Adriane West - 2013-07-13 I just purchased my fahaka puffer, was told he is very agressive and grows 5'' but if raised with other baby fish it may do fine with all of them growing together! I have a 125 gallon tank includding my globe puffer, 2 peacock cichlids, tire track eel, 2 african cichlids, 3 tiger barbs, electric blue jack dempsey, 2 feather fin catfish, jeweled cichlid, 1' plecostomus, blood red parrot, they all get along beautifully! No problems at all! We will be upgradeing to a tank twice the size eventually ;) p.s researched when I got home to realize he grows 18''.
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Daniel h - 2013-09-02 Adriane, just get a separate tank for your puffer. As he gets bigger it's very likely your other fish will randomly become victims of nasty bites or viscous predatory attacks. I love my fahakas but only put fish with them that I would be ok with losing.
Dave - 2017-02-21 Yeah, this is what's going on with me! 75 gallon tank. 25 African cichlids Fahaka Puffer, 2 clown loach. Noticed fins being nipped never seen it happen. Must be the puffer. He is at 3 inches. Been feeding clam, mice shrimp. Trying to figure out what size tank I should get and what filter. For the long run.
Steph - 2018-03-08 Yeah,,, I just got 3 tiny little FP.... learning a lot.... but they all 3 stalk together! I have 2 baby Oscars the slightly larger than them as well as 4 cichlids same size, the 3 will soooo slowly stalk one fish at the same time,, and the crazy part is, if they see me, they will hide around the corner of decorations and wait for me to leave to begin their hunt again... all this behavior in one day! Anyway, I have a 75 gal to transfer to in the next few days temporarily and will choose my favorite and give or sell the rest so there is no issue. Then as they grow will definitely go tank shopping haha! Such characters these little fellas are!
joe - 2014-06-22 Hi Guys I've got a fahaka puffer myself and yes he is the coolest and I have him in a comunity tank he's in a 110 gallon since I've gotten hum @3'orso and now seven months later he's around 8' I've only lost two garumies and he will only eat raw shrimp&crayfish, but what I'd like to k.ow is when should I begin to transition him over brackish water do to all of my research I've found that the fahaka will start to migrate towards brackish then saltwater in the wild with age if anyone could answer this please lmk.thanks joe
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Clarice Brough - 2014-06-27 In nature these fish will inhabit both freshwater and brackish waters of the river systems, but they tend to do best in freshwater in the home aquarium. There is no need to add salt, and if you do, keep it to a minimum. See the 'Aquarium Setup' section above for more info on their tank requirements.
Delta - 2016-02-01 fahaka puffers are not saltwater fish, DO NOT switch it to brackish, this would only shorten the lifespan of the fish.
liney - 2015-12-06 I have a 7 in fahaka puffer that I have had in a 240 gal tank with about 45 african cichlids. I got him when he was about an inch and no problems yet. My puffer hasn't ever eaten a fish that was not about to die or already dead. The cichlids are breeding all the time and the puffer just ignores them. The only problem I have is when it is time to feed I have to wait until the cichlids are sleep because they are way faster then the puffer and will steal his food and it cost way too much to feed cichlids live food.
katty - 2009-04-27 I have to say that I disagree with the "coolest comments." A Fahaka needs much more space than a 10 gallon tank can provide. Essentially, a minimum tank size of 125 gallons is required. At 9 months, a healthy Fahaka should be around 7 to 10 inches, depending on the size it was when you first purchased it. They should grow approximately 1 inch per month. At this point, it is likely that the fish is stunted which will later on lead to health problems and a shortened life. Do your fish a favor and get it a bigger tank. Keeping it in a 10 gallon tank is just cruel.
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Chelsea Dawn Woltring - 2011-04-10 For a fahaka. that is way cruel. 10 gallons ! omg. I put my spotted puffer in a ten gallon tank when I first got him but that only lasted a week. I went and bought ANOTHER tank for him. I could tell he was not happy at all. I have a Fahaka now I just got him yesterday and so far he is awesome. No tank mates though, he is pretty aggresive and stalks his prey. I will wait till I can see he has calmed down some. But ten gal. is WAY WAY WAY too small, even for a spotted puffer, and those dont get very big at all puffers get huge. Ten gal. is animal cruelty dude..
