hi...water levels are all normal.
my f8 seem to be rubbing their eyes / heads on objects and flicking off of them. I'm not sure if they're just itchy and are trying to scratch or if it's actually something else that I need to help with. Tried to get enough footage but they see a camera and start begging for food so this is all I got:
any opinions?
itchy or flukes?
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.
-
ehz_148
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:57 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: 30gal : 1 f8 puffer - Tsuki
- Location (country): Durban, South Africa
itchy or flukes?
"can I share your cave?"-
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: itchy or flukes?
If you could answer all the questions above in red, that would be awesome.ehz_148 wrote:hi...water levels are all normal.
Thanks
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32987
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: itchy or flukes?
Yes, knowing the parameters, etc, can help us rule some things out. Is only one puffer doing this? Do you see any white spots that look like salt on him?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
ehz_148
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:57 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: 30gal : 1 f8 puffer - Tsuki
- Location (country): Durban, South Africa
Re: itchy or flukes?
it's hard to tell...
water parameters are the same as last time i posted.. 0 ammonia&nitrite; nitrate below 20; not sure of salinity yet cos my lfs has ordered a hydrometer for me and it hasn't arrived yet. temp is 25. i added rocks and shells that i disinfected at the last water change on the weekend. been feeding snails/bloodworm and some krill every now and then. I have aqua organic in there (it's a water parameter maintenance solution) and I've been putting a smaller dose of anti parasite / fluke meds in the water (i'm the one that has the lumpy tummy f8 named Fig).
I've noticed little white spots but they are minute and are spaced evenly over their whole bodies - guessing it's their little spines. So far I've noticed 2 of them flicking. Fig is the only one that is dull in colouring, but all 3 are eating normally.
water parameters are the same as last time i posted.. 0 ammonia&nitrite; nitrate below 20; not sure of salinity yet cos my lfs has ordered a hydrometer for me and it hasn't arrived yet. temp is 25. i added rocks and shells that i disinfected at the last water change on the weekend. been feeding snails/bloodworm and some krill every now and then. I have aqua organic in there (it's a water parameter maintenance solution) and I've been putting a smaller dose of anti parasite / fluke meds in the water (i'm the one that has the lumpy tummy f8 named Fig).
I've noticed little white spots but they are minute and are spaced evenly over their whole bodies - guessing it's their little spines. So far I've noticed 2 of them flicking. Fig is the only one that is dull in colouring, but all 3 are eating normally.
"can I share your cave?"-
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: itchy or flukes?
Puffers are scaleless and have no gill covers, they are very sensitive to medications. That medicine is probably bothering them. Internal parasite medication needs to be delivered internally by soaking their food. Do a large water change to get most of the medication out of the water and add carbon to the filter.
The parameters need to be posted each thread; not everyone has read all of your posts and things can change.
The parameters need to be posted each thread; not everyone has read all of your posts and things can change.
-
bertie 83
- Moderator
- Posts: 5298
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:28 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: lineatus R.I.P, South American puffer. Valentini puffer, porcupine puffer.
Non puffer
Danios, Tetras, Redtail Rasporas,
Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis - Location (country): Brighton, England
- Location: brighton , england
Re: itchy or flukes?
+1 to above get rid of meds and chemicals to maintain water quality are just junk. A regular water change schedule is far better than a chemical
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
-
ehz_148
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:57 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: 30gal : 1 f8 puffer - Tsuki
- Location (country): Durban, South Africa
Re: itchy or flukes?
they were doing it before i even added the meds, and i'm putting in half of the allocated amount for a 30g tank. I double checked the adding meds to the water thing with my LFS by mentioning the no gill covers and scaleless skin and they agreed about soaking in the food with other meds but told me not to do that with this one. They told me how much to put in the tank I have for the puffers specifically and said they'd be fine.
"can I share your cave?"-
bertie 83
- Moderator
- Posts: 5298
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:28 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: lineatus R.I.P, South American puffer. Valentini puffer, porcupine puffer.
Non puffer
Danios, Tetras, Redtail Rasporas,
Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis - Location (country): Brighton, England
- Location: brighton , england
Re: itchy or flukes?
Dont always believe what your lfs tells you. They often dont know best.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
-
ehz_148
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:57 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: 30gal : 1 f8 puffer - Tsuki
- Location (country): Durban, South Africa
Re: itchy or flukes?
well..I'll do a water change now anyway, a day early can't hurt them, and I'll soak their food tomorrow since tomorrow is meds day anyway. The guy at the LFS just seemed to know a lot about puffers since someone else called him over to chat to me about it more in depth, so I trusted him.
What do you think about the fact they were rubbing themselves before I added the meds anyway?
What do you think about the fact they were rubbing themselves before I added the meds anyway?
"can I share your cave?"-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32987
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: itchy or flukes?
Adding less than recommended dosages of meds, only makes the pathogen resistant to it, when absolutely necessary to use.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
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: itchy or flukes?
If he said this medicine cannot be consumed, then it's probably not safe period. I wouldn't soak the food in it. I'd get praziquantel and metronidazole.
-
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
-
ehz_148
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:57 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: 30gal : 1 f8 puffer - Tsuki
- Location (country): Durban, South Africa
Re: itchy or flukes?
well, unfortunately where I live in South Africa, we are pretty limited to what there is to offer. I've been going to the only pet store in my area that specializes in fish (mainly tropical fish) and this medicine was the only thing they had to offer me. So I don't know what else to do other than what the puffer forum experts and my LFS are telling me. Is it true that if I increase the salt temporarily it will help? The LFS guy said to dump extra salt in and if it's itch it won't survive and my fish will be better.
"can I share your cave?"-
ehz_148
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:57 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: 30gal : 1 f8 puffer - Tsuki
- Location (country): Durban, South Africa
Re: itchy or flukes?
fyi...the meds I got is Waterlife Sterazin for flukes and worms. "Treats gill & body flukes which causes flicking and scraping; Internal worms"
Ingredients: malachite green 0.08% w/w; Piperazine Citrate 0.34% w/w; Acriflavine hydrochloride 0.055% w/w; Formaldehyde 0.2% w/w
if you're unfamiliar with this and would like a close up photo of all the text on the bottle let me know.
and thanks again for all the help. I feel like a bug at times but I just want to keep these guys healthy and happy...i caught them all bunking together in one of the caves after dinner time. so cute!
Ingredients: malachite green 0.08% w/w; Piperazine Citrate 0.34% w/w; Acriflavine hydrochloride 0.055% w/w; Formaldehyde 0.2% w/w
if you're unfamiliar with this and would like a close up photo of all the text on the bottle let me know.
and thanks again for all the help. I feel like a bug at times but I just want to keep these guys healthy and happy...i caught them all bunking together in one of the caves after dinner time. so cute!
"can I share your cave?"-
bertie 83
- Moderator
- Posts: 5298
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:28 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: lineatus R.I.P, South American puffer. Valentini puffer, porcupine puffer.
Non puffer
Danios, Tetras, Redtail Rasporas,
Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis - Location (country): Brighton, England
- Location: brighton , england
Re: itchy or flukes?
I dont believe malachite is puffer safe to be honest.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly