# Fahaka shots



## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

Just shot a couple of the Fahaka to throw up here. Currently about 8" living the good life in a 120 (60x18x26). Very personable fish, it's amazing the color changes he goes through, from almost a lavender to a deep purple.


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## deezdrama (Jul 9, 2005)

Nice looking fish-never heard of them are they cichlids?


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## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

deezdrama said:


> Nice looking fish-never heard of them are they cichlids?


No, they are from the Family Tetraodontidae, it's a fresh water puffer from Africa. Latin name is Tetraodon lineatus


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## patriotsfan (Sep 6, 2005)

thats one cool fish. how big of a tank do they need and hows the little rhom doing?


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## furious piranha (Mar 22, 2005)

are they a brackish water fish...that tank is cool


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## timmy (Mar 29, 2004)

HOLY sh*t!

Great Job!



furious piranha said:


> are they a brackish water fish...that tank is cool


Fresh :rasp:


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

hello little guy
awesome looking puffer
what does he eat???????????
do they need to file there teeth doen like sw puffers??i know mine need to eat alot of hardshell food to keep the teeth well trimmed


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## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

patriotsfan said:


> hello little guy
> awesome looking puffer
> what does he eat???????????
> do they need to file there teeth doen like sw puffers??i know mine need to eat alot of hardshell food to keep the teeth well trimmed


He eats shell on shrimp like he's getting paid for it and I throw all the big pond snails from my planted tank in with him and don't see them anymore so I know he's hunting them down. Yeah, he needs the hard shell stuff to keep his teeth worn down also. I saw his teeth for the first time the other day!! Holy crap!! I definately don't want to get bitten by him!

Oh, Timmy, thanks! He's put on a little size, huh? Thanks again for him, he's a real cool fish to own, interactive as hell and a savage when it comes to feeding. You should swing down sometime and check him out.


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## timmy (Mar 29, 2004)

Oh, Timmy, thanks! He's put on a little size, huh? Thanks again for him, he's a real cool fish to own, interactive as hell and a savage when it comes to feeding. You should swing down sometime and check him out.
[/quote]

Yes, i have to. Mybe this weekend :laugh:


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## mr.bearhasyourlady (Jun 1, 2004)

there the best ever hands down


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## psychofish (Jun 5, 2004)

Looks Great,

Ive always wanted one, but dont have the room


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## jan (Apr 24, 2004)

The #1 amongst puffers







Yours is looking great and the pattern is so Sweet, I like it









How is his temper/personality?


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## CichlidAddict (Jul 1, 2005)

He looks flawless - perfect striping.
I really miss mine. Have you fed him any live crayfish or crabs? Those were my fahaka's favorite. I'd distract him on one end of the tank and drop a crayfish in the other end.

It's amazing how strong their teeth are. They can even crunch up the large claws on crabs.


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## bmpower007 (Feb 11, 2005)

Nice colors on him, what is there Max size?


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## oojit (Feb 24, 2005)

Nice


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## SLANTED (Dec 7, 2003)

That fahaka has some great coloration. You're going to have to clear out some of the decoration once he starts to grow into a monster. My fahaka grew from 2" to 14" in 10 months!


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## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

jan said:


> That fahaka has some great coloration. You're going to have to clear out some of the decoration once he starts to grow into a monster. My fahaka grew from 2" to 14" in 10 months!


I don't think he's on track to match that growth rate but he is growing pretty fast.I hope he slows down some, I can't upgrade his tank and don't want to have to get rid of him, at least not for a good long while. How big did yours end up at and what size tank? The stump is definately going to have to come out when he gets bigger. The plants are weighted at the bottom with pebbles siliconed in the bases and are totally mobile, he moves them around all the time.


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## SLANTED (Dec 7, 2003)

I fed mine a very good diet and he was fed everyday. He was orignally in a 60 gal tank unti he was about 6" and then I moved him into a 135 gal tank. I had a XP3 on the tank but even with that the bio-load was maxed out. Due to their feeding habbits and need for great water conditions, I had to do 50% water changes and gravel vacs weekly. That got tiresome. When I sold him he was about 15" and as thick as a football. Just a beast. One of the best fish I ever had. He would take food from the hand and beg for food like a puppy. Perhaps in the future when things free up I'll get another one. What diet do you have yours on?


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## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

SLANTED said:


> I fed mine a very good diet and he was fed everyday. He was orignally in a 60 gal tank unti he was about 6" and then I moved him into a 135 gal tank. I had a XP3 on the tank but even with that the bio-load was maxed out. Due to their feeding habbits and need for great water conditions, I had to do 50% water changes and gravel vacs weekly. That got tiresome. When I sold him he was about 15" and as thick as a football. Just a beast. One of the best fish I ever had. He would take food from the hand and beg for food like a puppy. Perhaps in the future when things free up I'll get another one. What diet do you have yours on?


He eats 1-2 medium shrimp a day off of a pair of long hemostats plus I throw in probably 25-30 pond snails a week that are between 3/8 and 1/2". He seems to find them all because I haven't seen any eggs or snails crawling about. I generally feed for 4 days then skip one, keeps him actively searching for food.I'm going to have to set up a snail breeding tank to keep up with the demand though, I'm over-collecting out of my planted tank. I'm thinking of breeding apple snails for the size.
The tanks pretty heavily filtered, I use a w/d that holds 5 gallons of 1" Coralife bioballs, a Fluval 404 with the bottom tray full of blue foam and the top 3 trays of Biomax and an AC500 with a sponge and a bag of Biomax on top. I also use a Magnum 350 weekly as a water vacuum to pick up any detrius I can see on the substrate. I do probably 35-40% water changes weekly. It's not wearing on me too much yet.


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## Onion (Sep 20, 2005)

Great looking Puffer! If Im getting the right tank size, Im going to try finding a Puffer.


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## SLANTED (Dec 7, 2003)

Don't bother with the snail breeding. They don't grow fast enough for it to be economically feasible. Once a fahaka reaches 8" or so, snails really start to become impractical. To keep their beak trimmed you can feed them crayfish, mussels on the half shell, as well as clams on the half shell, and crab legs if you have the means. But a crayfish every two weeks is more than enough to keep their beaks trimmed. They are not like the salt water puffers where it is very critical to keep their beaks trimmed.


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## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

SLANTED said:


> Don't bother with the snail breeding. They don't grow fast enough for it to be economically feasible. Once a fahaka reaches 8" or so, snails really start to become impractical. To keep their beak trimmed you can feed them crayfish, mussels on the half shell, as well as clams on the half shell, and crab legs if you have the means. But a crayfish every two weeks is more than enough to keep their beaks trimmed. They are not like the salt water puffers where it is very critical to keep their beaks trimmed.


Thanks for the information, I'm glad to hear about the teeth, I was a little concerned about the speed of their growth. Guess I'll start eating more shellfish, I'll be willing to share.







I've definately been eating more shrimp in the last few months.


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