Worms or just a full puffy?

[JokerGirl]

My little White Spotted Toby that I caught in Maui several weeks ago has been doing very well. I'm getting concerned though as it's stomach seems to be growing. It's active, eating voraciously, and slowly becoming less timid. I'm wondering if it's really just grazing the tank that much during the day that it's stomach is staying lumpy. Tell me what you think. I'll get some gel-tek tomorrow if we come to the conclusion that it's got worms. On the plus side, the little thing hasn't turned nasty yet. Probably too soon to know, though.

[MatthewLaw]

does your puffer's stomach decrease over the day? My the stomachs of my puffers (SAP and F8) get large immeditaely after eating then decrease over a few hours....

[JokerGirl]

No, I havn't seen it much smaller than that since I brought him home, which is why I suspect that it's most likely parasites. It's hard to tell for sure though because it grazes the macro algae growing in the tank almost constantly. Those photos were taken before I even fed it.

I think I will get some gel-tek or similar today anyways. It probably shouldn't hurt it if it doesn't have parasites.

[edmlfc1]

It never hurts to deworm them. But it looks like he may have been finding some snails to munch on or he really loves the algea in the tank.

[JokerGirl]

Thanks! I think he just really LOVES the algae in there, but I'll deworm him anyways It wouldn't surprise me if he's found some snails to much on as well as it doesn't seem easy to put anything past him.

The little guy is asking for a death wish when it comes to the snowflake eel that lives with him. The eel will be chowing down on the skewered meat, and the puffer is right along with him trying to snag a bite or two before it's gone. The eel, thankfully, hasn't shown any aggression towards the puffer or any other tank mates (yet), though. I caught the mandarin sitting ON the eel's back one day.

[Idontknow]

What a cutie! How big is he?

[JokerGirl]

Not very big... just a little under an inch long So far I'm enjoying the little guy.

[marksrush]

That is an awful cute little puffer, I hope he turns out to be healthy and not have IPs.

[JokerGirl]

I hope so too. None of the stores around me had any gel tek or the sort, so I'm going to grab some on Saturday when I trek down to Premium Aquatics.