i have 2 baby fig 8 puffers, had them for a few days, one hasn't been doing so well. His colour is very washed out, sort of had a reddish tinge to him last night. He didn't eat either. Today I notice he is even more washed out and has long stringy poop hanging from him.
Water parameters were good as of last night, ammonia 0, nitrates 5, and nitrites 0. Have been treating with Melafix and Pimafix, today will be the 3rd day.
Any ideas whats wrong? is there anything else I can do to help???
sick fig 8
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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hiemstra23
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 6:39 pm
- Location: Peterborough, Ontario
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Phaedrus
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1402
- Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:34 pm
- Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Contact:
Sounds like internal parasites. Check out this article: http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... treatment/
Seems like there have been a lot of cases of baby F8s with IPs lately.
Seems like there have been a lot of cases of baby F8s with IPs lately.
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hiemstra23
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 6:39 pm
- Location: Peterborough, Ontario
ok, not sure which meds to use, I have 2 in the qt tank, the real sick one hasn't eaten yet, the other one ate a tiny bit. He seems to have stringy poop too but doesnt look near as bad. I would like to start treating him tonight as he looks real bad and am not even sure if he'll make it.
Not sure what meds they sell in Canada. More specifically, my stores aren't the best.
Any suggestions?
Not sure what meds they sell in Canada. More specifically, my stores aren't the best.
Any suggestions?
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hiemstra23
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 6:39 pm
- Location: Peterborough, Ontario
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hiemstra23
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 6:39 pm
- Location: Peterborough, Ontario
he's quite picky, it seems that he has no interest in the food unless I keep it moving, the second it falls to the bottom of the tank he wants nothing to do with it. This is probably partially due to the fact that the guy at the store ONLY fed him live blackworms. Argh!
He doesn't appear to be eating much but he's picking away here and there, hopefully getting enough.
He doesn't appear to be eating much but he's picking away here and there, hopefully getting enough.
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Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 2182
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
Very often if you leave the fallen food for a little while and leave the room, they'll start picking at it. Puffers are often shy about eating in front of people and prefer to do it in private.
Tina
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1