Hi everybody this is a bit of a convoluded and long story. Getting puffers that are not marine is pretty difficult and the gsp's and f8s that you do get are usually not in the best shape. I adopted 4 gsps from a friend and they are in a 5ft very fat and happy with no nipped fin in sight,oh and 3 mollies, 2 of which are pregnant. I've had them together for 6 months.
Had a separate 4ft in which I planned to keep my f8s, within a week 3 of the 4 f8s had died. The remaining one wouldn't eat and was skittish, for some unkown and very stupid reason I added the f8 to the gsp tank. He became more relaxed and started eating like a proper puff and often even the first one to come and greet me. They have been together for just over 2 months but I can't get weight on him. I give all my fish medicated food specifically for parasites once a week.
I've started leaving food in for a day for them to continually munch on, my gsps have started becoming obese but still nothing on the f8. He eats until he gets a nice bulge in his tummy but within a few hours it's gone and he looks emaciated with a curved spine and dented tummy.
The water parameters are all within norms and the SG is 1.010
He's about 6cm, 3rd largest in the tank, not being bullied at all.
I will try to upload a picture of him as soon as I can.
Foods being fed:
Bloodworms
Krill Superba
Live snails
Store bought snails
Lobster eggs
Daphnia
Mussels
Prawns
Shrimp
Lancefish
And a ocean nutrition mix
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Can't get F8 fat
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.
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Welch4
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 698
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 5:22 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 1 GSP
- Location (country): USA
- Location: Abington,MA
Re: Can't get F8 fat
I would do another anti parasitic treament making sure the the f8 gets some. Have you noticed any white stringy feces from the f8?
Forget other advice about puffers you don't hear here - Pufferpunk
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dma1976
- Dwarf Puffer
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- Location: Vermont
Re: Can't get F8 fat
Agreed.... I would re-treat for a IP. Maybe try to soak the food in Prazi?Welch4 wrote:I would do another anti parasitic treament making sure the the f8 gets some. Have you noticed any white stringy feces from the f8?
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sgtmyers88
- Moderator
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Re: Can't get F8 fat
Agreed with the above posts.
WARNING: Puffers are mischievous little blimps with enchanting powers. You may not be content with having just one.
Re: Can't get F8 fat
I've been using metro, what other meds are safe to use for internal parasites?
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Welch4
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 698
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 5:22 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 1 GSP
- Location (country): USA
- Location: Abington,MA
Re: Can't get F8 fat
I use Prazi (praziquantel). I believe this is what a lot if not a majority of the other members use as well.
Forget other advice about puffers you don't hear here - Pufferpunk
Re: Can't get F8 fat
Then I will buy some today thanks
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Welch4
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 698
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 5:22 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 1 GSP
- Location (country): USA
- Location: Abington,MA
Re: Can't get F8 fat
Do not follow the instructions on the bottle. Dosing the water and concentrated baths wil not do much if anything at all for ips. Soak some food that your f8 loves in it and try to make sure he gets some in. I would reccomend dosing for 3 days or so. ( someone may correct me on the dosage timeframe) Due to you not mentioning and lumpy stomache after his food buldge goes down you should not be concered with a large ip die off senario.
Forget other advice about puffers you don't hear here - Pufferpunk
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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Re: Can't get F8 fat
The ONLY food your fish should be eating for 3-5 days is medicated food. Treating 1x/week, would possibly make the parasite immune.
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!"