The Puffer Forum

hey everyone. sorry its been a while since i last logged on. school has been sort of hectic the past few weeks. anyway i finally got Ra moved into his new home and have slowly been working on the SG. the current parims are

ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-0 (just did a water change yesterday)
pH-7.6

i noticed last night before i went to bed that his vent looked really really big but there was nothing coming out of it. i stayed up a little longer to see him pooing clear poo. after that his vent still seemed big and reddish, but then shortly went back to the normal size. i got scared and treated the tank with jungle parasite clear tablets (only used one becuase he's in a 12 gallon) and went to bed. i woke up and checked on him this morning. he's acting normal but i've been noticing his vent will go from really big and noticeable to normal periodically over the hour that i've been watching him. do you think it could be IPs? and if so how could he have gotten them? he didn't have any when i got him and i've been feeding him frozen bloodworms every day and snails twice every week for his teeth (other than last week becuase i got to the store after they had finished cleaning all the tank and had gotten rid of the snails). anyway i don't want to lose another f8 to IPs and i've really grown attached to Ra. any help would be great. i'm picking up some tonic salt after school today and hoping that might help a little. any insight would be great. thanks.

ok so i've been watching him poo through out the day now and its back to being dark brow (almost black) and every one is different. at first they just started our really thin compared to normal. now its like its coming out in lumps on a string. the colors are varying from light brown to almost black, and sometimes the lumps look connected by clearish strands. is he pooing out dead worms or is he constipated or is it something else? i really don't want to lose him too like the other f8s i've had.

I would continue to treat him for IP's. It sounds like he's passing some already.
I treated Annabelle twice then found out 3 months later she had a tapeworm.
All I can think of is that maybe some IP's just don't die with the first treatment. I still don't fully understand it.

well he has been pooing like that all day so i'm hoping its him passing worms. i still about about 2 more doses worth of tablets left so it will last me 4 more days after tomorrow. i also picked up some tonic salt. do you think if i add a little it will help? or do you think that since his water is already slightly salty (SG of 1.004) it really won't do anything?

Is he still eating?
How big is he?
Raising the salinity by .002 a week for two weeks would be better than using tonic salt.

yes he is still eating, and very well at that. relishing frozen blood worms and had snails for the first time in about two weeks today. wasn't sure what to do with them at first but once he remembered they were food he hunted the rest down pretty quickly. he's a little under 2" right now. and yeah i've been raising the sg by about .001-.002 per week since i put him in the tank (2.5 weeks ago-ish).

Soak the bloodworms in AP meds, vitamins and continue raising the SG weekly, he should be fine.

side19 wrote:well he has been pooing like that all day so i'm hoping its him passing worms. i still about about 2 more doses worth of tablets left so it will last me 4 more days after tomorrow. i also picked up some tonic salt. do you think if i add a little it will help? or do you think that since his water is already slightly salty (SG of 1.004) it really won't do anything?

If he's been poohing whitish all day then it sounds like he's passing worms. There's no need to add aquarium salt if your
sg is 1.004. Just keep treating him for the worms. I treated Annabelle for up to 5 days. If you did one treatment and you have 4 more days , then your good. He should be back to himself in no time.

good to know. yeah he's still pooing like that today. dark brown clumps on a whitish string. he's acting himself and still very hungry. giving him the second dose tonight after a water change. will keep you all updated. thanks.

I noticed about a week after I finished Annabelle's treatment she had one last pooh mixed with brown and a little white. If you notice this in a week or so don't panic. Sometimes it takes time to get it all out.