Green Spotted Puffer lethargic and not eating much

[SammyDee]

Typically the bare bottom is for ick treatment. But you could emergency cycle the new tank and treat him in there with nothing in it. Or in the meantime treat him in the 10gal.

For now giant WC's to keep nitrates low till a new tank comes along and treat the meds. Try to find prazipro cuz u can soak the food and thats usually more effective. I guess it might work if you set a cup aside with tankwater and melted a bit of the tablet and some food might work too....worth a try. But still follow the instructions to treat the whole tank too!

[Badjuujuu]

I am happy to hear that the Jungle brand "Tank Buddies" anti-parasite tablets are working for you. You may have to treat your little fish a few different times with small breaks in between to make sure all of the parasites are gone. I don't think I would mess with the gravel right now, you might create a mini cycle in your tank if you take it all out and that is the last thing you want to happen right now. Do you think you could post a picture of the parasites?

Just to be clear when I said don't mess with the gravel, I just meant I wouldn't take it out. Definitely keep using your gravel vac!

[pufferpuggirl]

My suggestion would be to suck deep into the gravel with your siphon when you do that 25% water change, that should loosen the eggs and suck them up.

[Pufferpunk]

When for treating for similar parasites, like ich, it is suggested to do large WC (80%) every other day, including thoroughly siphoning the substrate every other day.

[silent-circuit]

He is lethargic and sitting on the bottom of the tank again, though he will move around if I get close. He then startles, "wakes up", and will swim around and beg for a bit before settling again. He ate some shrimp this morning but would not eat at all tonight. There appears to be some fecal matter stuck coming part way out of him. Maybe this is the purging of a tape worm like I read about? It does look odd. I am worried -- he seemed to be doing a lot better last night compared with today. This marks 24 hours. I will be doing a 25% water change and reapplying the medicine tomorrow night. I cannot currently see any red stringy / worm like matter in his gills, so I guess that is good.

[silent-circuit]

Another quick update: more active now, and the trail of fecal matter (or worm) is now more than an inch long and extremely thick, where before it was just a small "bump".

[SammyDee]

Sounds like its working. Pics would be good too!

[pufferpuggirl]

I would not feed him twice a day though.

[silent-circuit]

I have switched to feeding only once a day as suggested. He is still extremely lethargic and honestly looks as bad as he ever has, maybe worse. I used the gravel vac to get the worm he passed out of the tank the other day, but the red things in his gills are still there and look no better. There are a lot more of them in there, none are coming all the way out / detaching. I tried to get a picture but none of them turned out well enough that anything could really be seen. They look like a red 'string' when there's just one or two, bright red, but now I guess there are a lot and it looks like a red 'fluffy' mass. I am very worried about him.

EDIT: I called the local fish store and talked to the guy there, who also had never heard of these red worm things. He suggested a fresh water bath, which I will do once I can get some fresh water to the proper temperature and PH for him.

[Pufferpunk]

Are you still dosing meds after doing water changes? What meds are you using now?

[pufferpuggirl]

I am sorry to hear that your puffer isn't doing so well. I wish I had something wise to tell you, but I do not. All I can say is best of luck and maybe someone else will come up with something more helpful.

[Pufferpunk]

I can't remember if it was nick or Hilly but one of them recommended different meds for different parasites.

[silent-circuit]

I dosed him twice in total, the second time after a ~25% water change. He looked worse, so I prepared another 5 gallons, pulled him out, and did an almost complete water change on his tank and put the carbon back in the filter to try and remove whatever was irritating him. It was the same meds -- Jungle Parasite Clear. I am going out right now to see if I can find anything else, ideally pure Praziquotenal, though from what I have read I can probably only get that online and I do not think he will hang around a week or more while I wait on shipping without medication.

[Brandon8521]

It sounds like gill desease or Philometra spp (a nematode reffered to as bloodworms.) If im not mistaken fluke tabs should work in the Philometra spp and havnt ever had to treat for gill desease so i wouldnt now what kind of antibiotic to use.

The big issue is that Philometra spp is hard to identify and usuall people mistake it for anchor worms and use fluke tabs anyway which gets rid of it. Philometra spp are more common in freshwater cichlids but have never herd of them in a puffer. (A few saltbaths might help if thats what it is but try to rule out gill desease first.) A picture would help identify exactly whats going on but im like yourself and i can never get a nice photo of something small in detail.

[Pufferpunk]

I was going to recommend Prazi too, although I really know nothing about meds. My LFS carries it. Wish I was nearby to you, I've still got some.