Fahaka?

[Seedy]

Ok....a LFS has a smallish (~3inch) fahaka puffer for $25....

I'm thinking about picking him up, but I don't know where I can put him....

what are general fahaka needs?( Ph, etc) and how do they do with other fish? (aggresive?)

[bevoman]

Seedy,
You'll want to leave him alone in his own tank. They can be very aggressive and are voracious eaters. The water params are the same as for Lake Tangyanika cichlids. They are found in that lake. I have found they adjust well to different environments though. Don't get too caught up in the water. Mine is 7.4 and he does great.
If you get him you will not regret it. They are truly pets and are very interactive fish. Mine lets me pet him!
Good luck and let us know what you do.

[Seedy]

Hmm....So He'd need his own tank....what kind of size are we talking? I apologize, I know very little about these fish...

[bevoman]

I would go 55g as an adult as a MINIMUM. You can get away with smaller when he is young. The fish will reach a max of around 14" in captivity.
Don't apologize, I'm happy to help. I can almost guarantee you will not be disappointed with a Fahaka.
My fahaka's favorite food is live crawfish. It is truly amazing watching him stalk his pray and then attack him with lightening speed. I absolutely love my cichlids, but my Fahaka is by far my favorite fish!

[Rudy]

Bevoman I disagree about the tank size. They will get 12 inches for sure and being that a 55 is only 12 wide I think that would be a mistake.

I wouldn't even bother with a 55 to grow out in. Mine at 8 inches was to small for a 55. He got to 8 inches from probably 2 in less than 6 months. Go with a 72, or better yet a 90. Fahakas are very messy eaters and so first thing I noticed in the 55 was the water quality hard to keep. They say you have to keep them in a 125 minimum, but I have heard plenty of owners say they have downgraded them as they do not use the whole tank. I think this is more because of the water quality issue. Bigger the better, but at least a 72 from the start.

One other thing I will say is try to vary his diet. Mine is brutal as I have trained him this way. He will eat only frozen shrimp. When I say frozen I mean the thing won't even eat them if I have unthawed them! That is the only thing I wish I would have done different. Vary the diet big time.

Mine lives with clown plecos 2. He won't touch them, however anythign else i have tried was dead in the a matter of minutes. I think this is even a rarity as they do not play well with others.

You will love them. You family will love them. They are the most interactive non-cichlid I have ever imagined. I would not be the same if I lost my buddy. Either would my wife, or daughters. He is truly a family pet.

My wife calls him the happiest natural born killer she has ever seen. :lol:

[bevoman]

Rudy,
I completely agree. Don't know why I said 55, I should have said 75. Thanks for correcting me.
my fahaka's favorite is crawfish, however, he will eat anything that is frozen or alive except for krill and plankton. He just spits those out. Bloodworms, Mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, table shrimp, clams, mussels are all loved by him.
He lives with a common pleco and teases him a little at times, but like Rudy said, the pleco is the only thing he will not kill.
When I bought him, he had come out of a 240g and was about 4 to 5 inches at the time. His previous owner had to take him out because he was beating the crap out of his red devil, midas, and trimac. Remember, he was only 4 to 5 inches at the time and the cichlids were all adults!

[Seedy]

wow. THanks for the info guys....Sounds like an awsome fish to keep....unfortunately it's going to have to go on the list for when I'm not in an apartment....I've limited myself to under ~50 gallons in this apartment....

Darn....I really want a puffer....

[bevoman]

If you don't mind brackish, green spots are a lot of fun and have great personality. You could do 3 to 4 in a 29. You just need to keep the specific gravity between 1.015 and 1.018.
They are not as specifically interactive as the Fahaka, but they are a ton of fun to watch. Very active little fish. You can also put a couple of bumblebee gobys in with them. They usually don't seem to bother them and they are neat little fish.
Look up Green Spot Puffers on a search engine and see what you think. If you have more questions, just let me know.

[Seedy]

Bevo, I've kept figure 8s and green spots before, in a brackish setup with a red scat.... They are neat, but they seem to lack the inteligence I'm looking for in a big puffer....

Good suggestion though....

[lxxtvirusxxl]

get a fang puffer i own two of them in my 20 gal there fun to watch somone interactive and they get 3-4 inch i think it was

[bevoman]

My fang is really just a freak of a lurker. He always hides in his log until the food comes. Then he'll dart out and kill and drag the victim back into the cave to eat. They are neat little fish, I just haven't found mine to be very interactive. Just my experience though.
How about a Congo? You could keep one in a 50 when full grown.
They are really cool fish. You could keep him in a 29 probably for about a year and a half or so depending on the fish. Just remember, you really need sand substrate for them as they like to bury themselves.

[Jason_S]

a congo should be fine in a 29 for life, imo. they only grow to about 6" long and are ambush predators similar to the fang's and arrowhead. they aren't very active at all so they won't need a whole lot of swimming room. :)

[punkypuffer]

speaking of aggession and puffers (since all of my suggestions were already stated lol...)

my mbu has been with a synodontis eupterus ever since he was first put into his tank, and never bothered him one bit... i got a lil bristlenose pleco yesterday, and half of his face is bitten off! i feel bad for thew lil guy!

anyways... lol

fangs puffs are ok.. mine just sits in his lil cave until his food comes. my modestus actually lives in a community tank now, with some various american cichlids, andhe's doing quite well. my lil fahaka is doing great (but still very small). i've also read that fahakas are a big no no as far as nixing with other fish. i know you're friend has a couple mbus with some africans, but mbus are known to be less aggro.

you might try a couple south american puffers. they are cool little guys and live in freshwater and you could have more than one.... but they wouldn't have the same "pet ness" of a fahaka.

a congo or an arrowhead would be my suggestions, given your lack of space and such :)