Here we go again

[qtrhorse89]

Here we go again. When I first got my fahaka Ratchet I treated him for parasites and thought we had taken care of it. Now it seems they are back and with a vengeance. He's been very mopey lately although he is still eating for me. I'm just not sure how or what to treat him with. The only symptom I'm seeing is occasional long mucousy poop. Sometimes it's the normal, circular, and brown others it's very mucousy. Could this be something besides IPs? I'm wondering if it is IPs if this might explain why his activity levels have completely dropped. I had assumed it was just becuase he had finally setled in to his tank and was just doing what fahakas do. The only time I really see him move is when he thinks I may have food.

The one good thing is I found a vet who specializes in fish in the raleigh area. He works at the exotic vet office I take my ferrets too. I just got off the phone with him and he wants me to try to catch the mucousy poop and bring it into the office for him to take a look at. He also wants to come out to the house and take a look at Ratchet. Unfortunately that's not something I can really afford since the visit alone would run me 55.00 plus whatever procedures and medications he decides to use. I'm hoping I can knock it out on my own. On the plus side it nice to know I now have a vet's office who will see fish on speed dial. So what do you guys think?

1) ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10-15, last I checked the pH was around 7.8
2) 120 gallon- 4inch Fahaka puffer, 7inch Synodontis Decorus, 3 2inch clown loaches (they are temporary residents), 1 2inch bristlenose pleco (can't catch him to get him out)
3) 30% waterchange weekly, use Prime, fed a diet of shrimp, clam, snails, and algae/shrimp pellets for the loaches and pleco
4) no changes made except it's a little dirty right now b/c it's due for a cleaning
5) fishless cycled and it's been running now for 4.5 months

On a ramdom note, he also always has sand hanging off of him, is that normal? I reckon it's just because he lays in and it sticks to him, his tank has pool filter sand in it


Edit: sorry about that
Tank Temp: 81-82 F

[DarkStorm]

white poos could be from shrimp /mussels etc, i get the occasional one.
if hes still got an appetite id guess as to not parasites but that would just be a guess. snag a poop in my opinion have your vet check it out. as far as tank mates goes ive not had a problem at all with aggression and my girl got many tank mates, (tho she hated her fahaka buddies)
as well the pool sand sticks to mine kinda like static.
good luck with him hope all goes well.
edit: didnt see temp specs of your tank.

[Pufferpunk]

How's his waistline?

[qtrhorse89]

Hey PP,

I actually checked on that yesterday evening. He's eating close to a third of a market shrimp or a half a small clam a day. I alternate them, with snails added once a week for desert. I watched his tummy last night and when he first ate, it did what I would think it's supposed to do. It got nice and large and round. Not thirty minutes later I look over and it's very lumpy and unregular. It looked very much like Annabelles tummy when her owner first posted about the epic parasite fight. I tried to get a good look at his vent but he stays so close to the bottom it's impossible to get a view of his underside and I hesitate to net him so I can get a good look at him just because I don't want him thrashing in the net and stressing out. I usually feed him right before I go to bed myself so I haven't been able to get a good look at his poo within the past couple of days or so. I plan on feeding him early saturday and staring at the tank til he goes.

If he's fed right before I go to bed say around 10:30, when I get up in the morning around 8:00 his belly has gone back to almost completely flat. I suppose the thing to do would be snag a poo and take it to the vet. They have the benefit of a micrscope which could check for eggs which can't be seen with the naked eye vs the actual adult worm.

I worry somewhat about his size. He came in at two inches and that was nearly four months ago. I would think he'd be close to breaking six inches instead of just being right under 4 inches by now. I know different fish have different growth rates. But it worries me that if it is parasites then he's not getting the right amount of food in his system which could lead to him not growing. He's gained a lot of weight since he fist came to me but I can still see a difference in his jaws and where his stomach starts instead of just one smooth round underside. I've been soaking his food in vitamins but I think I'll see if I can't get my hands on a syringe and start actually inserting his vitamins into his food.