How to get rid of internal worms...

[Tihsho]

Ok I finally found a place that gets the occasional SAP in but they said out of the 100 they or order a few survive because they come in with worms. Is there any way to cure this? And or anyway to flush the worms out of the puffer?

[Myaj]

There sure is. Read this link for some info:

http://www.thepufferforum.net/viewtopic.php?t=7

I personally use Levimasole and Metronizole (sorry if I spelled those wrong) mixed together (using the small scoop that comes in the metronizole to measure one scoop of both) in a little bit of water, then soak some food (preferably something the fish really really likes, like bloodworms) in it for a while to soak up the meds. The fish won't like the taste, so you may have to fast them for a few days so the gobble up the food without paying attention to the taste. I've treated all my puffers this way and my other fish too, especially any that were wild caught. FYI, the Levimasole is a livestock (pig) dewormer, you can get it at most farm supply places.

If a fish is too far gone with the worms that it refuses to eat, you can treat the water with the Metronizole I believe.

I wonder too if maybe they think they are loosing so many to parasites because they waste away and don't eat and die... maybe its their overgrown teeth needing a trim and preventing them from eating? Just an idea.. most likely any fish at a store are from wild caught and won't have teeth problems that soon but it may be something to check.

[Bred]

I've never heard of any case where dosing anti-parasitics to the water column actually had any effect. The idea is to medicate their food, exactly as Myaj says. An hour soak gets the job done. Live foods can also be soaked in meds (will likely die in the meantime, but they still have appeal), and so far I've had best success with feeding med-soaked live snails to SAPs. After soaking, crush the shell between tweezers and hold them in the water for the fish to eat.

Garlic extract may be added to the medicated soaking solution to increase appetite in picky fish.

[Jayhawk]

You can medicate the tank with levamisol. Here's a good link with information on how to do it:

http://www.loaches.com/faq_parasites.html

Granted, the high dose of levamisol in the water may be hard on a puffer, but it works fine with loaches so it'll likely work with puffers. I'd definitely try it if you can't get your puffer to eat foods soaked in an anti-parasitic medicine. I've used the water column treatment on wild caught loaches and on a camallanus infested paradise fish.

Eric

[Bred]

Alright, now I've heard a case!

[Jayhawk]

I'm often the exception to the rule , but it really does work if needed. I think it's much easier, and safer, to treat just the foods if they're still willing to eat.

[Myaj]

Oh I forgot, with any fish that's heavily infested, the die off of the parasites might be too much for their system to handle, and the fish could die simply from that. So try to get the healthiest looking puffer you can.

And yes, Jayhawk is right, its the Levimasole that you can add to the water to deworm. Its not as cheap and effecient as just soaking the food but if the fish won't eat anymore, it can be the only option.

[Bred]

Not to state the obvious, but you can save a whole lot of money / heartache by holding off until the fish have been sufficiently quarantined and/or treated in the LFS. Buying diseased fish is something we all should try to avoid. Unfortunately, internal parasites are not only common in puffers but often ignored by stores. As Myaj says, pick the best of the crop or hold off until you find some healthy specimens.

[Myaj]

Unfortunately, most stores are on a centralized filtration system so there never is any "real" quarentining. I have seen a few where they do have individual filtration for each tank though.

I think most, if not all, wild caught fish are going to have parasites, and the longer they go without them being treated, the worse off they'll be. They may have lasted in the wild with the parasites, but the stress of being captured, handled, shipped, handled some more, bagged again and put into yet another tank is enough to weaken their immune systems and let the parasites get a much stronger hold than they would have normally. So I think the sooner they get treated and in a good, clean quarentine tank and out of the store, the better.

[Pamela]

Is there not a difference between salt and freshwater fish - in that saltwater fish do take water into their guts, and freshies don't?
Maybe that's something to think about when medicating the water.
Pami.

[RTR]

FW fish don't drink water, SW fish drink lots of water. That makes it difficult to get water-based meds into a FW fish's gut.

[Tihsho]

Not to state the obvious, but you can save a whole lot of money / heartache by holding off until the fish have been sufficiently quarantined and/or treated in the LFS. Buying diseased fish is something we all should try to avoid. Unfortunately, internal parasites are not only common in puffers but often ignored by stores. As Myaj says, pick the best of the crop or hold off until you find some healthy specimens.

The store I found these guys for sale in likes to buy in bulk,around a 100 per shipment (im not that great of a fan of that idea), but they keep them in 20 longs or 10 gallon tanks. That is why I wanted to get some as soon as they got them in. The manager said they get them in 'once in a while' so I would rather save as many as I can and keep them out of a small over crowded tank(s). They also had dwarfs (about 70-100 or so) in a 20 long that is just in humane.

But the thing was, the manager became all defensive when I asked him if they got any other species of freshwater puffers in. I asked 'bout the palembang, the red eye, arrowhead, congo, and a few others and he said "Well we have gotten them in before, but we don't like to order them cause they keep killing eachother or just beating eachother up so no one wants them!" and I responded with "Well, what size tank did you have them in and did you have any sort of refuge for them?" he responded with "The tanks you see is around here are what we use. And no, we did not put any refuge in their for the fish, that would mean using up products we can 'sell'. Plus we are in a business to 'sell' the fish, not to keep them in a co-existing habitat." And then I told him "Then why do you keep your ciclid (<spelling error there) tanks so sparingly stocked and with refuges?" Then he said, "Well, thats because those fish are one of our 'higher priority' fish that we want customers to buy." So after that I just looked at the driftwood they had, and gravel, then I left.

I hate when places purchase fish they can't even keep.