gettin a fahaka! need some pointers

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dmopar74

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Mar 24, 2006
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Tri cities washington
im getting a small 2-3" fahaka as soon as i cycle the tank and need some pointers. the tank is a 40g(grow-out only) 36x18x16 and i am filtering with an AC110 doubled up on bio-rings. will this be enough with sufficient w/c's?
temperature?
is sand a must or is gravel ok, i hate sand:irked:
can i feed with grocery store bought shellfish?
anything else? i know up to 18" and at least 125g, got a 150 for him.:headbang2 thanks in advance!
 
yes u can feed him shelled stuff from the store and the fish probablay wont get 18 inches. most grow about 10-12 in aquaria.There are exceptions. Fahakas all diff in aggression as the one i had was in a tank with a bunch of africans and never bothered any. He was 10 inches and ate snails but could never get him to eat mussels. when i threw a cray in for him he would only rip its back off and leave the rest for me to scoop out the next day. mine was only active in the evening hrs but during the day he mostly sat under a cave. Dont go by my experience with them only as many here will tell u theres are downright mean. I was lucky and new a big breeder and he would scoop out his snails and sell me about 5 lbs for 5 dollers. I would dump them all in at once and after a week or 2 there would be none left. Good luck with ur recent pickup.:thumbsup: Oh ya you can use gravel. Try to get the more round type then the sharp gravel. I to hate sand as its really hard on impellers
 
Sand is not necessary. I never used it for mine. Some folks use it, because juvies may like to burrrow. The only reason a fish wouldn't reach it's wild size or larger, is if it's tank size or water quality, isn't up to par. 150g is perfect! Don't expect it to allow any tank mates, especially as an adult. I have friend, whose 4" fahaka bit an 8" pleco in half!

On the other hand, you may get one of 1% of fahakas that do allow tankmates. Mine ate all his tiger barb & neon tankmates (tried fast-moving fish 1st) but let alone redtail & rainbow sharks & now I have a host of tank mates in with him, with minimal fin-nipping. He's about 11" right now. Just realize that he may eat any of his tankmates at any time, without warning.
 
ya there is that theory that they will reach same wild size but i dont believe it. if u look around on the web alot of studies and sites contradict themselves on that issue. my water in all my tanks are prestine. ive never seen a arow get to wild size in captivity same with clown knives,fahakas the only fish i see reach full wild size are smaller fish that may only reach 6-7 inches. im sure there are some but i think the majority do grow smaller in aquaria. They can get close but seem to never rival the sizes of the wild fish.
There are mixed opionions on that issue. eveyone has there own.:)
 
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