The Puffer Forum

I have a dwarf puffer that is not a very big eater. I feed him frozen and freeze dried bloodworms and their are some days when he doesn't want to eat either of them. He is a pretty skinny puffer and quite small. Can anyone give me food suggestions or any tips? thanks.

Please tell us more:
How long have you had him? In what kind of aquarium? How was it cycled? Does he have other inhabitants in the aquarium? How often do you do water changes and what are you water parameters? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate).

This will help us understand and help you better.

Moderators: shouldn't this be moved to the hospital forum?

Moved this topic to the Hospital.


Also, question, how long has he been "skinny"? Can you post up a picture?

It's quite possible that he has a severe case of Internal Parasites if he's very skinny and isn't eating. If this is the case, you need to read the Library article on IPs (Internal Parasites) and get some medication immediately.

library/hospital/internal-parasites-pre ... treatment/

I have had this puffer for a month and a half. He is in a 6 gal. eclipse aquarium. It was cycled with new balance for 2 weeks with no living fish. He lives with one guppy. Water changes are once a week, 20-25% with a water conditioner solution.

Ammonia: Unsure
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0.3 or less

I am currently treating him with Jungle internal parasite medicine. But, its the fizzing tablet. Right now I am splitting the tablet into 1/4's because the aquarium is smaller than the single tablet dose. I was told that this is not a good idea. Would it be better to take a water bottle and soak his food in the whole tablet and then just giving him the food whenever I feed him?

Do not use 1/4 tablets. Even with decorations, you'll need to use a full half tablet - undermedicating for IPs creates a deadly situation where the few parasites that survive are very treatment resistant, and so are all their offspring. Soaking the food he does eat is a good idea, but best to do it overnight in the fridge unless he eats them right away, becuase it wont' do any good of the meds all leech out into the water because the food sits.

by what ive read it could be internal parasites.
other people have told me on hear, that nitrite 0,3 is a toxic level and should be 0 in a fully cycled tank,so do water changes until it goes down to 0

It does sound like unternal parasites and Jungle Clear fizz tabs seem to work when used at full doses.
But dmill82 has a point: You should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and lower than 10 nitrate. New balance does not cycle an aquarium, you will find all the info you need in the library, see the fishless cycle article (link in the red section above this post). Although it's too late for you to do that, do read it as it will help you understand. Until the tank is cycled you should make daily water change to avoid exposing your puffer to ammonia and nitrite.
I hope this helps.