The Puffer Forum

HI I have a gsp that won't eat. The tank is 20 gallons and fully cycled. It has been set up for a few months. Geoffrey (my gsp) is by himself.
Salinity: 1.008
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:0
pH: 7.5
Temp: 85 degrees (F)
I am unsure of the ammonia. I just did a 50% water change and that lowered the salt. It was too high on Sunday, around 1.012. Now it is 1.008. I use Red Sea Salt and Aqua Safe for the aquarium. Its floor has Arogonite sand and I have a few sea shells in their too harden the water. I also have one big (tall) silk plant and a few rocks for a cave.

My problem is he has progressively stopped eating. He is extremely skinny now and has a slightly black stomach. I feed him bloodworm, plankton, krill and fresh crab and snails for his teeth. He will nip at all of his food and then spit it out and not touch it anymore. He is fading quickly and I do not know how much time he has left. His teeth look fine and I can barely see them. I don't understand why he won't eat.

Read the article in our Library in the Hospital section on treating internal parasites. There is another one in the Feeding section on getting puffers to eat. BTW, 1.012 is fine.

Dropping the SG that fast can be harmful to your cycling bacteria - in this case it appears not to have,but you never know, since you don't have an ammonia test. Usually dark all over, poor feeding and stopping eating, and getting skinny way faster while trying to eat and failing are signs of internal parasites. See if you can get levamisole wormer from a livestock supply place or vet, 1/4 teaspoon per ten gallons, so a half teaspoon, should do the trick. Without treatment, the parasites will start damaging his insides now that he has stopped eating, so get some medication right away. If you can't get a levamisole wormer, there is something you can try with API General Cure from the fish store, but it's rather hard on the fish. You add a couple packets of the General Cure to a container with a half gallon or so dechlorinated FRESH water at the same temperature as the tank. Mix really well. I also add some food, so that even if he tries to eat and fails, he'll drink some of the wormer on accident. Then add your fish, _without_acclimating_, and watch him closely, leaving him in for up to 25 minutes but removing him sooner if he looks to be fading. The SG difference in the water will force the puffer to drink enough of the highly concentrated wormer as he is rapidly trying to adjust his body salts to match the surrounding fresh water. I did this daily for 3 days to a puffer at my job, and it seems to have begun gaining weight. Don't even try it if you can find levamisole.

Thank you very much. I am on my way to the fish/pet stores now to see if I can find any of these things.

you will have probably disturbed your cycle but such a dramatic salinity change...

you'll need to watch your ammonia VERY closely, and then your nitrites as a spike is likely to run through the system.

good luck with the Ips.

A pet store will not have levamisole wormers, you'll have to find a place that has livestock feeds... the "General Cure Trick" does seem to work though if you're in dire straits.

Also, if you see your ammonia and nitrites starting to rise, pick up some Prime dechlorinator to help neutralize the toxicity while it's re-cycling. Only use what the bottle recommends, and 1 dose should be fine to remove the toxic elements for a good week or so (ie. until the next water change, at which time you add more Prime dechlorinator to the new water). Works fantastically if you're in a bind where the tank isn't cycled.

Also, having your SG at 1.012 is perfectly fine (like Pufferpunk said). The thing that is bad is rapidly changing that SG by more than 0.002 a week, as it can kill the beneficial bacteria in your filter.

If you can't find ANY of those medicines, get some pumpkin seeds and mix it up (according to the IP article), and soak his food in it for about 1 hour. Feed him the food, and although he won't eat it, even trying to eat it should cause him to take in some of the medication. At this point, anything is better than nothing! Go with Nick's method first, though, if possible!

He is doing pretty bad and I don't have the medicine. If I buy the stuff and we say he only has a day left, will it work? How long will it take to start working for him? I really don't think he has much time left.

Well, it might help him overcome this, yes. If you plan on getting another puffer if he passes away, it won't hurt to have this medicine on hand anyways (if you're worried about the cost, that is). At this point, I'd be willing to try anything, as seeing a little puffer pass away isn't fun.

Where there is life, there is still hope...

I knew my time was limited and I wasn't able to get any of your recommended medicine in time without ordering it. I ran to walmart and got parasite clear. These dissolving tablets. I figured anything was better than nothing and I hated seeing him suffer. So it was more for me to feel like I was doing something. But he did not make it through the night. I wished I figured out what was wrong sooner. Thank you for all of your help.

Sorry for your loss.

sorry for you loss. you did try.