One of my F8s was a bit long in the tooth. I ordered some Finquel from the Drs., and gave it a go, but I want to get some feedback from anyone else who has used MS-222, as I suspect puffers need a higher dose than typical tropical fish.
The Finquel instructions advise 75mg/liter for non-livebearer tropical fish. The preparation section of the manual states that one level teaspoon of Finquel is approx. 2.0 to 2.5 grams, and this much (2.25g) would produce a concentration of 120 mg/liter in 5 gallons of water. I calculated that 1/8th of a teaspoon would produce my desired concentration of 80mg/liter in 1 gallon of water. I double checked my estimate based on the mg/litre to g/gallon conversion, and this should be correct.
At this concentration my F8 slowed down, but was still quite awake at 3 minutes. I added approx 1/16 teaspoon additional MS-222 and after 2 minutes at the new concentration, his fin movement had ceased and he just lay at the bottom of the container. Upon removal, he was sedate enough to trim his teeth, but did squirm a little, so I know he wasn't completely out.
I am thinking next time I have to do this, I will double the concentration. (1/4 teaspoon MS-222 per 1 gallon of water). This should put my concentration around 160 mg/liter, which is in the recommended range for other fish (goldfish, channel catfish..). I was just curious what concentrations other people have used for their puffers?
Thanks,
Jake
MS-222 Concentration
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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.
MS-222 Concentration
Last edited by jake_vdb on Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Myaj
- Tech Team
- Posts: 4587
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 12:27 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Bubba, turgidus
Paris, lined burrfish - Location: SE Wisconsin
- Contact:
Re: MS-222 Concentration
I haven't used it yet, so this is very interesting.
I would give the manufacturers a call and see what they say. I know MS-222 is used often just to mildly tranq fish, so they are more calm and less stressed during handling and moving, so maybe a different dose is required to actually knock them out.
I would give the manufacturers a call and see what they say. I know MS-222 is used often just to mildly tranq fish, so they are more calm and less stressed during handling and moving, so maybe a different dose is required to actually knock them out.
Re: MS-222 Concentration
I'll send them an email and see what they say. The concentration of 75 mg/liter is in the "Concentrations Required for Rapid Anesthesia" table.Myaj wrote:I haven't used it yet, so this is very interesting.
I would give the manufacturers a call and see what they say. I know MS-222 is used often just to mildly tranq fish, so they are more calm and less stressed during handling and moving, so maybe a different dose is required to actually knock them out.
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jax
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:48 am
- My Puffers: 2 x F8 Puffers (just little uns )
- Location: UK
Re: MS-222 Concentration
I had one of my F8s teeth/beak done at a local vets who specializes in aquatic/ fish issues, he's also a good friend. He added something to the bag and within seconds he was out for the count, this was a powder but not sure what, he came round fine when placed in the recovery bag. IF YOU ARE IN THE UK, I COULD GIVE YOU HIS DETAILS, HE'S VERY HELPFUL FOR ADVICE OVER THE PHONE IF THAT WOULD HELP? Ooops, hit caps lock by accident , sos, too tired to re-write.
He said if i keep on top of them with enough, snails/shell on stuff, i shouldn't need to have it done again.
He said if i keep on top of them with enough, snails/shell on stuff, i shouldn't need to have it done again.