The Puffer Forum

I'm using Gel-tek to treat Random the GSP for internal parasites:

1) put 5 drops on a piece of freeze-dried krill
2) wait until all the liquid is absorbed
3) feed krill piece to the GSP & watch him snarf it

He gets two treated krill pieces per day. (They aren't a whole krill each time.)

The Gel-tek bottle says to feed 5 drops, 2x/day, for 3 days. But I'm wondering -- given the size of the puff (~2.5") and the low concentrations of meds in the Gel-tek, does Random need to continue on this for longer than that?


Other tank info: 55g, s.g. 1.004, ammonia/nitrites/nitrates 0/0/5-10, adding melafix every other day to help with the nipped fins. No food other than the treated FD krill. (and yes, I read the article on internal parasites... I didn't see a mention of Gel-tek.)

3 days treatment should be enough.

I would follow the directions, everyone that's used it so far has been very pleased with how well it works.

I need to order some myself!

I should update the article.. I wrote it before GelTek was available...

I agree, Gel-tek has never let me down.

The stuff works wonderfully with FD krill and FD bloodworm. Random got to the FD bloodworm + GelTek on day 1, but after that, he was more interested in what I was doing than in chasing the bloodworms down. After that, it was 5 drops GelTek per krill piece. Worked beautifully. This puff just about inhales the FD krill.

The only issue I can see with it is recontamination - if you treat only food, no water, there is a greater chance of recontamination, especially with the protozoan IPs or true tapeworms that cast off eggs.

Acctually Nick, Tapeworm proglottids have evolved to endure external treatment as well. They are little time capsules. You can dunk them directly into antiparasitic medication and then feed it to the proper intermediary host and it will hatch and infect.

They are similar to flea cocoons. You can flea bomb your house, move out for 10 years, then come back, and BOOM you will have the worst flea infestation ever. Why? The right conditions were met, humidity CO2 and vibration. Pesticide didn't touch them. Tapeworm proglottids are the same.

Only way to deal with a tapeworm infestation in tank is by constantly re-worming the fish every 3 months or so for an adult fish, juviniles based on age, every month to two months until mature.

Pretty much follow the same reccomendations for your fish as you would for a cat or dog laid out by the American Vet Association (which is readily found on their website) that's my (and my Animal Care aide, who is a Vet technician) teacher's suggestion. Best to be safe than sorry IMO.

*puts some paraguard on her shopping list..at least her LFS has that*

My Pistachio finished his treatment on Sunday, and I think GelTek actually worked on him! Parasite Clear didn't. So I'm happy. His stomach goes flat when he's hungry, not slightly caved in.