Anonymous - 2012-07-06 He said 55 gal
David Owen - 2014-06-08 My Fahaka Puffer fish is about 11 inchs in length, I've had him about an year, he was about 5 inchs when I got it, he is doing well the fish shop I got it says he won't ever get to 18 inchs in captivity but more to the size off 12-16 inchs and they recommended me getting an 48x18x26 tank whick is about 370 litres UK size, I got an feeling it stll won't be big enough, but can't tell the wife.lol. The fish shop also said I won't be able to keep any tank mates in with him but I've had an Ruby Shark with the puffer for the last 6 months, but what might off helped is that I always had other fish in with him
Anne - 2009-03-14 I have a striped puffer for about two years, he/she is awsome! Very docile so far, actually I have a hard time keeping things in the tank with him/her, but not because he bothers anyone, it's the other way around! We call him "lil man" he's been so awesome. He stopped eating live food a year ago, I got worried something was wrong as he was keeping a couple guppies as buddies. But I got him eating a variety of frozen foods. He's about 7" long, plump, beautiful blue eyes. He shares his tank with two small clowns, anemone, blue damsel, and an engineer goby that's huge. oh yea, Patrick, the chocolate chip star, he gets hand fed too. They are smart, people tend to think fish don't have much brain other than instinct, but I beg to differ!
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Anonymous - 2013-03-20 this is a freshwater fish.... why do u have it in a salt water tank?
Anonymous - 2014-03-11 Need to change your tank to freshwater!
Jesper - 2013-06-07 Have a lineatus, he's a bout 5-6' and lives in a 240G tank... Alone! Reading about you folks having them in 60' 80' hell even a 10G CUP it saddens mé to read, even i know most if not all described here are long gone by now. 18 months old fahaka at what? 6' .. Wonder why when its tortured in a 60 gal.
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Clarice Brough - 2013-06-07 Sounds like you're puffer has a great home. Although they are slow growing, as I read the comments it looks like just about everyone is in agreement with you... they do need a big tank! I bet yours will live a long healthy life as the king in his 240 gallons:)
Steve Bussard - 2007-02-14 I've had my fahaka puffer for about 9 months. Currently he is approximatly 3" and for the time being he is being kept in a 10 gallon. I knew these guys were VERY agressive when I bought him, but since I got him I've had to either hold his food for him or "knock" them unconcious for him to eat anything besides snails or crayfish. I actually had a feeder in the tank with him for more than 6 weeks, without so much as a lunge toward it. So I decided a couple days ago to introduce him to my 90 gallon. I have several fish in there mostly 3" or less, consisting of cichlids, spotted puffers, and angel fish, along with a 20" pleco. Everything went well with him the first 2 days. He only attempted to eat the pleco, which he basically bit his tail, which did no damage, so I wasn't worried. I decided to get a new little silver shark catfish, and when added to the tank he went right to the fahaka. To my surprise, the fahaka moved out of the way and let him go by without so much as a second look. I thought "this is awesome, I'm going to be the first that I know of with a fahaka in a comunity tank!". I was very wrong. No more than 30 seconds later he bit the 3.5" silver in half, with no warning at all. That was the end of his stay in a community tank. He is one of the most beautiful fish I own, but do yourself a favor if you get one, don't attempt community adaptation, unless you don't mind losing some of, if not all of your other fish.
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Alex - 2010-12-23 10 gallons is way too small for a fahaka puffer. The fact that he will not eat feeder fish and that you have to knock his prey out for him tells me he will soon refuse all food and waste away. My fahaka Vigourously takes food every day and has been growing on the average 1 inch per month. Also, looks like you helped him by placing him in 90 gallons. That can be seen by the sudden increase in his appetite and interest in eating other fish. This species is being evaluated in 2011 for the new impact of the aquarium trade on it's numbers in the wild. It would be a pity to let yours waste away in a 10 gallon.
greg - 2011-03-21 I have a fahaka about 2 and a half inches sooo aggressive, even when he's not hungry. If he's in the tank with any feeders I find them floating at the top of the tank, had him with a spotted puffer terrorized it, bugged my albino pleco a bit but now lives together with just the pleco fine.
