The Puffer Forum

Well, I am thinking now that he got freaked out by the other puffer...upon closer inspection, he has a couple of bruise type marks on his belly... I think he did it defensively... But, GOOD NEWS, he ate tonight. Not as voraciously as before he puffed, but the most he's eaten since, so I think it's definitely a good sign. He's also starting to get a little less jittery/ curl tail up when he sees us at his tank.

He came right over to me when I was feeding him tonight...so good to see that.

And, I added Melafix to his tank (1st dose) tonight to aid in his healing...from what I can only imagine was an attack by the other F8.

Hoping he gets better from here!!

That's good to hear that he's doing better!

Indeed! Please keep us posted with your progress if the situation changes (either positively or negatively).

SO he ate really well tonight, more than since before he inflated Sunday morning... took a shrimp tail to task! I have to say that I think the Garlic Extreme (even though I think I spent almost $20 on the bottle...although it will last a long while b/c all it takes is one drop) works wonders... OR, he's just really hungry. Either way, he is doing much better.

He is happily swimming around all areas of the tank, exploring like his old self. His belly is still all beat up...Best way to describe it is that it really looks like its all bruised in spots. But he is such a survivor! I think the Melafix will help in his healing as well... Thanks everyone for all the advice and well wishes.

Fish heal up pretty well, especially in good water conditions, so I'm sure he'll be fine (in terms of his injuries). It's good to hear that he's feeling better.

So,late last night (his light was already off), I went to check on him before we went to bed, and he was partially inflated again!!! He inflated not as much as he did Sunday morning, but maybe 3/4 of the size he was... he floated up and down the bubble wall, and around the tank a little bit (probably only 1-2 minutes), and then was able to deflate himself. WHY does he keep doing this?? He ate okay tonight, still not as much as he did before...and seems generally healthy, except for his poor belly, which is still lumpy and beat up. But he is swimming normally tonight and acting just fine. (I tested the water last night before i went to bed after he 'deflated' just to check, and all was good: 82 degrees F, 1.006 sal, 8.2 pH, 0 NH3, 0 nitrite, ~5 nitrate...

Any input..has anyone seen this behavior before...it's REALLY disconcerting. Hopefully he doesn't think he's learned a new trick and keeps doing it...b/c it's so painful to watch

Any chance you can take a picture of him?

So, unfortunately, at some point in the daytime yesterday while I was at work, our F8 died. So sad. Thanks everyone for all of your posts. His belly had darkened a bit Thursday night...and I did a water change Friday morning before going to work (even though the ammonia/ nitrite/ nitrate was 0/0/5)...figured it couldn't hurt. But he was gone when I came home from work...

SO, my fiance and I were so sad, we went to the local aquarium store to see if they had any F8's...and they did. We wound up picking up a tiny guy Totally cheered us up last night. He is definitely much smaller than the other two that we had in our 29... but we only got one. So he will have the entire huge tank to himself!! He's only about maybe a little over an inch...his poor fins are torn up, so I'm dosing the tank w/ melafix.

The store had him in such a tiny tank with two big GSPs...poor little F8!! He also has a visible bite mark on his underbelly (looks almost like a ring mark...guessing it is a bite mark)...but his belly looks decently healthy and rounded. He ate up a shrimp tail like a little piggy last night... I tested the tank water he was in before introducing him into the tank, and it was at 1.002 salinity...Our tank was at 1.006, and I wanted to do a large water change anyway (since our F8 had died), so I brought down the salinity to 1.004-1.005. He seems to be adjusting just fine.

My question is, does anyone treat for IPs right away? His belly isn't sunken. But he's so tiny, it's kind of hard to tell... I don't want to hurt him any by treating him, but I have seen people on this forum talk about treating without seeing any visible signs..any advice?? And also, what do you treat with... With the original F8 we had about 4 months ago (who prompted us to get the 'pufffer only' tank b/c my fiance bought him and put the poor guy into our 55 gallon freswater tank...he got some bad advice at the pet store, and when he started to go off food, that's when I found the puffer forum to look for help...and learned A LOT about how to care for these little guys!)...in anycase, once we got him into his own tank, I think his immunity was so low b/c of being in the wrong conditions for so long, he definitely had IPs b/c he was pooping that 'string of pearls' type poo. We tried to treat him with the Jungle Tabs parasite clear...but he died about 2 days into treatment. I think he was just to ill to get better with treatment...but any advice on whether I should treat right away and what I should treat with would be great. The only stuff I've seen in our local pet stores is the parasite clear...but I can always order something else online. Thanks everyone again!

Although I prefer not to preemptively treat anything if there are no signs, IPs are *so* common in puffers (especially GSPs and F8s) that it's worth treating them, especially if they're new the store or still very young. In the case of IPs and ich, your chances of success are proportional to their current condition; the healthier they are, the higher the chance that they'll live after treatment.

As such, I'd go ahead and treat with the Jungle Parasite Clear stuff that you have, since the disease is so common among puffers.

I agree with Paul, personally. If the puffer is healthy and eating, now's the perfect time to deworm it.

I don't like to wait until they are in poor condition, because the whole deworming process can be hard on their bodies.

Lots of people don't like to medicate for IP's unless they see signs, but IME, pretty much any wild caught puffer is going to have SOME internal parasites just waiting for their immune systems to weaken.. and that's when you get in trouble.

Aye, and if their immune system is weak (which is when the parasites kick in), it's generally because they're suffering from some other ailment, and treating for two problems at once is much harder for both you and the puffer.

Yes, treat now. With F8s, I find that it is better to treat asap rather than waiting. I had 2 die because I did not treat as soon as I got them. The 3rd (actually one of the 2 that I originally bought) was apparently not as sick or not infected because he has been doing great for about 8 months. But, since I've heard of no problems with treating for IPs, I would go ahead and treat now while he's still eating and apparently healthy.

I would treat with the Jungle Tabs Parasite Clear that you have. I would also get some Gel-Tek parasite meds to soak his food in. I find it is better to treat internal and external at the same time to prevent reinfection.

Thanks for everyone's input. I totally have been convinced to treat. Our first F8 that we got definitely had IPs, and by the time I tried to treat, he wasn't eating, and I could only treat the water...and he died two days later. He was FINE and healthily eating like a pig for about 3 weeks, and then all of a sudden went off food, and started to show signs of IPs.

So, with this little guy, he is very healthy right now, eating great, so I'm going to take Nick's advice on how to treat with the Jungle Labs Parasite clear tabs...(3 treatments, 48 hours apart, and doing 75% water changes after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd treatments). I also am going to treat his food, but I went to three stores here locally, and couldn't find any of the Gel Tek meds. Can you guys give me advice on how to dose his food w/ the Jungle Labs Parasite Clear tabs?? Do I just break off a small piece of a tab and soak his food with it for an hour or so?? Do I treat his food w/ meds everyday over the course of the treatment, or only once?? I don't want to over do it with the treatment...

Any advice would be great.

You can cut one of the tablets up into pieces, and soak the food with them. In the fridge for a few hours is best, but a half hour to an hour out of the fridge will do as well. I used about 1/8 of a tab, a couple tablespoons of water, and the food, and severed this for all food offered during the course of the meds.

Thanks Nick...I'm dosing his food right now, and plan on adding the tabs to his tank water (first dose) this morning. THen plan to do the water changes and 2nd and 3rd doses Friday/Sunday AM. Thanks again everyone, and I will update w/ how he takes the de-worming!