Dwarf Puffers and IPs
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.
- sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
- xrayjeeper83
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 4167
- Joined: Thu May 06, 2010 9:31 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: Fahaka named Bloat
Abei named Huey
GSP named Bacon - Location (country): USA
- Location: Orange Park, FL
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
the meds will most likely kill the snail though
RTR wrote:Fahakas do not have tank mates, they may have swimming food reserves.
- sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
I don't think that matters, it's meant to be eaten. 
You need to feed him what he will eat, exactly as he eats it, because if he doesn't normally eat something, he's definitely not going to eat it medicated. It really doesn't take that much medicine, but it must get inside of him.
You need to feed him what he will eat, exactly as he eats it, because if he doesn't normally eat something, he's definitely not going to eat it medicated. It really doesn't take that much medicine, but it must get inside of him.

- xrayjeeper83
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 4167
- Joined: Thu May 06, 2010 9:31 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: Fahaka named Bloat
Abei named Huey
GSP named Bacon - Location (country): USA
- Location: Orange Park, FL
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
LOL I know, it just was weird to me the first time I tossed em in med water. They came out pretty much nothing, just a shell cause they had shriveled
RTR wrote:Fahakas do not have tank mates, they may have swimming food reserves.
-
jjj5311
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 142
- Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:14 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 2 DPs
Green Spotted Puffer - Location (country): USA
- Location: Milwuakee, WI
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
i heard the shell dissolves sometimes in meds... is this true?
- xrayjeeper83
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 4167
- Joined: Thu May 06, 2010 9:31 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: Fahaka named Bloat
Abei named Huey
GSP named Bacon - Location (country): USA
- Location: Orange Park, FL
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
yes they can
RTR wrote:Fahakas do not have tank mates, they may have swimming food reserves.
-
jjj5311
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 142
- Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:14 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 2 DPs
Green Spotted Puffer - Location (country): USA
- Location: Milwuakee, WI
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
thanks xray i was just wonderingxrayjeeper83 wrote:yes they can
- sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
- Reaperpilot2014
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 638
- Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:38 am
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 150g - 1 Fahaka Puffer "Ramses" (The Pharaoh)
55g - 3 SA Puffers "Larry, Curly, * Moe"
30g - 1 GSP "Demon"
15g - 1 C. Irrubesco "Raoden"
29g - 1 Figure 8 - Looking for good name ideas...
29g - Ramshorn, Marmorkreb, Cherry & Ghost Shrimp Breeder Tank
10 wonderful years with puffers! - Location (country): USA
- Location: Utah
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
The snail's body can dissolve as well. It happens fairly quickly for some reason. Another thing I have done is taken a live snail, gotten it to start "walking" on partially dissolved antibiotic, and then fed him straight away to the puffer with the meds stuck on its foot.
It's a crayfish! It's a snail! It's a... ah who cares?
Nom nom nom!...
Tank: 4 liter custom-shaped sphere
Contents: 1 Brainfish
Ph: 7.4
Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates: ?
Problem: Cloudy/muddy water
Can you help me?
Nom nom nom!...
Tank: 4 liter custom-shaped sphere
Contents: 1 Brainfish
Ph: 7.4
Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates: ?
Problem: Cloudy/muddy water
Can you help me?
- Salmon
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:54 pm
- My Puffers: Albie (F8) soon to be rehomed
Milo and Millie (DPs) - Location (country): United States of America
- Location: Ohio
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
I'll have to try that one reaper. That is ingenious.
Those who say money can't buy happiness don't know where to find puffers.
- sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
Bueno!Reaperpilot2014 wrote:The snail's body can dissolve as well. It happens fairly quickly for some reason. Another thing I have done is taken a live snail, gotten it to start "walking" on partially dissolved antibiotic, and then fed him straight away to the puffer with the meds stuck on its foot.

- Salmon
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:54 pm
- My Puffers: Albie (F8) soon to be rehomed
Milo and Millie (DPs) - Location (country): United States of America
- Location: Ohio
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
I forgot to update lastnight, but this is what I did.
I took a handful of snails out of my snail tank, around 10 or so. I had a aquarium water and parasite tablet mixture ready. I took a snail in my hand and took a pipette and filled it with my mixture and squirted the crap out of the exposed part of snail, so it kind of dissolved, but still was alive and threw them in. He ate about 5 or 6 of the snails. My other puffer attacked them as well. So hopefully that got some medicine in his system.
I took a handful of snails out of my snail tank, around 10 or so. I had a aquarium water and parasite tablet mixture ready. I took a snail in my hand and took a pipette and filled it with my mixture and squirted the crap out of the exposed part of snail, so it kind of dissolved, but still was alive and threw them in. He ate about 5 or 6 of the snails. My other puffer attacked them as well. So hopefully that got some medicine in his system.
Those who say money can't buy happiness don't know where to find puffers.
- sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
- DrKennethNoisewater
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 317
- Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 12:55 pm
- My Puffers: Puffers:
2xGSP
Non Puffers:
3xPictus Catfish
1xBlack Ghost Knife
1xGolden Dojo Loach
1xHighfin Pleco
1xBoesemani Rainbow
4xHarlequin Rasboras - Location (country): under a bridge ontario, canada
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
how many times do you guys treat for IP's?? my puffers literally eat anything. i could probably just poor the jungle parasite guard in the tank and they would eat the meds. just wondering. cause yesterday i treated them. should i again today?
- sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: Dwarf Puffers and IPs
Soak the food in a small amount of tank water and medicine. Don't add the medication to the water, the medicine needs to get inside out them. Treat for about a week or so.