PJ76 - 2013-03-04 That 10 gallon tank is not the best idea for a Fahaka puffer. Putting him in the 90 gallon is the best move you can make for him. In the 10 gallon he was restricted, probably bored, therefore leading to the lack of eating. Adding him to the 90 gallon probably woke him up...add some live ghost shrimp or crayfish to the tank, he will turn his attention to them and not to your fish. I have had one for about 3-4 months now and he is about 4-5 inches in a 125g tank. I have a variety of other fish in the tank with him. Just like yours he nipped the tail of the pleco but to this day has not made any effort for the other fish. The tank is large enough for them all to swim and roam without bothering each other. I usually pick up a couple of small crayfish every week or so and drop them in the tank. When the fahaka is hungry he finds one and takes it out instead of bothering the fish. Not to say that he will never bother the fish and it's a perfect solution, I am waiting on the day I wake up and find fish missing or dead which is why they are all cheaper fish and my more expensive ones are in another tank. However when your Fahaka really starts to grow you can expect more dead or missing fish so you may want to really concentrate on keeping him in the 90 gallon now...he's going to need it!
Che - 2010-02-09 I've had my Fahaka for about a year now, he's roughly 8" long. He lives with an Albino Blood Oscar, a Jack Dempsey, a peacock ciclid and a pleco. He eats feeder fish by the bag full, apple and assassin snails, along with some crayfish and freeze dried krill. He has a a great personality but as most of his species is super aggressive. His tank mates have been chosen carefully through much trial and error.
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James - 2012-03-21 I have mine with a JD also. They actually make decent tank mates. I made sure the JD was 6 inches before I put a 3 inch FP in the tank. They also live with an 8 inch Sengal Bichir each has its own home and territory. The bichir gets bullied sometimes but mostly by the JD had a little fin nipping at first. I changed the substrate color and size in half of my tank rearranged and added some more complex swimming and hidding Decor to my tank and everyone is now happy and have been for some time now.
Fahaka Puffer Rule! - 2011-10-05 My Fahaka is still growing he is only 6 inches right now, but he is in the middle of a growth spurt. He grows an inch about every month! He gets fed shrimp, snails, worms, crabs, crabs, and more crabs. I swear every time I feed him a crab he grows the next day. Hes got a comfy 200 gallon ready for him in a couple months. I would have never known he needed all this stuff if I didn't stumble on freshwaterpufferfish.org lots of great info on puffers!
The Fahaka Puffer has yellow stripes and bright fiery eyes, making it a beautiful pet fish!
I just purchased my fahaka puffer, was told he is very agressive and grows 5'' but if raised with other baby fish it may do fine with all of them growing together! I have a 125 gallon tank includding my globe puffer, 2 peacock cichlids, tire track eel, 2 african cichlids, 3 tiger barbs, electric blue jack dempsey, 2 feather fin catfish, jeweled cichlid, 1' plecostomus, blood red parrot, they all get along beautifully! No problems at all! We will be upgradeing to a tank twice the size eventually ;) p.s researched when I got home to realize he grows 18''.
Adriane, just get a separate tank for your puffer. As he gets bigger it's very likely your other fish will randomly become victims of nasty bites or viscous predatory attacks. I love my fahakas but only put fish with them that I would be ok with losing.
Yeah, this is what's going on with me! 75 gallon tank. 25 African cichlids Fahaka Puffer, 2 clown loach. Noticed fins being nipped never seen it happen. Must be the puffer. He is at 3 inches. Been feeding clam, mice shrimp. Trying to figure out what size tank I should get and what filter. For the long run.
Yeah,,, I just got 3 tiny little FP.... learning a lot.... but they all 3 stalk together! I have 2 baby Oscars the slightly larger than them as well as 4 cichlids same size, the 3 will soooo slowly stalk one fish at the same time,, and the crazy part is, if they see me, they will hide around the corner of decorations and wait for me to leave to begin their hunt again... all this behavior in one day! Anyway, I have a 75 gal to transfer to in the next few days temporarily and will choose my favorite and give or sell the rest so there is no issue. Then as they grow will definitely go tank shopping haha! Such characters these little fellas are!
