Nooki the Fahaka - Tetraodon lineatus

So introducing my first puffer, Nooki. He is probably the longest of my puffers that I have out of the current collection. Here is a picture when he first came to me and he was a mere 1.5" and as you can see super stressed!

But after settling in and copious amounts of food and attention he gained weight and colour and soon became my adorable puppy.

I have now had him a good 5 months and he is growing steadily. I managed to get him to hold still the other day and he was 5" exact. He eats pretty much any food that is meaty given to him and his absolute favourites are gut loaded river shrimp and earthworms. He is a pretty docile fahaka in his juvenile state and I currently have him with Odessa Barbs and a small shoal of Neon Tetras. Except for an episode where he ate one of the Odessas when I refused to feed him (which the Odessa disagreed with him afterwards) he hasn't touched anyone since.

Actually his absolute favourite are freshwater crabs, here is a video of him feeding:

I recently moved the tank about and here he is loving the pipe even though it has been there since day one.

Just a little on fahakas, they are pretty aggressive and it is up to the owner and the fahaka if tankmates will be tolerated. They are one of the Giant Puffer Species and averagely can get up to 18 inches. As they grow they develop these gorgeous stripes, some have more maroon ones than others.