Worried sap owner

[doraemon]

yes his belly gets round after eating, his body shape was like this when i brought him due to them being the last 2,he also has a lump towards the tail on one side, right now he swims but goes to the bottom and looks like hes rocking and hes not eating today so im off to buy some meds.i just hope he makes it (fingers crossed)..

i will try the garlic as well when i get back

thank you dadof4

p.s should i separate him now from the others?

[Pufferpunk]

Since they have been living together all this time & have been together in your tank, all fish must be treated.

[doraemon]

I went to lfs spoke to a staff member who reccomended waterlifes sterazin,ive used the dose required for my tank and all..

However prior to the medication and present,the skinny puffer is dwelling at the bottom rocking,comes up to swim only briefly..when he swims hes crashing into the plants and sides of tank,hes alo breathing rather hard.

the other healthy puffer so i thought is doing the same,just not dwelling at the bottom but crashing into things as well...and both swim kind of upright rather than forward.

Both are not eating today bloodworms or cockles or snails on the menu..they just let it past..
tried soaking the food in crushed garlic in a feeder but they are not touching it..

i dont know what else to do.i drove over 100miles to get the discus dewormer bcos lfs near me didnt have it in stock..

im really upset,frustrated and annoyed at myself for not checking properly what to look out for when buying from a lfs...however i dont want them to die,i havnt even had a chance to name them yet!
the one who is skinny and breathing heavily is really tearing at my heart strings..i have a lump in my throat seeing it like this...

i really just dont know what else to do....the lfs i got them from is 100miles away and i dont think it will help matters to return them nor put them thru the journey.

[Dadof4]

Do you have an air stone you can add? I don't know much about Sterizin because it is sold in the UK mainly. I know someone on here has used it in the past with an MBU, I'll look for the thread.

[Dadof4]

Did you treat the whole tank, as in add the med to the tank or just the food? I've been reading off this forum and others that initial reaction to Sterizin is what you are describing, not saying it's really normal though, just assumption from anecdotal info. Can you lower your temp at all and still be safe (gives a higher dissolved O2 concentration) and add an airstone?

While you are doing that and waiting for effect I am going to see what info is available from a Vet friend of mine and from the research library at work on what is in this stuff. I have an idea it's actually a anticholonergic medicine mixed with a piprazine base, if so dosing has to be very careful in small fish.

[doraemon]

i have 2 filters running, one fluval u4 which giving out alot of oxygen and current and the cannister which is a fluval 205..they both just seem to be floating about with the current...and now their eyes arnt moving either.

[Dadof4]

OK, big water change and add carbon to the filter to get rid of the meds now and still add the air stone, they are obviously not tolerating the Sterizin. I'd even remove them and get them in an emergency bucket/tank for a few hours until you get the water changed.

[doraemon]

ive already done the water change prior to reading ur post however they were like this BEFORE i used the sterazin

ive also lowered the temp like u said to 74

what does it mean if they are swimming vertically?

[doraemon]

just to update...they both didnt make it and apparently the lfs said in total they had 5 in stock with the other 3 being purchased by someone else had also reported that they had died too.

Thanks for all ur help anyways

[Black Widow]

AHHHHH IM sorry about your puffer fish !!!! These fish like SAPS , and all other small puffers are not very hardy fish and as such when they get ill treating them is hard!! and Die easily. I would say to you get a fahaka or MBU. Find a healthy one and from day one never feed them crap like Bloodworms or other silly food as these Foods have IP EGGS Inside that the puffers get infected when they swallow these eggs. Only feed puffers Human-Safe Shell fish so Prawns, Fresh cockles and Mussels from your Local Supermarket are best as these foods are unlikely to have IPS and other Nasties... Also Dont mix cheap tropical fish wth puffers! Cheap Tropical fish are full of diseases and get sick all the time! If they are in tank with Puffer he will get sick more often.

Fahaka or MBU are in my opinion the best puffers to have

[LilGreenPuffer]

Well, mbus are beyond nearly everyone's means, and even fahakas are a stretch for most of us.

If you decide to start over, disinfect everything. You don't want your next fish to get whatever these guys had.

[doraemon]

thx for the advice, i would love a fahaka but my tank wouldnt home a fahaka when it grows so rapidly.

My corys are fine and ive done a 50% water change, water parameters are the same.

i have 3 big bags of cockles and mussells i was going to give them obviously crushing them 1st..

i would like to get another fw puffer but right now im still getting over the suffering and im questioning if its my fault..keep thinking what i could of done wrong apart from not treat them for deworming on 1st day.

then again ive only had them 2days..

[trekenk]

I would say to you get a fahaka or MBU.

Fahaka or MBU are in my opinion the best puffers to have

I'm sorry blackwindow but I really don't think that is good advice to give everyone. Yes MBU are beautiful fish but as LilGreenPuffer pointed out they just aren't suited for most of your home fish keepers. A lot of people find their way to The Puffer Forum in search of good advice, suggesting they get a MBU or even a Fahaka in some cases isn't good advice. Sorry just my opinion.

i would like to get another fw puffer but right now im still getting over the suffering and im questioning if its my fault..keep thinking what i could of done wrong apart from not treat them for deworming on 1st day.

then again ive only had them 2days..

Sorry for your loss doraemon and please don't beat yourself up, we all learn from our mistakes and I think it was to late for these guys anyways.

[doraemon]

thank you for your kind words i really appreciate it..ive been looking at every article in the hospital forum...i guess i should of been much more prepared with meds...at least now i know what to look out for when choosing a healthy puffer and not just feeling sorry for the skinny guys going "save me save me"...with my lack of experience im no where near qualified to save them...hard lesson to learn i know.

even tho i only had them for 2 days somehow they really touched me and seeing something suffer like that just breaks me...as im a virgo and natural perfectionist...im still looking for answers

[pufferpuggirl]

Just for future reference, if you ever need to worm a puffer again, get Kusuri WormerPlus, it's the only one that's gentle enough for puffers. You can't get the kind of wormer here in the UK that you soak their food in, I've already had this conversation with several people, including Dr Neale Monks. So the Kusuri is about as good as it gets over here, until someone comes out with something else. And I don't believe it would hurt any of your other fish, as I've wormed a tank with guppies in it and they came out fine, even the very tiny ones.