Hi everyone! I'm thinking about getting a Fahaka.

[GimpDaddy]

Okay so I have read quite a bit on care and housing. I have what is required to give it a happy, healthy home. I have my 24 year old daughter take care of my fish for me. I'm fully paralyzed and on a ventilator due to having ALS. First question is, do you think it's a hard fish to care for? I have her do routine weekly water changes now. Last question is, what is the average cost per month to feed a Fahaka? Thanks for your time and happy fish keeping!

 

[kno4te]

Fat Homer

 

[PYRU]

Its a high maintenance fish. Water changes are almost constant to clean up butchered food particles. Feeding is also a chore. They need high crunch like snails and clams. When young you can keep a breeder tank of ramshorn snails which isn't bad, but once big those snails will be too small except for the large adults. Then you're looking at crabs, clams, crawfish, shell on shrimp, etc etc on a regular basis. If you have access to these like I do then its not so bad. You're probably looking at around $30 worst case feeding a month for a full grown motha fahaka.

In all seriousness. Its probably the best fw you can get for personality. If you can streamline water changes or better yet go drip/auto changes it won't be bad. If you're doing python changes or worse buckets its going to get old fast.

Tank size most recommend a 4ft x 2ft 120 min. Which is not accurate in my experience. This is a true 16"+ fish and is messy as they come. A 180 should be considered the absolute minimum for a happy puff and decent maintenance.

I'd get a sump if possible as well. Test bites can wreak havoc on cords causing your tank to electrify. More dilution is also your friend. If you can incorporate pothos or some kind of nitrate eater it'll help the cause as well.

Its not something you see everyday and is a very rewarding fish. It does come with a cost of more maintenance though...and its capable of inflicting serious damage to whatever body part you stick in the tank. They're usually docile enough to pet but just thought I'd mention it

 

[Rocksor]

Asian stores have frozen snails and clams that can be fed to the fahaka at a relatively cheap price. Make sure to read the ingredients don't have anything but snail and water.

 

[TheReefer]

Ok let me start by answering your questions.
1. It is not hard to take care of as long as you can keep the water clean and feed it properly. Just get a good filter, keep up on the water changes, and make sure it eats hard shelled foods and it'll be relatively easy to care for.
2. Monthly cost depends, if you can catch crayfish (legally) and make sure they are gutloaded and disease free then it will be very low (I did that and spent maybe $10 a month feeding other shelled items), but if you can't catch crayfish like that then it will likely cost anywhere from $20-$50, it varies greatly depending on what you feed them. I would go to a lfs and ask for ramshorn snails, they will be more than happy to give them to you, my lfs charges 10 cents a piece but not all places do that. Go to the grocery store and pick up some shelled shrimp and clams, freeze the clams and feed them whole (or break off one half of the shell), feed the whole shrimp to keep it's teeth ground down. \

Hope this helps

 

[Fat Homer]

Since the basics have been answered let me ask the other questions...

First off, sorry to hear about the ALS, my friends dad had it and its definitely not fun to live with... But how much experience do you and your daughter have fish keepers? Not much? A lot? Because while not difficult to keep, i wouldnt say its a beginner fish...

2. When the time comes that you can no longer care for the fish at all do you have plans for them? Since puffers if kepts happy and healthy can easily live for a decade or more...

3. How exactly are you doing water changes? Coz as mentioned above, dragging buckets back and fourth is no fun on a 180G+ tank weekly when you need to do 50%+ water changes...

4. As these puffers do like substrate and decorations to keep them from getting bored, are you guys prepared to setup and maintain a tank like this?

If you can get over all the above, they can be very rewarding fish but depending on you and your daughters level of commitment / passion for the hobby it can very quickly go from enjoyment to a chore with feeding and maintenance...

 

[GimpDaddy]

Since the basics have been answered let me ask the other questions...

First off, sorry to hear about the ALS, my friends dad had it and its definitely not fun to live with... But how much experience do you and your daughter have fish keepers? Not much? A lot? Because while not difficult to keep, i wouldnt say its a beginner fish...

2. When the time comes that you can no longer care for the fish at all do you have plans for them? Since puffers if kepts happy and healthy can easily live for a decade or more...

3. How exactly are you doing water changes? Coz as mentioned above, dragging buckets back and fourth is no fun on a 180G+ tank weekly when you need to do 50%+ water changes...

4. As these puffers do like substrate and decorations to keep them from getting bored, are you guys prepared to setup and maintain a tank like this?

If you can get over all the above, they can be very rewarding fish but depending on you and your daughters level of commitment / passion for the hobby it can very quickly go from enjoyment to a chore with feeding and maintenance...

I am pretty experienced at fish keeping. I have kept both fresh and saltwater over the years. My daughter is here at least three days a week so maintenance is not a problem. Water changes are handled by a 50' python. The tank is a 125 gallon with two Sun Sun 304 b filters and tetwo 300 watt heaters. It has pool filter sand for substrate. If something would happen to me my daughter would inherent it.

 

[PYRU]

I am pretty experienced at fish keeping. I have kept both fresh and saltwater over the years. My daughter is here at least three days a week so maintenance is not a problem. Water changes are handled by a 50' python. The tank is a 125 gallon with two Sun Sun 304 b filters and tetwo 300 watt heaters. It has pool filter sand for substrate. If something would happen to me my daughter would inherent it. View attachment 1377789

100% honesty. You'd be setting yourself up for failure in that tank. Totally your call though.

Maintenance is pretty constant as well. Leftover shrimp etc will make your water funky in a hurry. Every time I feed I have to vacuum up leftovers then top off. Now if you could get a hold of an abei or pony up for duboisi it would be a better choice long term. Not near as big but good personality.

 

[TheReefer]

100% honesty. You'd be setting yourself up for failure in that tank. Totally your call though.

Maintenance is pretty constant as well. Leftover shrimp etc will make your water funky in a hurry. Every time I feed I have to vacuum up leftovers then top off. Now if you could get a hold of an abei or pony up for duboisi it would be a better choice long term. Not near as big but good personality.

His best bet would likely be just to feed the days she is there so she could clean it up. Another thing I'd like to add is a 125 will be a bit too narrow in the long term as a fahaka hits 16"-18".

 

[GimpDaddy]

Thank you all for your input. I'll scratch the Fahaka idea. I was thinking about my tank not being deep enough. Thanks and have a great week!