Fahaka Puffer Tankmates

[peterp63]

I'd like to find some small, relatively cheap tankmates for my fahaka puffer. I was thinking neons or some other tetra that're pretty and fast so that they can last. He's big (~10") and may ignore them for the most part, but if he eats them then oh well -- feeders. I keep him well fed on market shrimp (deveined, shell on and mussels). I had a juvie red zebra in there with him at one point and he chased him around every so often to know success. The african would just hide amongst the decor. Well, then the zebra started picking at the puffer and he had to go. Long story short, my puffer ate a puffer for dinner one night :)

So, what type of small, pretty, non-picking fish would you guys and gals suggest?

THANKS!!

[stevenallenbarnard]

tiger barbs, I used to keep convict cichlid fry in the tank with mine, giant danios, red tail or rainbow sharks,

[peterp63]

Aren't barbs fin nippers?? I just wanna make sure adding these smaller pretty fish won't stress him out. That's my #1 concern. What do you think about neons or cardinal tetras?

[stevenallenbarnard]

I don't know about yours but my fahaka was a torpedo, lol. the tigers would be okay as long as you only keep 4-5 of them, depending on the size of it's tank of course. neons and cardinals would probably be okay seeing that your puff is a decent size already. and of course, if you lose one, they are only about a buck or so

[Darbex]

I know nothing about Fahakas but I would go with cardinals too expensive. They run at the cheapest $2 a piece and most likely $3 a pop. Not worth it to me. Get some neons or black skirts

[stevenallenbarnard]

black skirts are just asking to get chomped. i say neons, at least they are small enough to to MAYBE no be seen as a threat (or something worth "playing" with) I think the black skirts would just be too tempting

[peterp63]

Yeah, I think I'll try neons first. Hopefully, they'll just hang around and get chased a bit and not get eaten and eat all of the small pieces of shrimp that the fahaka doesn't ingest. Thanks guys... any other suggestions???

[stevenallenbarnard]

of course you could always try rosy reds first

[peterp63]

nah. then I gotta try to fish them out later on and stick em somewhere else.

[Nickintex]

I don't think you can safely keep other fish with a Fahaka, no matter the size. The one I had before manged to dismantle the armor on a common pleco and easily hunted down feeder guppies and ghost shrimp, until I weaned him onto dry and frozen food.

[peterp63]

I actually got this guy from a HFB member and he had plecos in with him. Every one of these puffers are different. Some more tolerant than others. In a 150 gallon aquarium with lots of decor and space I don't think that he'd have much success chasing down a tiny neon anyways. Especially with his belly full of market shrimp! :)

[Nickintex]

Only one way to find out then.

[peterp63]

Yup.

Dude, thanks for the comments... but, could you change your icon. Your eye is freakin me out!

[Nickintex]

but, could you change your icon. Your eye is freakin me out!

LOL! I'm getting that a lot! What's wrong with my eye?

[Darbex]

It creeps me out too. I kind of miss your dinosaurs now.