New Fahaka Puffer Keeper - he look good? (video)

[Tim Wheatley]

Hi folks,

Long time lurker, mainly. I've kept various monster fish and always found my answers here even if not posted.

Anyway, after a long wait I finally found a Fahaka nearby enough to make it mine. Got him/her into the tank last night and all seems well. Quite active, spends most of his time at low levels and appears to be seeking something to eat, nose a little down, eyes darting around seeking it out. Quite happy at the outward appearance of health and happiness.

I took a video. Any of you who know them if you want to take a look, let me know if you see anything of concern. He CAN close his mouth more than he shows in this video, it actually seems like he comes to me asking to eat already and opens his mouth to say that (I work literally in the location the video is shot from, all day).

Tank is 125 gallons, and unless I add something fast like Silver Dollars later, it's all his. There is a combination of driftwood, pond stones and sand on the bottom, and it's planted with tiger lily plants and a few small swords that will probably not make it through a few hunts.

Cheers,

Tim

 

[mrrobxc]

I'm new to puffers myself but it looks good. Good luck!

 

[knobhill]

I doubt sd's or any fish will make it in there long term. Cute fish but won't play nice with others. I have one, he's awesome.

 

[Fat Homer]

Your puffer seems to look quite healthy judging by the video... my only concern would be your puffers teeth are starting to look a little long, so i would start feeding your puffer a hard shelled diet ASAP such as Crayfish or Clams in the full shell (depending on his size)... Coz you can see his teeth are just starting to peek out from his lips ever so slightly, so yeah... other than that, i would say looks quite good...

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Thanks guys, and thanks for the teeth advice FH. Is that the guideline on where teeth should be? If they overlap the lip in a 'relaxed' mouth status, they're getting too long?

Actually since I posted this, looks like one side has actually shortened already. They wear down quick once you start a hard shell food regimen?

I have noticed him a few times pick up a stone and carry it to me, then drop it by the side of the tank, I assumed he was telling me he wanted feeding. Could he be trying to use those on his teeth too?

It's funny how you can read about a fish species, then the behavior still blows you away.

 

[Fat Homer]

^ i've read some keepers in the past who dealt with Fahakas / MBU's say they seen their fish purposely wear down their teeth on larger stones and rocks inside a tank...

Mine personally never did it, but its not un-heard of, so i guess depends if the fish ever learnt to do this or not???

As for how long the teeth should be, basically if in a relaxed state you can you see the teeth sticking out past the lip area, then yes, the teeth are starting to get a bit long...

But as you also noticed, with a hard shell diet it should wear down reasonably fast... So keep an eye on it and see how it goes...

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Thanks so much for your help. Really appreciated and as I said in the OP, MFK has always had the answers.

 

[Fat Homer]

MFK as a collective is definitely one of my favourite sources for info thats for sure...