Our new Fahaka puffer

[Natedog]

We got a 6 inch Fahaka puffer the other day and am needing some advice. At the moment we have him in a 75 gallon with the intent to get him a 120, from what we have read this is a better choice then the 150 we already have. We have a filter for a 110 on it, we read that they produce a lot of nastiness. We set it up with some holly rock and one chunk of drift wood. We got him from our LFS a few days after they got them and ever since we got him home he has done nothing but sit in the corner and sulk. At the fish store he was full of personality and his colors where much more vibrant. WTF?

[eklikewhoa]

how long was the tank setup?
More background on the tank set up and some info of where the fahaka came from would help figure out what it could be.

[barrettsline]

You just moved him from a know tank to an unknown tank. Puffers take it personal. Mine took 2 1/2 weeks to get used to his new home. When I moved it to its 150 gallon home it took another 2 1/2 weeks to get over being pissed from being moved. He'll be fine wait to feed 3 days then try something small.

[nightster]

Sounds like its mad about the move. As far as filtration, fahakas can make a big mess so over filtration and water changes are key...

[Natedog]

If I wanted to do a planted tank with the Puffer is it better to do a combo of plant substrate/fertilizer and sand or just straight up sand? We want to set this up really nicely. As for feeding him we got him a small craw fish and a few ghost shrimp but he has shown no interest in either. We also dropped one of the frozen clams we picked up at City Pet for him, but don't know if it was him or the other critters in the tank that ate it. It's just odd, our last puffer didn't react this way at all.

[eklikewhoa]

I would probably stick with just sand and get some hardy plants to go with it. Lots of vallisneria and then anubias/ferns.

[Natedog]

Sand or eco-complete? We have a two bulb T5 on it, is that going to give me enough light to grow a good assortment of plants? I want to have a good contrast with some reds, dark and light greens. Also wondering if tank mates are possible, and if so what is best to put in with it? Our last one was in with a bunch of large loach, red tailed shark, and what not. All of it was larger then him yet he still chased it around, so I am a bit hesitant to put anything in there with the new one seeing how he is much bigger then the last one.

[eklikewhoa]

Hmm with your plant expectations you would need eco-complete out of the two, with that said you would need more than just the dual bulb T5 which would need to be T5HO.

[Natedog]

Pesce Palla, Italian for Puffer Fish and the little puffers name, has been successfully from the 40g quarantine tank to the 75g in witch he will live until we have to upgrade him to a bigger tank.