Best lighting options for Fahaka?

[quasar]

Hey everyone!

So, I finally swapped my substrate from river rocks to sand for my puffer. I used the white aquaquartz pool filter sand since I read that the grains don't get sucked up as much as regular sand and it looks super nice.

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One issue I ran into was with my LED lights the puffer would not stop swimming with its face against the glass. Initially I thought the water was out of whack but it continued to do this even after I added stability and a water hardener. Finally I decided to swap the light back to the old flourecent tubes since they were dimmer and the puffer calmed down and started to explore the new layout.

The light has two Marineland F30T8 Natural Daylight 36", and now this has me wondering if the light setup might be an issue or if there's better options. What would you experienced keepers recommend for lighting, should I keep the setup as is? Are there better bulbs? Or would a dimmable LED system be best?

thanks in advance!

 

[TheBtchWhisperersWife]

Mine swims like this when begging for food or attention. His tank has a painted back and one side against a wall.

I have a Finnex 24/7 planted LED. It's pretty bright.

 

[quasar]

Mine swims like this when begging for food or attention. His tank has a painted back and one side against a wall.

I have a Finnex 24/7 planted LED. It's pretty bright.

I was honestly under the impression it indicated stress. My puffer swam so much with his face on the glass that it left a mark on his upper lip

 

[FahakaPapa]

I don't turn my light on unless I have people over (flex ) or am doing maintenance in the tank (like cleaning the glass). The natural daylight in my kitchen is enough for her. My Fahaka will swim against the glass like that too, just part of her everyday activities.

 

[quasar]

I don't turn my light on unless I have people over (flex ) or am doing maintenance in the tank (like cleaning the glass). The natural daylight in my kitchen is enough for her. My Fahaka will swim against the glass like that too, just part of her everyday activities.

Mine's in the fish tank in the basement so I usually have the light on during the day since it's dark down there (plus I'm in Canada so during the winter we get about 2h of sunlight a day haha). But I guess I just wanted to know overall if lighting should be kept a bit dim since I read they liver in murky water in the Nile.

This morning I walked up to my tank and the puffer started to freak out and swim frantically. I noticed it stopped once I changed out of my PJs. Stupid question, but do certain colors triggers fahakas since they're visual hunters?

 

[TheBtchWhisperersWife]

Mine freaks out if I have a mask on, am carrying something, or otherwise don't look normal. They are intelligent fish and recognize people. I wrote an article with some info on enrichment for them for TFH earlier this year. It has some good info on keeping them from getting bored.