I think my puff has internal parasites. I feed her in the evenings until she is extremely fat, and twelve hours later she is skinny with a concave tummy. This has been going on for several weeks. I have never caught her in the act of pooping, so I can't tell you what color or texture her poop is.
The only IP remedy I could find locally is Jungle Parasite Clear, which contains praziquantel, diflubenzuron, metronidazole, and acriflavine. Are these all puff-safe? I can't seem to find them on the stickies. They clear external parastes too; I know this is overkill, but it's the only med I could find that treats IPs.
Puff-safe parasite treatment? Jungle Parasite Clear
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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PuffTheMagicFishy
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 166
- Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2006 12:51 am
- My Puffers: None at the mo.
- Location (country): California, USA
- Location: California
Puff-safe parasite treatment? Jungle Parasite Clear
Tanks:
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails
Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails
Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
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Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 2182
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
Yes, that's puffer safe but you can't use it like they say to, by dropping it in the water. Break the tablets into pieces, dissolve in declorinated water and soak their food in it. They need to ingest the medication.
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
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PuffTheMagicFishy
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 166
- Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2006 12:51 am
- My Puffers: None at the mo.
- Location (country): California, USA
- Location: California
Thanks! I'd have said so sooner, but I was having log-in problems.
I dissolved a tablet in tank water yesterday and soaked two freeze-dried mini shrimps (one very round tummy's worth) in the medicine. She ate both eagerly without needing garlic. She seems very perky today--lots of tail-flares when I gave her some bloodworms!
The package says the treatment may be repeated once after 48 hours after a 25% water change. I'm assuming I can skip the water change since I fed her the medicine directly? And should I give her a second dose tomorrow?
Thanks again!
I dissolved a tablet in tank water yesterday and soaked two freeze-dried mini shrimps (one very round tummy's worth) in the medicine. She ate both eagerly without needing garlic. She seems very perky today--lots of tail-flares when I gave her some bloodworms!
The package says the treatment may be repeated once after 48 hours after a 25% water change. I'm assuming I can skip the water change since I fed her the medicine directly? And should I give her a second dose tomorrow?
Thanks again!
Tanks:
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails
Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails
Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
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Nick
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 3231
- Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:47 pm
- My Puffers: Mine:
GSPs - Shakespeare and Jillybean
F8 - Velvet
My fiance:
DP - Emma Goldman
Narrow Lined Puffer - Ulrike - Location (country): Northeastern USA
- Location: Middletown, CT
- Contact:
I personally do 5 days treated food, two days total fasting, then 5 more days of treatment. I am also starting to think that after 2 weeks to allow eggs to hatch, another treatment regimen may be needed, as I had a puffer I treated as described have a fatal replase of parasites, either because they were resistant to the medication, or re-infected him from a invulnerable egg stage.
No matter how magnificent your successes or devastating your failures, the worlds' approximately 5 billion impoverished people could not possibly care less.
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PuffTheMagicFishy
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 166
- Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2006 12:51 am
- My Puffers: None at the mo.
- Location (country): California, USA
- Location: California
OK. I think I'll give her 6 more days' treatment starting today. I think I'll try the second dose after two weeks, too, unless she is having any reactions. Should I dissolve a new tablet for every treatment?
Tanks:
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails
Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails
Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
-
PuffTheMagicFishy
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 166
- Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2006 12:51 am
- My Puffers: None at the mo.
- Location (country): California, USA
- Location: California
Update!
Poofer (a.k.a Alaska) has finished her first week of treatment and her two-day fasting period. I plan to watch and wait, but I will probably give her a second 7-day course two weeks from now to be safe. She did not seem to be adversely affected by the treatment, and she maintained a voracious appetite, so I think a second course would not hurt her.
Thanks again for your help, Tina and Nick! Hopefully I'll be able to get my little girl all fattened up again now. I look back at her 'baby picture' in my avatar from when I first got her, and I can definitely see that she has lost a lot of weight (for a 1-1/2 inch puff).
Poofer (a.k.a Alaska) has finished her first week of treatment and her two-day fasting period. I plan to watch and wait, but I will probably give her a second 7-day course two weeks from now to be safe. She did not seem to be adversely affected by the treatment, and she maintained a voracious appetite, so I think a second course would not hurt her.
Thanks again for your help, Tina and Nick! Hopefully I'll be able to get my little girl all fattened up again now. I look back at her 'baby picture' in my avatar from when I first got her, and I can definitely see that she has lost a lot of weight (for a 1-1/2 inch puff).
Tanks:
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails
Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails
Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
Glad to hear it went well.-
PuffTheMagicFishy
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 166
- Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2006 12:51 am
- My Puffers: None at the mo.
- Location (country): California, USA
- Location: California