Fahaka in love with its reflection?

[Morticia]

My Fahaka Hapi spends a good bit of time admiring himself. He doesn't try to attack his reflection instead he almost dances in front of the mirror. He swims close to his reflection and then will back away and put his side to it watching with one eye. He doesn't ram the glass or blow water at it he simply swims back and forth watching his own movements. He even turns a lighter shade when he does this which I've noticed he does when he is happy or comfortable. Has anyone else seen this in their Fahaka?

 

[Wailua Boy]

Sounds like you got a nice one but pretty normal behavior for this stage of growth. You could see more signs of aggression as the puffer ages and welcome to MFKs

 

[Empyreal]

Mine was similar at that size. Don't let them fool you, they are savages. I thought I could get away if quick giant danios. It's only four of them with him in a 90 gallon. Well there was four.....

 

[Morticia]

This is my second Fahaka and my first guy was what I would normally expect from a puffer. If it moved it was either an enemy or food end of story. This guy was found at Petco incredibly skinny, he was in a tank with crawfish 3 times his size, and more aggressive fish also much larger than him. He was literally cowering under a rock when I got him. The guy didn't even realize they had a Fahaka actually in the tank. I had to get him. This one is very timid. He won't even eat ghost shrimp (truth be told I'm kind of thankful for that, they make a great clean up crew) the only thing I can get him to eat is bloodworms and snails. Id love to see him start acting more like a normal puffer. Hopefully as he grows and becomes more comfortable he will start to hunt and be curious.

 

[Morticia]

this was day 1. He is starting to round out now, his eyes have cleared up, and now he will at least swim across the tank and explore some.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

I've seen this behavior in saltwater puffers and porcupine fish , it seems like it could be boredom, I recommend adding lots of plants and stocking live foods like microcrabs,aquatic insects and young guppies or troops so he spends his time hunting

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Triops not troops

 

[Morticia]

I've seen this behavior in saltwater puffers and porcupine fish , it seems like it could be boredom, I recommend adding lots of plants and stocking live foods like microcrabs,aquatic insects and young guppies or troops so he spends his time hunting

He has shrimp in there now and snails, he doesn't hunt the shrimp at all. When I feed him bloodworms the shrimp swim right on over to grab some worms for themselves and he doesn't so much as give the shrimp a second look. I've added plants, a cool skull cave, and a rock cave so he has plenty of stuff to hide in. I feel bad for the little guy he doesn't even show interest in interacting with the front of his tank. I'm hopeful this is a phase.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

My Pictish catfish did this nonstop for 8 years, only time he would stop is to eat, I was sad when he died, but this behavior didn't seem to harm him, he grew to a beautiful 7 inches, perhaps this is a part of natural behavior and u should make a donut shaped pond for exercise?

 

[Morticia]

He seems happy enough... He just fancies himself haha. He had started to recognize feeding times and he greets me for food now. I've started to notice some shrimp disappearing. I think as e is getting comfortable in his new home he is starting to hunt and act a little bit more like a normal puffer. I love him regaurdless, but I always want to make sure my finned friends are as happy as possible.