The Puffer Forum

I currently own a Nile Puffer - Appropriately named Niles.

I have owned him since 05/2020 and it is now almost 12/2020 and he really hasn't grown much compared to how others describe their growth.

When I got him his body was about 1" long and now his body is just under 3". He is a thick boy right now, when he is done eating and all plump he is a little more rotund than a hearty Vienna sausage. I am not necessarily worried about his slow rate of growth, but I just feel it is out of the ordinary.

When I first got him, he had been on his own for about 2 weeks in a 10g tank as I ran a few preliminary meds through his system, then after that he was in a 75g for about 2-3 months, managing to grow about 1/2-3/4" totaling just under 2". I decided to move him because his attitude became a bit worse, and he had gone into a 40B for about a month or so, and last I checked his length he was just under 2 1/2". Currently, he is in his own planted 20H tank, and I have really noticed him putting on size the passed few weeks to a month. I put him here for medication purposes because I noticed some feces that I was a bit concerned with, so he got a full deworming. His current diet is mostly pest pond snails and as a supplement when I feel lazy he takes NLS Thera-A+ Pellets (surprising right?). In the past he had a diet of some snails, but a lot of frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp. During that time, he had a problem with prolapse, as every week he would have it after a larger feeding. It is worth noting he was in a community tank at this time. I noticed that the more he ate the worse it got, therefore another reason for me isolate him to directly control his eating, and since I have started this, I believe I have seen it once. I believe this is a very large contributor to his lack of growth, but I have noticed he has improved in vigor and girth quite a bit recently, so I feel he is doing much better. Fear not about the tank size. I have a 120G (48x24x24) tank for him to go into here shortly. I was avoiding putting him into it because I would rather have it complete with light and plants before introduction, but I think the space would be better in the current moment.

Overall, what are your thoughts on this slow growth? Is this normal? Do these puffers have growth spurts?

Thank you for reading!

Welcome!
I think you know that the IPs would definitely contribute to slow growth, so I'm glad you gave him a serious deworming. Mine grew from 1-5" in the past 2 years & has been living in a 120g.
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

Okay, thank you for the reply! I take it he is pretty on course for his age then I suppose. I am thinking based upon when I got him and his size then, he probably hatched in January or February sometime, so almost a year old. I have read everywhere that Fahakas grow at about 1"/Month for their first year, and I have never read otherwise. I thought he was kind of an anomaly in that respect, even so because he doesn't really look to be the same body shape as any of the others I see in stores. He has a more 'pretty' appearance, so I wasn't really sure on what was going on or what he is specifically, but it never mattered much to me as he is my pet and I am willing to do what I have to for him.

Here is an image of him right around the day I brought him home. (05/08/2020) Here is today (11/30/2020)

That looks about right. Even my old guy (lived to 19), only got 12" in his 125g.

So glad to hear this. Here soon I should be getting him into a 120g (48Lx24Hx24W) tank, which he will remain in for quite some time. I do like this size of tank due to the depth it will give him, and once I add some hardscape he should be much happier. Currently, due to lack of funds, it is just a piece of driftwood in there. I do plan to keep the tank fairly open for him, but in the future I plan to add jungle vals along the back and sides of the tank, and in the center a small zebra stone pile with some Ammania gracilis growing.

I do love this tank size, but hopefully in a few years I would like to upgrade him to an acrylic tank that is 125g(60Lx20Hx24W) or 150g(72Lx20Hx24W). I feel that though the current setup could be good long term, either of those tanks will just add to his quality of life overall.

Pertaining to food for this guy as well. I pretty much litter my other tanks with snails, so I have ramshorn, MTS, and pest snails. I also have just started breeding mystery snails as a 'breeding for profit', but long term will be food for this guy once he grows into it. I will also purchase frozen clams in the future, but he is still too small for them currently. I plan to get 3 or 4 spotted congo puffers in the future. Not to mention I own x6 F8 Puffers (@ 1.005~), x1 Green Spot Puffer (@ 1.013), x7 Pea Puffers.

I have a 120g also. Poor guy has been living in a 30g garbage can for over a month though. His tank leaked again, after resealing it 6 months ago. I had no idea about the glass shortage. I was VERY lucky to even find a tank at a reasonable price! Some folks have been waiting for many months.

I'd forget about MTS, they have been known to chip a puffer's teeth, due to their shell being so hard. If you defrost the clam/mussel & open, he should be able to bites meat off the half shell.

I got my fahaka in late July and he was just under an inch. I dewormed him and he has been in a 75 gallon with plans to move to a 125 gallon in a couple months. He is now roughly 2" long. Seems like mine kind of started out slow but as he has gotten bigger I've begun introducing crayfish tails and heads, and larger snails. He seems to be picking up steam on his growth rate with a broader variety of food.