The Puffer Forum

Well I have been watching (very closely) a fahaka at one of my lfs's in hopes of buying when I move out and buy the appropriate sized tank. There is of course a catch..this fahaka has been in the same tank for over 6 months...no heater (water almost icey to the touch), 30 gallons (puffer is a good foot long)...and no real activity just sits in the same spot everytime I come in. Should I buy him or try to find one with better conditions? (btw they have a mbu in the same size, temperature tank...happy as can be and a good 15 inches long, always swims up to the front of the glass when I come in)

$$ what do they want for each of them?

100 bucks for each.

Holy cow, I just got my fahaka for $20.

strike2 wrote:Well I have been watching (very closely) a fahaka at one of my lfs's in hopes of buying when I move out and buy the appropriate sized tank. There is of course a catch..this fahaka has been in the same tank for over 6 months...no heater (water almost icey to the touch), 30 gallons (puffer is a good foot long)...and no real activity just sits in the same spot everytime I come in. Should I buy him or try to find one with better conditions? (btw they have a mbu in the same size, temperature tank...happy as can be and a good 15 inches long, always swims up to the front of the glass when I come in)

I say buy it, and give him a good home. I am sure he will reward you for it, and be much more active in a large tank. And 100$ is cheap, to get my Mbu puffer here in Canada it costed me 200$, and he was 4" long...so if that Fahaka is a foot long, he's well worth the 100$ IMO.

Crikey my Mbu was £40 sterling as a tiddler, they have some more in my LFS and I can't beleive how quickly they grow. I'm gonna have a word with the manager when I next see him about the care and eventual tank size that they need

If I had the space and the money I would rescue that fahaka, but thats just me. I understand your worries thast he may be stunted and not in good health but its better that someone who knows about them to take him home than a novice

It is depending on you. If it's about a foot long then that's a good price. If it's a baby, it should be like $20 which is the price that I got mine for.

If you like big, big fish w/o waiting for it to grow up, then buy it; however, if you like to see it grows up, then buy a baby puffer.

Thank you all for the advice, I will have to think long and hard about it...they have a much smaller one for 80 bucks..but he looks worse off than the bigger one.

look around if you can. The fish store by my house is $100 for a small fahaka while the other fish store only a couple of miles further sell it for $40.

If the LFS treat their store & fish poorly, I wouldn't return there.

It is no point paying high prices for poor conditioned fish!
You can have internet-purchase shipped to your door in better condition and for a better price!

I know this may sound a bit harsh but I agree. By purchasing the fish at a high price you will encourage the LFS to keep getting them in as they will make a big profit. So though its a bit sad for the fish in question, by not supporting the bad LFS and supporting another that looks after its stock properly you are safeguarding the wellbeing of fish in the future

What size tank have you got that he could go in? If you haven't got a tank that this fish could flourish in and only exist in like the LFS have at the moment leave him where he is. You're gonna need something in the region of a 90 gallon (48x24x18) at his current size to temporarily house him and give him some decent space to move around.

I do not have the tank yet, but will be getting it upon moving to my new place. I was thinking about a 150g or a little more.

Get your move sorted and get yourself settled in to your new home, then you can get your new tank in place and a Fahaka. Moving house when you have multiple tanks is stressful enough and the bigger they are usually makes it more stressful as big tanks have big inhabitants.

Of course, I wouldnt be getting any of it till probably a month or so after the move.