Hi,
I have a figure of 8 puffer and have noticed that his stomach is slightly concave the following day after feeding. I observed this about two weeks ago and having researched on this forum, suspect that he might be suffering with internal parasites.
ph 8.2
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrates 20ppm
Salinity 1.008
Temperature 78 Degrees
Tank Size 15 gallons no other inhabitants.
Feed once every day with a variety of food, snails, bloodworms, Mysis shrimp, krill, river shrimp and king prawn. And fast one day of the week.
50% water changes once a week, taking out all ornaments, vacuuming gravel and cleaning out external filter. Last water change carried out yesterday. My tap water has a Nitrate level of 10ppm and I use Prime to condition the water.
No products added to tank.
No changes made to the tank itself, although I have been doing a lot of DIY close buy which has involved a lot of banging, drilling and sanding......not sure if this could have stressed him out?
The aquarium has been set up for the last 10 months and it was fishless cycled.
I have had my Puffer since a juvenile measuring one inch and he is now roughly 2 inches in length. He is still very active, to the point of being hyper and still eating well and constantly looking for food. I have not noticed any change in behaviour, just the slightly concave stomach the day after feeding.
I have carried out plenty of research, read the excellent article on treating IP in the Puffer Library and read many threads in the forum. The problem I am having is that all of the medications mentioned in the article and threads I am struggling to find in the UK. PraziPro which is highly recommended can't be bought in the UK.
The only UK products that I can buy with Praziquantel are "Vertarak Professional Fluke solve" and "Kusuri Fluke P" but I have no idea if these are suitable and can be administered internally, they are meant to be added to the tank as a "bath".
I have spoken to my LFS, but they have been unhelpful.
I have spoken to a vet who deals with fish, but they will not prescribe medication unless they see my puffer.
My only other option is to make my own medication using pumpkin seeds as described in the IP article in the puffer library, but it was suggested that this be used more as a preventative measure.
So I am desperate for some help. If you agree that my puffer could have internal parasites I would be most grateful if someone could recommend a medication that I can purchase in the UK to treat him.
Many thanks in advance for your assistance, help and advise.
Figure 8 Puffer IP Treatment - UK
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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Iliveinazoo
- Fahaka Puffer
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- Location: Southampton
Re: Figure 8 Puffer IP Treatment - UK
Unfortunately i can't help with what IP medication to buy but why not buy one of the fluke products that you mentioned and follow the instructions on the bottle? It's worth a shot.
In the past when i have noticed my puffer's tummy getting thinner faster than usual i have just fed him a little bit extra and a little bit more often and it has always put him back to normal.
In the past when i have noticed my puffer's tummy getting thinner faster than usual i have just fed him a little bit extra and a little bit more often and it has always put him back to normal.
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Minipuff
- Dwarf Puffer
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- Location (country): Norway
Re: Figure 8 Puffer IP Treatment - UK
Can you get Sera tremazol in the UK? It contains praziquantel, same as in Prazipro.
Re: Figure 8 Puffer IP Treatment - UK
Many thanks for your responses.
My reluctance about the medications I can buy in the UK are based on the fact that they are meant to be administered by "bathing" and I recall reading a thread that suggested that to treat IP they need to be administered orally?
I can purchase Sera Tremazol from the internet in the UK. Can this be administered orally in the same way PraziPro can by soaking food in it? The instructions suggest that again it is meant to be used for bathing?
Your comments and advise is much appreciated.
My reluctance about the medications I can buy in the UK are based on the fact that they are meant to be administered by "bathing" and I recall reading a thread that suggested that to treat IP they need to be administered orally?
I can purchase Sera Tremazol from the internet in the UK. Can this be administered orally in the same way PraziPro can by soaking food in it? The instructions suggest that again it is meant to be used for bathing?
Your comments and advise is much appreciated.
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bertie 83
- Moderator
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Re: Figure 8 Puffer IP Treatment - UK
You can get prazipro off amazon but it will set you back around £50.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Figure 8 Puffer IP Treatment - UK
Yes, just soak his favorite foods in the med. You may need to add garlic to enhance flavor.szentia wrote:Many thanks for your responses.
My reluctance about the medications I can buy in the UK are based on the fact that they are meant to be administered by "bathing" and I recall reading a thread that suggested that to treat IP they need to be administered orally?
I can purchase Sera Tremazol from the internet in the UK. Can this be administered orally in the same way PraziPro can by soaking food in it? The instructions suggest that again it is meant to be used for bathing?
Your comments and advise is much appreciated.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Re: Figure 8 Puffer IP Treatment - UK
After having contacted a number of retailers in the USA, I have now ordered some PraziPro from Ebay. Hopefully it will arrive OK and not be confiscated at customs. Out of interest, Is there much of a difference between the two, Is one better than the other or do they all pretty much do the same thing? Prazi Pro could take as much as a month to reach me so having Sera Tremazoi as a back-up is really useful.
Is it recommended to carry out regular precautionary treatment for internal parasites or only when your puffer is showing signs of infestation? My puffer is kept on his own and the only live food I feed are snails that I breed myself in a snail only tank, so once he has been treated for internal parasites I struggle to see how he could catch any?
Many thanks for all of your responses.
Is it recommended to carry out regular precautionary treatment for internal parasites or only when your puffer is showing signs of infestation? My puffer is kept on his own and the only live food I feed are snails that I breed myself in a snail only tank, so once he has been treated for internal parasites I struggle to see how he could catch any?
Many thanks for all of your responses.
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
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2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: Figure 8 Puffer IP Treatment - UK
Is he showing symptoms?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Re: Figure 8 Puffer IP Treatment - UK
Hi Pufferpunk,
After feeding my puffer so that he has a nicely rounded belly, the same time the next day he has a very slightly concave belly. Nothing as bad as you see in some LFS but enough for me to be concerned, perhaps I am being paranoid! So I just wanted to treat him for peace of mind, I was never sure if the LFS I bought him from had ever treated him. I have never seen him poop, so can't comment if it is stringy or not. When I carry out a weekly water change the poop that I vacuum up seems to be solid and pellet like in shape. Do you think my diagnosis is correct or do you think I am worrying unnecessarily? Could it be something else? Otherwise he seems perfectly happy, super active constantly hunting for food and swimming around his tank, he is never stationary when I am around. Recently he has started what sound like grinding his beak and opening his mouth as though he is after food.
Many thanks for your help.
After feeding my puffer so that he has a nicely rounded belly, the same time the next day he has a very slightly concave belly. Nothing as bad as you see in some LFS but enough for me to be concerned, perhaps I am being paranoid! So I just wanted to treat him for peace of mind, I was never sure if the LFS I bought him from had ever treated him. I have never seen him poop, so can't comment if it is stringy or not. When I carry out a weekly water change the poop that I vacuum up seems to be solid and pellet like in shape. Do you think my diagnosis is correct or do you think I am worrying unnecessarily? Could it be something else? Otherwise he seems perfectly happy, super active constantly hunting for food and swimming around his tank, he is never stationary when I am around. Recently he has started what sound like grinding his beak and opening his mouth as though he is after food.
Many thanks for your help.