Hi Guys I've got a fahaka puffer myself and yes he is the coolest and I have him in a comunity tank he's in a 110 gallon since I've gotten hum @3'orso and now seven months later he's around 8' I've only lost two garumies and he will only eat raw shrimp&crayfish, but what I'd like to k.ow is when should I begin to transition him over brackish water do to all of my research I've found that the fahaka will start to migrate towards brackish then saltwater in the wild with age if anyone could answer this please lmk.thanks joe
In nature these fish will inhabit both freshwater and brackish waters of the river systems, but they tend to do best in freshwater in the home aquarium. There is no need to add salt, and if you do, keep it to a minimum. See the 'Aquarium Setup' section above for more info on their tank requirements.
fahaka puffers are not saltwater fish, DO NOT switch it to brackish, this would only shorten the lifespan of the fish.
Are there tank mates for the fahaka when it's fully grown?
No, probably not. They are intolerant of other fish. See the Social Behavior section above.
I think you can get away with african cichlids depending on your tank size.
I have a 7 in fahaka puffer that I have had in a 240 gal tank with about 45 african cichlids. I got him when he was about an inch and no problems yet. My puffer hasn't ever eaten a fish that was not about to die or already dead. The cichlids are breeding all the time and the puffer just ignores them. The only problem I have is when it is time to feed I have to wait until the cichlids are sleep because they are way faster then the puffer and will steal his food and it cost way too much to feed cichlids live food.
I have to say that I disagree with the "coolest comments." A Fahaka needs much more space than a 10 gallon tank can provide. Essentially, a minimum tank size of 125 gallons is required. At 9 months, a healthy Fahaka should be around 7 to 10 inches, depending on the size it was when you first purchased it. They should grow approximately 1 inch per month. At this point, it is likely that the fish is stunted which will later on lead to health problems and a shortened life. Do your fish a favor and get it a bigger tank. Keeping it in a 10 gallon tank is just cruel.
For a fahaka. that is way cruel. 10 gallons ! omg. I put my spotted puffer in a ten gallon tank when I first got him but that only lasted a week. I went and bought ANOTHER tank for him. I could tell he was not happy at all. I have a Fahaka now I just got him yesterday and so far he is awesome. No tank mates though, he is pretty aggresive and stalks his prey. I will wait till I can see he has calmed down some. But ten gal. is WAY WAY WAY too small, even for a spotted puffer, and those dont get very big at all puffers get huge. Ten gal. is animal cruelty dude..
He said 55 gal
My Fahaka Puffer fish is about 11 inchs in length, I've had him about an year, he was about 5 inchs when I got it, he is doing well the fish shop I got it says he won't ever get to 18 inchs in captivity but more to the size off 12-16 inchs and they recommended me getting an 48x18x26 tank whick is about 370 litres UK size, I got an feeling it stll won't be big enough, but can't tell the wife.lol. The fish shop also said I won't be able to keep any tank mates in with him but I've had an Ruby Shark with the puffer for the last 6 months, but what might off helped is that I always had other fish in with him
I have a striped puffer for about two years, he/she is awsome! Very docile so far, actually I have a hard time keeping things in the tank with him/her, but not because he bothers anyone, it's the other way around! We call him "lil man" he's been so awesome. He stopped eating live food a year ago, I got worried something was wrong as he was keeping a couple guppies as buddies. But I got him eating a variety of frozen foods. He's about 7" long, plump, beautiful blue eyes. He shares his tank with two small clowns, anemone, blue damsel, and an engineer goby that's huge. oh yea, Patrick, the chocolate chip star, he gets hand fed too. They are smart, people tend to think fish don't have much brain other than instinct, but I beg to differ!
this is a freshwater fish.... why do u have it in a salt water tank?
Need to change your tank to freshwater!
Have a lineatus, he's a bout 5-6' and lives in a 240G tank... Alone! Reading about you folks having them in 60' 80' hell even a 10G CUP it saddens mé to read, even i know most if not all described here are long gone by now. 18 months old fahaka at what? 6' .. Wonder why when its tortured in a 60 gal.
