My new Figure 8

[JRC3]

Jungle and Tetra tabs are the easiest to find. But I also have PraziPro and it seems like I can use a larger dose before it becomes unpalatability for the fish. At least with dwarf puffers...It's been a while and I don't really remember treating F8s.

Seems like everyone has succes with either.

[G S P Freak]

I too have had success with prazipro, when I treated my f8. He looks much better btw!

[abcdefghi]

So, as it turns out I have both Jungle tabs and some Fenbendazole (liquid) already on hand, what kind of foods are best to soak in these? If using the tabs, should I dissolve them first in a little water, ten let the food sit in the water for a short time, then feed? Would something like bloodworms soak any of the meds up?

Different topic, kind of, since his ich is mostly cleared up (visibly at least, I still plan to keep the extra water changes/elevated temps until Wednesday), I am looking at switching substrate. Is it going to be fine to keep him in there while I first remove the existing substrate, and secondly add the sand? I am sure the water will become cloudy during the switch, but will it be OK for the fish to stay in there? In the past I have left fish in the tank, but with him recovering I don't know if I should, but also don't really want to stress him by catching him and putting him in a bucket for a couple hours.

[JRC3]

So, as it turns out I have both Jungle tabs and some Fenbendazole (liquid) already on hand, what kind of foods are best to soak in these? If using the tabs, should I dissolve them first in a little water, ten let the food sit in the water for a short time, then feed? Would something like bloodworms soak any of the meds up?

Yeah, a few tblspoons of water for the meds. I think a crushed snail does best. The med actually starts to break the snail down pretty quickly. I figure if it's breaking it down then it must be absorbing. 15 minutes or so. And I dose as strong as I can until the fish won't accept it.

[Darkling]

cute little thing

[abcdefghi]

A bit of a busy weekend for the little guy... fed him some brine shrimp soaked in Jungle parasite clear, he ate a good amount (indicated by his fat stomach) so I am fairly certain he took in a decent amount of the medicine. Also switched out his substrate to aragonite sand, he was NOT happy at me messing up the tank, but the water cleared after a day and I then put back in his rocks/wood/plants. I also took a pump out of my 55G and put in the 29G for him, as I had noticed him hanging out in the current from the filter output. I will probably pick up another pump for the 55G.

Fed him a baby clam yesterday, definitely only need 1 of those (probably even a half) to fill him up nicely. I now have frozen clams, blood worms and brine shrimp on hand, trying to increase my snail population in the other tanks (somewhat couterproductive to the last several months of slowly eradicating them). Hopefully I can get the numbers up fairly easily, as I definitely do not want to have to try trimming his teeth/beak myself.

Any visible signs of Ich are now completely gone, he looks like a new fish compared to those first pictures. Constantly active, great color and seems to recognize me already as a provider of food. I will try to update the thread with some new pictures this week.

[Pufferpunk]

You need to soak his foods in IP meds for at least 3 days of feedings.
Sounds like you're doing a great job with his tank.

[abcdefghi]

You need to soak his foods in IP meds for at least 3 days of feedings.

OK, will give him another 2 dosages.

As promised here are some updated pictures:





And one of how his tank currently sits:


Now he knows I bring him food, as soon as I open the tank lid he zooms to the top of the water, I actually managed to hand feed him today as well which was cool.

[bertie 83]

Hand feeding puffers is a dangerous game even with small puffers, their bite is powerful. He is looking better but treat as described earlier. Nice looking tank

[abcdefghi]

My wife asked me something similar about hand feeding when I told her, to be honest I don't know how much of the actual food he got as I was very aware of him possibly biting my fingers. It was more of a curiousity thing on my part to see if he would, as my angelfish regularly will take food from my hand (albeit they don't have much of a bite compared to a puffer).

[G S P Freak]

My puffer has bit me a few times when doing water changes lol.. he's a bold little guy. The worst one felt like a pinch, honestly I was more surprised then hurt. I don't even want to think of what even a adult GSP can do though... P.S. I too have hand fed my f8, it got him to trust and become less afraid of me quicker.

[RTR]

Darwin award candidates. Even without the risk of serious damage from a puffer bite, you cannot be certain that there is no Mycobaterium marinum in the tank. That infection in humans can take months to years to cure. NIMFT, not ever. I want to continue keeping fish, without long and $$$ medical care.

[Pufferpunk]

I was recently tested for TB (Mycobaterium marinum), because of the 3 weeks of fevers I had.

[Squaffy]

Great work curing the Ich, and for even taking it on in the first place. I hope you have many happy years together (my F8 is 9 yrs old at the moment - singleton in a 60 G tank).

As said above, be aware that M. marinum is a lurking pathogen in all aquariums, and if you're like me, always fiddling about with different parts of the tank, it's worth investing in some long arm gauntlet gloves.

If you like the idea of hand feeding, at least substitute your hand for some long tongs or even a pair of chopsticks will suffice.

There was an article in reefkeeper ages ago about M. marinum that's worth a read... http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/sp/feature/

[abcdefghi]

Sad to say my F8 passed away yesterday. I am not really sure why, I looked in on him in the morning and he was his usual swim along the top of the tank begging for food self, got home in the evening and was preparing to feed him when I noticed something odd. Found him dead behind a piece of wood in the tank. It sucks. He was such a cool little fish, nothing seemed odd about him in the days leading up to yesterday. Nothing had changed in his tank, the only thing I was having issues with was algae (I had not treated it with anything except changing the hours his light was on).

I am 50/50 on what to do with his tank, part of me wants to try to find either another F8 or a GSP, but I keep thinking it will be nice to just have a single tank to deal with and selling the setup he was in.

R.I.P. Mean buttocks