MY Fahaka

[Achilles1763]

A well fed fahaka will grow an inch a month until its around 12 inches then slow down a lot, but continue to grow over the years to potentially 18-20 inches. Mine hit a foot long in a year and is now around 15 inches at two years old.
If there is a significant size difference between the two fish it will massively increase the chances of a fatal fight.

 

[rodger]

Ah yes that will do it! Fahakas don't really like each other, specially wild caught ones. Part of their savage aggression comes from the murky waters where they live and anything is either a threat or a meal. So another fahaka in a nice clean water fish tank is going to be very scary for a long time. Hopefully they are similar Size and in a very large tank (220g for 2 adults or more). I have a large fahaka in a community tank ao I know it can work but two together is new to me. I can juat say LOTS of decor and places to hide, plenty of food and give it time. This will not be a quick fix. Good luck

What do you mean "specially wild caught ones"? All fahaka are wild caught. Do you know something we don't?

 

[Achilles1763]

Apparently (and I am no expert on the subject) people are breeding them in large tropical ponds for commercial export. My lfs (which had been brilliant for many years) got me a 'tank bred' fahaka about the size of a pound coin. She is calm and lives in a large comm tank, all the other fahakas I have seen come into the hobby are at least 2 inches or more and already have that nasty streak we all know and love. Either my lfs has some way of resourcing properly baby fahakas (and are keeping it very quiet) or they do bred in captivity. Like i say I am no expert, but the facts seem to tally up.

 

[Fat Homer]

I've heard rumors in the past they are breeding them in China... But was never able to confirm this..

 

[Achilles1763]

I heard it was in Indonesia.

 

[hart24601]

It doesn't seem like there would be enough demand for these guys to really have captive breeding set up. The ponds would have to be huge. For how cheap WC ones are and the relatively low demand for a 18" long puffer that most have to keep alone it doesn't seem likely to me, but who knows!

 

[Morticia]

When I first got my fahaka I was concerned, he didn't hunt, he hid most of the time, wouldn't interact, and he fancied his reflection a lot. He eventually came around. After about a month he just started acting normally one day. I woke up and there were no shrimp in his tank any longer. He now takes food from tongs, interacts at the front of the tank, and hunts live food. He was kept in a tank with another fahaka at the LFS and there was also a very large crawfish who I'm assuming grabed his tail at one point since he was missing a a piece of his tail. I picked mine, because he was not doing well at the store and I felt bad for him. He pulled through though. Just know everything will seem fine, your fahaka will act shy, and then one day his instincts will kick in. I agree with everyone else remove one of the puffers, because they will change over night.

 

[diuleiloumou]

When I first got my fahaka I was concerned, he didn't hunt, he hid most of the time, wouldn't interact, and he fancied his reflection a lot. He eventually came around. After about a month he just started acting normally one day. I woke up and there were no shrimp in his tank any longer. He now takes food from tongs, interacts at the front of the tank, and hunts live food. He was kept in a tank with another fahaka at the LFS and there was also a very large crawfish who I'm assuming grabed his tail at one point since he was missing a a piece of his tail. I picked mine, because he was not doing well at the store and I felt bad for him. He pulled through though. Just know everything will seem fine, your fahaka will act shy, and then one day his instincts will kick in. I agree with everyone else remove one of the puffers, because they will change over night.

well. I hope his instincts comes earlier. He's been doing better these days I believe. He starts to swim around a little bit. Changing different spot to bury himself.

 

[diuleiloumou]

I might got a home raised fahaka lol. Got some best temp. I have blue lobster and tiger barbs in tank. Looks like the lobster is the King in this tank lol. And yeah, my fahaka is starting to swim around more, but being so nice to tankmates.

 

[Morticia]

Fahakas aren't raised in captivity. They breed too deep. Lobsters, Cray Fish and Shrimp are a main food source for them. You may have the rarest fahaka ever who will stay mild tempered, but more than likely you will wake up to no lobster one day. The Barbs maybe fast enough to stay away from him.