non-feeding fahaka

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Charney

Charney

The Fish Doctor
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Nov 15, 2005
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I have a ~12 inch fahaka. He normally feeds very well. The main part of his diet is frozen shrip. He also get frozen smelt occasionaly and some fresh fishes as treats. WHen I throw fresh fish in there is a great chance he will ignore it. For the last two weeks he has been eating poorly. When I come to the glass he sometimes shows normal excitement for food, but is just not eating any of it. Is this normal for a fahaka? My water quality is real good.

Thanks
 
"Real good" doesn't help at all. Whenever a fish is acting "off" posting exact ammonia, nitrites, nitrates & pH is very helpful.

Fahaka puffers shold be fed crustaceons. They are not naturally fish eaters. Please read the sticky here in the General Discussion about feeding feeders to your fish. They can carry all sorts of diseases & I frown on it completely. Never mind they are fatty & can cause liver problems.
See: http://www.**************.com/forum/library/feeding/feeders/

OK, back to your fish... How large is his tank? What is his water change schedule? How long have you had him?

A 12" fahaka shoud only be fed 1-2x/wk.
 
wow! ~12" fahaka is huge:eek::)

Have you tested the water parameters? Any abnormal readings?
Is the teeth overgrowth?
Does the puffer's feces look normal?
Any unusual movement/swimming posture?
Is the tank too small?

I suspect your puffer might have developed some internal problems from eating feeder fish.
 
Mine is 12" also. Not so large--they grow to 18".
 
:grinno: 10" is the biggest I have seen in real life..:redface:
 
Folks don't house them in tanks large enough for them to reach their full size.
 
Yes. You are right.
I guess the one I have seen is still young. My friend just got it for less than 1 year. Grew from ~3inches to ~10inches. :)

Feeding solely on frozen shrimp with shell(twice a week) and Hikari pellets(daily)
 
Puffers need a much more varied diet of crunchy foods.
 
posting exact: ammonia zero , nitrites between .3 and .8, nitrates ~12.5 mg/l & pH 7.2
For other crunch food he gets frozen and live crayfish. Occasionally, I order snails. Fifty are coming monday. Otherwise there are not many other crunchy foods he will eat. It will not take any commercial foods
The beak is fine, feces normal
swimming and activity levels are the same
Tank is a 120g
I am aware about the risk of feeders and know they are crustaceans feeders. It is a very rare occasion he sees feeder fish. The ones I use are conditioned.
 
if it helps the shrimp i feed are normall raw, shelled and thawed in a water with vitamin supplement
 
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