Internal Parasites!?

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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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Peter
Puffer Fry
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 1:28 am
Location: Virginia

Internal Parasites!?

Post by Peter »

Please forgive me if I've overlooked information that may already be up on this site.

I have a new Puffer (GSP), that came to me through the mail, who has a sunken (concave-shaped) belly. (By the way, this will be my third attempt to keep a Puffer, within the past two months, following upon two failures. :oops: )

I've read in several places here that the safe bet would be to assume he has internal parasites, and to treat this condition with Discomed, by Aquatonics. It seems, however, that this particular medication is no longer made -- or at least is no longer available for sale.

Is there another medication that is available for sale that would treat this condition? I've ready the "Sticky" here about Levimisole, but I'm afraid I don't understand it -- or rather, that this is a kind of 'do it yourself' modification of a medication not marketed for fish, that is beyond my very modest scientific abilities to concoct.

If there is one available, I would like to buy some medicine, made especially for fish, that would safely treat my GSP for internal parasites. Does anyone have a recommendation?

As always, I am grateful for your help.

- Peter
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Feathers&Fins
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 201
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 5:42 pm
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Pufferless since Nova passed; had 2 red T.miuris, 4 T.biocellatus for many years.
Location (country): KY (USA)
Location: (US) Kentucky

Post by Feathers&Fins »

I have some extra unexpired Discomed.

I do not know of any meds marketed specifically for fish that contain Levamisole. If you decide to use the Levamisole, do a search on froogle.com, then sort the results by price. You may also be able to purchase it from your veterinarian.

I do not know of the safety or effectiveness of the following in regards to Puffers. However, these treatments are commonly used on Seahorses which are very delicate. Hopefully, someone else will say whether they are okay to use on Puffers.

•Metronidazole (Flagyl) – Internal protozoan. The med must be ingested. It can be purchased at nationalfishpharm.com
•Praziquantel – Worms. The med must be ingested. It can be purchased at drsfostersmith.com under the name PraziPro.
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Pamela
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 456
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 8:50 am
Location: Oxford, UK

Post by Pamela »

I used praziquantel on my F8 Robert to good effect...I actually saw a worm in his poo after the treatment.
The drug was from over the counter cat worming tablets. I ground one up and added a tiny amount to his food over two/three days.
Pami.
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Peter
Puffer Fry
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 1:28 am
Location: Virginia

Post by Peter »

All my gratitude to Feathers&Fins and Pamela. I'm treating with the medications you suggested.

I also wanted to mention that I came across another medication made by Aquatronics (and presently on the market) by the name of 'Pipzine'. It claims to be a "wide spectrum anti-parasitic/dewormer" for both marine and fresh water fish. One adds it directly to the water or as a food additive.

Has anyone heard of 'Pipzine' -- and is it effective for Puffers?
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Bred
Former Staff Member
Posts: 364
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 10:42 am
Location: Toronto, Canada
Contact:
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Post by Bred »

Have not heard of it, and am not familiar with the active ingredient. A chicken dewormer, according to a 5 second google scan? Internal parasites must be treated internally, so don't bother adding the meds to the water column. Presoaking foods is the only way to combat them. Good luck, let us know how it goes!
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Feathers&Fins
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 201
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 5:42 pm
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Pufferless since Nova passed; had 2 red T.miuris, 4 T.biocellatus for many years.
Location (country): KY (USA)
Location: (US) Kentucky

Post by Feathers&Fins »

You may want to check the expiration date on the box if you have Aquatronic's Pipzine. Hopefully it is not expired.

http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/product/product6.htm
250mg Piperazine Citrate is the main ingredient. I've never used it.

Hope your Puffer feels better soon!
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Jayhawk
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 348
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:04 am
Location: KC, MO, USA

Post by Jayhawk »

I've posted this opinion before, but loach keepers have long treated the water and not the food with levamisole. I've had such treatment work with loaches and paradisefish. Granted, it's much more effectivet to treat the food, but if they're not eating your only choices are forcefeeding (can we rate that on the stress-o-meter?) or treating the water column.

Metronidazole is an antibiotic with very, very minimal and highly specific IP activity. I wouldn't waste my money.

Praziquantel really is an antiparasitic and the best option other than levamisole.

Eric
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