Skinny puffer, weird belly
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.
- G S P Freak
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 421
- Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:58 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: Figure Eight Puffers, Binks (29G)
Dwarf puffers, named "He-Puffer" (male) and She-puffer (female) (10g)
Non-puffer:
1 Red-eared slider, Tortuga (female)(100g)
1 rubber lip pleco - Location (country): USA, Indiana
Skinny puffer, weird belly
He just recently started looking like this the last 2 weeks or so, and I thought it was IPs (I'm guilty of having given him nonquarantined ghost shrimp, so I treated him with prazipro twice... 5 days each treatment with 3 days rest between treatments. He was treated for IPs when I got him, and was successfully cured. He's also been exhibiting a lumpy stomache at times and has a grey ring around his mouth. I ordered jungle fizz parasite tabs to see if those work any better, but for the moment I'm at loss as to what I can do. I don't believe he's constipated either as waterchanges show lots of poop, and his stomach goes down rather quickly.
Water parameters are as follows: ammo; 0, nitri; 0, nitra; 10-20
Thanks in advance for replies.
No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish.
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
-
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 971
- Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 1:03 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): North Carolina, USA
- Location: North Carolina, USA
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
How have you been using the IP treatment? Are you following dosing directions on the box, or what exactly?
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -- Henry Ford
- purplecandle
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 2019
- Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 2:18 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Currently
2 Adult Green Spotted Puffers
1 Fangs Puffer
1 Baby Green Spotted Puffer - Location (country): USA (NC)
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
What are you feeding him and how often...
- G S P Freak
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 421
- Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:58 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: Figure Eight Puffers, Binks (29G)
Dwarf puffers, named "He-Puffer" (male) and She-puffer (female) (10g)
Non-puffer:
1 Red-eared slider, Tortuga (female)(100g)
1 rubber lip pleco - Location (country): USA, Indiana
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
Soak a small piece of food with a few drops of the prazipro and garlic for about an hour before feeding. I treated like this for once a day, for 5 days. Wait 3 days and repeated. This is how I treated for ips the first time, when I first got the puffer; the directions I followed were from Pufferpunk, because the bottle only tells how to dose the water.
No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish.
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
-
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 971
- Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 1:03 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): North Carolina, USA
- Location: North Carolina, USA
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
I'm gonna guess immunity to that specific treatment, then. I think switching the treatment will solve the issue. As asked already, what specific foods is he getting?
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -- Henry Ford
- G S P Freak
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 421
- Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:58 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: Figure Eight Puffers, Binks (29G)
Dwarf puffers, named "He-Puffer" (male) and She-puffer (female) (10g)
Non-puffer:
1 Red-eared slider, Tortuga (female)(100g)
1 rubber lip pleco - Location (country): USA, Indiana
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
Haha sorry, I didnt see ur post pc, because I was typing a post when u posted =o. Um, I feed raw shell-on shrimp peices, blackworms, bloodworms, snails, and the very occaisonal dried krill. I feed every other day, depending on how his stomach looks. If immunity is an issue, hopefully jungle fizz tabs will help...
No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish.
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
-
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 971
- Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 1:03 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): North Carolina, USA
- Location: North Carolina, USA
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
Definitely make sure any foods that come from a super market or anywhere like that are frozen for a full 24-48 hours to ensure everything is dead. Also. quarantine anything live that you feed for 2-4 weeks before feeding it. When feeding the shell on shrimp, make sure it's also non-seasoned and everything. (I'm sure you already know that, but just wanna make sure =])
I think the Jungle treatment will work. If it doesn't, then we will have to figure out what else it could possibly be. He doesn't have any other odd symptoms or anything does he?
I think the Jungle treatment will work. If it doesn't, then we will have to figure out what else it could possibly be. He doesn't have any other odd symptoms or anything does he?
