Treating for IPs...again (new concerns)

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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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PuffTheMagicFishy
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Treating for IPs...again (new concerns)

Post by PuffTheMagicFishy »

I'm going to start treating Poofer for IPs again. She was doing really well after her last treatment and was even starting to put on a little bit of weight, but she's gone downhill again. She looks like a little hollow scarecrow now. :( I'm using Jungle Parasite Clear because it's what is available locally.

Last time I treated her for a full week, by dissolving a tablet in a bit of tank water and then soaking 1-2 freeze-dried plankton in it. Then I gave her a fast day. Is there anything I can change this time around to get rid of the IPs for good? I remember Nick mentioned medicating a second time to eliminate any that may have been eggs at the time of treatment. I think I'm going to have to do that this time. I didn't last time because she looked so much better, but I guess she had some eggs and they hatched and spread.

Any help would be appreciated. She looks so starved.
Last edited by PuffTheMagicFishy on Wed May 16, 2007 12:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Nick »

I'd really recommend just getting some Flubenol-15 at this point, I do not know if my puffer would have survived if I"d tried another course with soaked food after it failed that once, and the Flubenol is much easier, just add to the water, where it will kill parasites there as well, an advantage if your parasites are a type the breeds by breaking off body segments rather than laying eggs.
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Post by Myaj »

Make sure you do good gravel vacuums for a day or two after you deworm. When they purge the dead and dying parasites, some might survive and just reinfect the fish. Doing the gravel vac helps pick them all up before they get a chance to do more damage.

I honestly think every animal, including humans, carries some parasites. Its just when they get stressed out and the parasites multiply to a large number that they become a major problem. So definately take a look at your general water change schedule, etc and see if any improvements can be made to help keep your puff's immune system strong enough to fight off re-infestations.
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Post by Nick »

If you do use the flubenol, make sure it's a few days before you do any type of water change tho, since it's an in water treatment and would be removed, and will kill any purged parasites even faster anyway.
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Post by PuffTheMagicFishy »

OK. I'll see if I can order some Flubenol-15.

I'll start vacuuming more often too. It's been two weeks, I must admit.

Edit: which pack should I get? It's a 10-gallon tank. How long should I treat and at what frequency? Thanks.
Tanks:
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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Post by Nick »

Once a week for 5 weeks, since these appear to be egg laying.
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Post by PuffTheMagicFishy »

So the 100-gallon treatment should do it if I clean the tank once a week just before dosing. Thanks!
Tanks:
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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Post by PuffTheMagicFishy »

New concern brought up by my dad:

Stuff shipped from the UK takes a good 3-5 weeks to get here, not including customs issues. Will she be OK without treatment for 3-5 weeks?

Is there any treatment I can give her in the meantime until it arrives, then do a Flubenol course to get rid of the IPs once and for all?

If not, does anyone in the US have some Flubenol I could buy from you?

Edit: I'm putting in an order tonight. If anyone has some Flubenol I can "borrow," I can repay you with a replacement of the amount borrowed.
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75-gal West African Lungfish + snails

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Post by kangaroosoup »

Took me about a week to get mine, I live in Illinois.
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Post by Nick »

Yea, mine took a week, too.
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Post by PuffTheMagicFishy »

Excellent! Hopefully mine comes in as quickly. I really hope this stuff does the trick. She's been slowly starving to death for far too long, poor baby.
Tanks:
20-gal feeder breeder (platties and snails)
75-gal West African Lungfish + snails

Other pets: Pacific parrotlet, Italian Greyhound, lots of plants
Nick
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Posts: 3231
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:47 pm
My Puffers: Mine:
GSPs - Shakespeare and Jillybean
F8 - Velvet
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DP - Emma Goldman
Narrow Lined Puffer - Ulrike
Location (country): Northeastern USA
Location: Middletown, CT
Contact:

Post by Nick »

Seemed to help Shakespeare right away.
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Post by Paul Fox »

Yep, most of the time it sems a week to get the the states, if you go for international recorded is supposedly gets there quicker.
As for customs, theres been no problems so far....
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Post by OraLacerta »

I got mine in a little less than a week here on the East coast, and within hours of adding it to the tank my puffer started to be more active and beg constantly. He was severely affected by parasites as well, and now he is eating voraciously and holding a decent weight.

Have you ordered it yet?
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Post by PuffTheMagicFishy »

Yup. Night before last.
Tanks:
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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