Homer does have a point.. if you want a puppy fish then that is the way to go...however if your heart is set on a comm.
Right... no fish is going to have hard enough scales etc to withstand a fahaka. Once you see one chew through a crab or clam you will understand! What it bites, it cuts through...so forget that line of thinking.
You need fish the fahaka will not think is food or survive the initial test bite to see if it is.
Grow outs and then add to the comm is a good idea normally but not with fahaka.there will still be testing/tasting and if the fish are fully grown you run the risk of one killing the other.. fahakas can be fragile emotionally and physically. I am firmly a believer in getting everything and put them altogether in the big tank all at the Same time. Might sound like a disaster waiting to happen.. but the fish need to grow up together and establish there own pecking order etc fahaka are not territorial and will swim the whole tank unless attacked and chases off.. this you don't want! Any aggression will cause the possibility of your fahaka going full Jihadi on your tank mates to be increased.
So large predator but peaceful fish are the way to go.. I know nothing about Gars but seem like a viable option,peacock bass, oscars and Dempseys (especially EBJD) are cool.. bichirs are cool but need to be big before they go on and they will get there tail nipped. Larger snakeheads I had some success with as well (until the bloody pike).
In conclusion, I cannot off you any solutions
Just ideas. It's trial and error... and the error can be pretty horrible. The basic rule is 'never add anything to a fahaka tank that you cannot face the possibility of seeing it get chewed to death face first'. I have seen it... it's horrible (see below) but if you really want to try then good luck!
Right... no fish is going to have hard enough scales etc to withstand a fahaka. Once you see one chew through a crab or clam you will understand! What it bites, it cuts through...so forget that line of thinking.
You need fish the fahaka will not think is food or survive the initial test bite to see if it is.
Grow outs and then add to the comm is a good idea normally but not with fahaka.there will still be testing/tasting and if the fish are fully grown you run the risk of one killing the other.. fahakas can be fragile emotionally and physically. I am firmly a believer in getting everything and put them altogether in the big tank all at the Same time. Might sound like a disaster waiting to happen.. but the fish need to grow up together and establish there own pecking order etc fahaka are not territorial and will swim the whole tank unless attacked and chases off.. this you don't want! Any aggression will cause the possibility of your fahaka going full Jihadi on your tank mates to be increased.
So large predator but peaceful fish are the way to go.. I know nothing about Gars but seem like a viable option,peacock bass, oscars and Dempseys (especially EBJD) are cool.. bichirs are cool but need to be big before they go on and they will get there tail nipped. Larger snakeheads I had some success with as well (until the bloody pike).
In conclusion, I cannot off you any solutions
Just ideas. It's trial and error... and the error can be pretty horrible. The basic rule is 'never add anything to a fahaka tank that you cannot face the possibility of seeing it get chewed to death face first'. I have seen it... it's horrible (see below) but if you really want to try then good luck!
