The Puffer Forum

If I geta small crab will I have to close the pinchers with something or can my 4 inch fahaka laugh it off

I never remove claws, it's upto you though. A puffer can handle claws, if the crab fights back the puffer will learn lol

if the crab is smaller or same sized than puffers mouth, no problem, you will have a interesting battle.
PD: don´t feed puffs with wild caught live food.

I think it depends on the individual Fahaka and how you train him. If your Fahaka is managing hard shelled cockles with success, I would not worry too much.

I disagree with the comment about feeding it with shellfish the same size as the Fahaka´s mouth. When my Fahaka was 4 inches long I maintained a tank of Indian Red Claw Shrimp (Macrobrachium assamensis) that were equally long, and had him hunt twice a week. His colors were remarkably brighter when hunting so this is a good thing for the Fahaka. This type of shrimp were unwanted at the LFS since they ate the fish of other clients (a perfect match for a small Fahaka and economical). Occasionally Red Mangrove Crabs (Pseudosesarma moeshi) from the LFS and I always tried to get the biggest they had. Not very economical though..

My 12 inch Fahaka is now feeding on freshwater crayfish that are 4-6 inches long. I must admit I was a bit worried just recently when a particularly big crawdad made a scar on my Fahaka´s chin but it healed quickly. Don´t be afraid when the crab or shellfish pinches the Fahaka. It will let go when the Fahaka swims upwards or shakes it off. The elastic skin of the Fahaka seems to be very difficult to penetrate through.

The risk of introducing harmful stuff in your tank is increasing if you decide to feed your fish with self-caught shellfish. However, if you know about a good source, I would take that risk if I were you. I believe it´s healthier for the Fahaka´s immune system to deal with new bacteria. I buy big living freshwater crayfish at my local gourmet seafood store (5 costing USD 10) and I keep them in a separate tank where I feed them the type of healthy pellet food my Fahaka won´t eat. However, I would have saved those money if I went to the source myself, which I know is safe. However, I carefully examine the shellfish for infections, spots or any other irregularities before throwing them into the Fahaka´s tank. If the shellfish are not active, eat and behave normally, I get rid of them.

I have not yet dared to introduce seawater shellfish in the tank because I am a bit worried about the source around here...it´s all about managing the risks, and I would need to learn more about this source before I experiment...no tank is 100% safe either way..and the Fahaka isn´t either....good luck and have fun training your Fahaka!

Everyone thanks awesome advice, my fahaka is now a murderer. ..haha ripped up a crab...so speaking of wild caught crawfish, how bout the ones they sell at the vietnamese suprmarkets...are those freshwate as we'll?

I buy most of my frozen shellfish at the Asian neighborhood downtown cause they have much more variety at a reasonable price ..such as raw freshwater crabs, whole river shrimp w/ shell & head on, small squid, hard shelled cockles and snail meat ..just make sure you read the packaging and pick up the uncooked stuff...

I assume you were not referring to living crabs in the Vietnamese store? If they are alive, lucky Fahaka...just check their conditions and take good care of them before feeding

Yea man live crabs and crawdads in the viet market down the road...although I'm more refering to crawdads, I'm assuming that they are freshwater as well. A crab at the market would rip up my fahaka right now, its like fighting Goro vs jigglypuff...totally different weight class and..class. .. I got a crab from the fish store...meant to be kept as pets buut I chose a different fate.

Here are a few videos featuring Freddy during feeding time...finally got some time to upload some:

http://www.youtube.com/user/freddyfahak ... sults_main