Sounds like you're puffer has a great home. Although they are slow growing, as I read the comments it looks like just about everyone is in agreement with you... they do need a big tank! I bet yours will live a long healthy life as the king in his 240 gallons:)
I've had my fahaka puffer for about 9 months. Currently he is approximatly 3" and for the time being he is being kept in a 10 gallon. I knew these guys were VERY agressive when I bought him, but since I got him I've had to either hold his food for him or "knock" them unconcious for him to eat anything besides snails or crayfish. I actually had a feeder in the tank with him for more than 6 weeks, without so much as a lunge toward it. So I decided a couple days ago to introduce him to my 90 gallon. I have several fish in there mostly 3" or less, consisting of cichlids, spotted puffers, and angel fish, along with a 20" pleco. Everything went well with him the first 2 days. He only attempted to eat the pleco, which he basically bit his tail, which did no damage, so I wasn't worried. I decided to get a new little silver shark catfish, and when added to the tank he went right to the fahaka. To my surprise, the fahaka moved out of the way and let him go by without so much as a second look. I thought "this is awesome, I'm going to be the first that I know of with a fahaka in a comunity tank!". I was very wrong. No more than 30 seconds later he bit the 3.5" silver in half, with no warning at all. That was the end of his stay in a community tank. He is one of the most beautiful fish I own, but do yourself a favor if you get one, don't attempt community adaptation, unless you don't mind losing some of, if not all of your other fish.
10 gallons is way too small for a fahaka puffer. The fact that he will not eat feeder fish and that you have to knock his prey out for him tells me he will soon refuse all food and waste away. My fahaka Vigourously takes food every day and has been growing on the average 1 inch per month. Also, looks like you helped him by placing him in 90 gallons. That can be seen by the sudden increase in his appetite and interest in eating other fish. This species is being evaluated in 2011 for the new impact of the aquarium trade on it's numbers in the wild. It would be a pity to let yours waste away in a 10 gallon.
I have a fahaka about 2 and a half inches sooo aggressive, even when he's not hungry. If he's in the tank with any feeders I find them floating at the top of the tank, had him with a spotted puffer terrorized it, bugged my albino pleco a bit but now lives together with just the pleco fine.
That 10 gallon tank is not the best idea for a Fahaka puffer. Putting him in the 90 gallon is the best move you can make for him. In the 10 gallon he was restricted, probably bored, therefore leading to the lack of eating. Adding him to the 90 gallon probably woke him up...add some live ghost shrimp or crayfish to the tank, he will turn his attention to them and not to your fish. I have had one for about 3-4 months now and he is about 4-5 inches in a 125g tank. I have a variety of other fish in the tank with him. Just like yours he nipped the tail of the pleco but to this day has not made any effort for the other fish. The tank is large enough for them all to swim and roam without bothering each other. I usually pick up a couple of small crayfish every week or so and drop them in the tank. When the fahaka is hungry he finds one and takes it out instead of bothering the fish. Not to say that he will never bother the fish and it's a perfect solution, I am waiting on the day I wake up and find fish missing or dead which is why they are all cheaper fish and my more expensive ones are in another tank. However when your Fahaka really starts to grow you can expect more dead or missing fish so you may want to really concentrate on keeping him in the 90 gallon now...he's going to need it!
I've had my Fahaka for about a year now, he's roughly 8" long. He lives with an Albino Blood Oscar, a Jack Dempsey, a peacock ciclid and a pleco. He eats feeder fish by the bag full, apple and assassin snails, along with some crayfish and freeze dried krill. He has a a great personality but as most of his species is super aggressive. His tank mates have been chosen carefully through much trial and error.
I have mine with a JD also. They actually make decent tank mates. I made sure the JD was 6 inches before I put a 3 inch FP in the tank. They also live with an 8 inch Sengal Bichir each has its own home and territory. The bichir gets bullied sometimes but mostly by the JD had a little fin nipping at first. I changed the substrate color and size in half of my tank rearranged and added some more complex swimming and hidding Decor to my tank and everyone is now happy and have been for some time now.
My Fahaka is still growing he is only 6 inches right now, but he is in the middle of a growth spurt. He grows an inch about every month! He gets fed shrimp, snails, worms, crabs, crabs, and more crabs. I swear every time I feed him a crab he grows the next day. Hes got a comfy 200 gallon ready for him in a couple months. I would have never known he needed all this stuff if I didn't stumble on freshwaterpufferfish.org lots of great info on puffers!
Amazing