The Puffer Forum

hi

ive got a fahaka puffer hes 12" and i ve had him 2 months. the tank is cycled water parameters:

nirite+nitrate 0
ph 7.1
ammonia 0

water changes are now once a week unless tank gets messy,
tank size.. 4ftx2x2
lots of plants for him to hide and he has a always had an appetite.

well until this week when i was away! my boyfriend was looking after him and said that he was cleaning out another tank when something scared Bruce (puffer). he tore up all his plants and started jumping to the tank lid trying to get out....

when i got back the next day he had cut his top+bottom lip which now looks like a small blister so im treating with melafix.
hes eating only one cockle a day and will only half pop his head out to see to me, hes not happy and gone dark,

what do you think scared him and what shall i do, ...i ve turned off his lights...

will he eventually calm down??

im so worried about him!

There's no way for us to know what scared him unfortunately. Whatever it was scared him pretty badly though. Best thing IMO is to treat his wound and leave him alone for a few days other than required care such as feeding. Stay away from the tank as much as possible to let him calm down.

thats what i thought hes very scared of my boyfriend and if he goes near the tank he backs off, which is upseting him because he loves him as much as i do!

whats IMO? im in uk so may not be able to get it ....

In My Opinion.

I'd venture a guess that your boyfriend did something that scared him then if he's reacting in that way to him. Probably not intentional.

When I came home two days ago from work, my fahaka was acting very skittish and scared. Usually he comes to the front glass to see me and beg for food, and follows me as I walk the length of his tank to get to the bedroom and back. Thursday though, he fled whenever anyone came near the tank. The only one home was my older son. I have no idea what he did that scared Linus so badly but he must have done something. Yesterday, Linus was better, especially after I brought him a bunch of snails to eat, and today he's back to normal. But for a bit there, all he did was hide whenever anyone came by.

My husband was watching my fish for me recently & reached into a puffer's tank to fix a filter. I have done this counless times. As soon as his hand went in there, the puffer rushed over & bit him. I'd say, your boyfriend's presence scared him. Maybe let your BF feed him for a while.

They are very intelligent fish so I suppose it shouldn't surprise me how well they can tell two people apart.

Definitely do what PP said; if you plan on having your boyfriend around to take care of the tanks when you are gone, you need to get the puffer to associate seeing him with positive things. Maybe have your boyfriend, whenever he comes over, feed the fahaka his favorite treat. If the puff is too terrified to come out and eat when your b/f is there, maybe start out with feeding the puffer when your boyfriend is sitting somewhere in the room, and each time have him sit closer to the tank until the puff is comfortable enough to be fed by him.

Hopefully your boyfriend likes fish, otherwise he might think all this puffer psychology is a bit loopy.

i get what your saying but its very strange as we live together and bruce (thats the puffer!) has always at ease with him. so much so that he has always fed from his hand so its not as if he doesnt know him....

but your right my b/f does think puffer fish are loopy!