Hi all,
I think i have managed to buy a puffer with internal parasites, not sure though. I bought 2 fig 8s and brought them home today - (tank set up for over a year and already has a few inhabitants). Gave them thir first meal of bloodworm tonight, 1 was fine, ate well and had a nice round belly - but the other ate fine, but its belly was more like 2 little hills, instead of 1 nice big round one. Also it has a few grey circles on its belly, prob 4-5 mm diameter which are the normal white colour in the middle.
Im thinking some type of parasite - if so what should i buy / do (live in UK). Both fish are prob about 4cm long, currently in v. light brackish water, temp around 26-27C.
Thanks
White belly with grey circles...... :?
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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.
Yep, I'm leaning to bites...they get transported in deplorable cramped conditions from Asia, dumped in a woefully overcrowded tank for ....... how long?
No wonder you see some evidence of fights.
Do's a favour though, and give us the tank parameters, including SG, and his feeding schedule, just to be on the safe side.
I wouldn't jump to medicating for parasites that he might not have..wait and watch a while, but keep us posted as he settles in.
Pami.
Oooh...afterthought...where are you, as I'm in Oxford, and my lfs hasn't had any F8s in since new year.
No wonder you see some evidence of fights.
Do's a favour though, and give us the tank parameters, including SG, and his feeding schedule, just to be on the safe side.
I wouldn't jump to medicating for parasites that he might not have..wait and watch a while, but keep us posted as he settles in.
Pami.
Oooh...afterthought...where are you, as I'm in Oxford, and my lfs hasn't had any F8s in since new year.
I am up near leeds, located the puffers at a shop just off the m62. Both puffers seem ok at the mo, parameters are all as they should be, 0 ammonia and nitrite, nitrate between 5 and 10ppm. One question though, what pH should i be looking to get these guys at as they head into brackish? Ive got some coral gravel but dont know how much to add, or if it is even required tbh. the pH at the mo seems to be about 7.4 area, but if it needs to be a bit closer to 8 hopefully the coral gravel will do that?
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Yeah i think the circles have just about gone, def not as bad as what they were, and they are suffering no loss of appetite or concave bellies - i think they would eat cockle all day if i supplied them with it! Ive put the coral gravel in now too so hopefully that should help stabilise and buffer etc, and they both seem happy enough with their environment! thanks folks