. The sooner you move that fish into its permanent home and get it stable the better off it will be.

In a 55 gal, that is a shot in the dark. This forum doesn't advocate temporary housing. Start it right from the beginning and keep it that way.

Think of it this way: There are so many tank sizes and configurations and multiply that by the number of puffers... it becomes information overload. Start it right and keep it that way and you'll be a happy camper

No temporary tanks? So your suggesting that a fahaka puffer should go into no less then a 120g tank regardless of size or age? Seems kinda silly to have a little tiny fish roaming around by itself in a huge tank. Grow out tanks are very common practice in the hobby, works for other species of fish no reason it shouldn't work for puffers too.