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -- Henry Ford
- G S P Freak
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 421
- Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:58 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: Figure Eight Puffers, Binks (29G)
Dwarf puffers, named "He-Puffer" (male) and She-puffer (female) (10g)
Non-puffer:
1 Red-eared slider, Tortuga (female)(100g)
1 rubber lip pleco - Location (country): USA, Indiana
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
The food is always frozen days beforehand Im sure, Im not lucky enough to have a fresh seafood market, so the shrimp comes from a pre-packaged bag. Im careful to make sure to get 100% raw, shell-on shrimp with no added ingredients =P. I really think the ghost shrimp gave him ips, so shame on me for not having quarantined them =/. Besides the odd stomach skinny/lumpiness and the grey around his mouth, he seems to be exhibiting normal behavior, showing no obvious signs of stress at all. Im counting on the jungler tabs, so I hope they work!
p.s. thank you all for the prompt replies =)
p.s. thank you all for the prompt replies =)
No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish.
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
-
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 971
- Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 1:03 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): North Carolina, USA
- Location: North Carolina, USA
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
No problem. I hope they work, too. Be sure to keep us updated on how he's doing and how well they work and everything. =]
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -- Henry Ford
- purplecandle
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 2019
- Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 2:18 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Currently
2 Adult Green Spotted Puffers
1 Fangs Puffer
1 Baby Green Spotted Puffer - Location (country): USA (NC)
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
Try feeding daily. This may be a nutritional issue...I hope it is...much easier to fix nutritional issues than ips.
-
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 971
- Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 1:03 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): North Carolina, USA
- Location: North Carolina, USA
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
Could be. How big is the puffer? How long have you had it for?purplecandle wrote:Try feeding daily. This may be a nutritional issue...I hope it is...much easier to fix nutritional issues than ips.
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -- Henry Ford
- G S P Freak
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 421
- Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:58 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: Figure Eight Puffers, Binks (29G)
Dwarf puffers, named "He-Puffer" (male) and She-puffer (female) (10g)
Non-puffer:
1 Red-eared slider, Tortuga (female)(100g)
1 rubber lip pleco - Location (country): USA, Indiana
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
Honestly IDk, I haven't tried to measure him lol. I would say between 1.5-2 inches, and I've had the puffer for about eight months, he hasnt been this skinny since then. When I got him he was skinny but gained weight after being treated for ips. I'm going to try to go to walmart tomorrow and pick up some red-worms to see if these fatten him up til I get the jungle tabs. Sorry, but seeing as this happened suddenly, and he hasn't been this skinny for months, I dont feel like this is a nutritional issue.
No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish.
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
-John Ruskin-
"I have to laugh when people call fish-keeping a hobby, if anything, it's a science... and for some, an obsession." - Me
- defool89
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 821
- Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 12:40 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 1 Fahaka
- Location (country): United states, Garland Texas
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
Sadly ips can negativley affect the zepplins long after they made his belly their home...some live with ips a good lifetime. Exhaust all ip options for your bud.
You have the right to bear Puffers.
- purplecandle
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 2019
- Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 2:18 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Currently
2 Adult Green Spotted Puffers
1 Fangs Puffer
1 Baby Green Spotted Puffer - Location (country): USA (NC)
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
I agree, I would suspect IPs as well, but increase feedings anyway while treating for the IPs, might help him bulk up.G S P Freak wrote:Honestly IDk, I haven't tried to measure him lol. I would say between 1.5-2 inches, and I've had the puffer for about eight months, he hasnt been this skinny since then. When I got him he was skinny but gained weight after being treated for ips. I'm going to try to go to walmart tomorrow and pick up some red-worms to see if these fatten him up til I get the jungle tabs. Sorry, but seeing as this happened suddenly, and he hasn't been this skinny for months, I dont feel like this is a nutritional issue.
-
- Mentor
- Posts: 6155
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:39 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location (country): East Coast, USA
Re: Skinny puffer, weird belly
I cannot see the mouth well enough from the picture, how are the incisors? That is a much softer diet than I use for these fish.
Where's the fish? - Neptune