The Puffer Forum

Just shipped in, so water parameters/feeding/tankmates aren't really relevant. Looks a bit like a distended rectum-- if you don't already know what that is, don't google it. You'll vomit. Basically, it looks like pink tissue has been pushed out of the puffer's rectum-- sorry about the fuzzy pictures. Anyone had this experience with puffers? It's in a quarantine tank now, just for safekeeping, but I'd like to get some feedback just in case.

Internal parasites maybe?

It seems he has a prolapsed anus which can be caused by large feedings, improper diet and bacterial infection. If you can get Gel Tek Ultra Cure PX, try it.
Stay on top of water changes and get some vitamins into him as well. Worse comes to worse you may have to treat with Tetracyline.

There's a great thread here by edmlfc1, about her fahaka puffer with anal worms. There are great shots of it's anus with the worms sticking out. You might want to look into that.

Here's my post that have the pictures of the worms.
Scroll down to see if this is the same thing your mbu has.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15849&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=315

yunachin wrote:It seems he has a prolapsed anus which can be caused by large feedings, improper diet and bacterial infection. If you can get Gel Tek Ultra Cure PX, try it.
Stay on top of water changes and get some vitamins into him as well. Worse comes to worse you may have to treat with Tetracyline.

One of my LFS's has Ultra Cure PX, so I'll pick it up today. I pulled something that looked white/stringy, about .75 cm long (~1/4"), from the anus. Wasn't moving, but it was probably a worm. The Ultra Cure PX apparently cures internal parasites as well, so whatever the case, my new puffer will be taken care of!

Thanks for the help!

By the way...
I got two of them! They're starting in a 4x2x2.5 tank, and will enjoy a 300-500 gallon in a year when my wife and I get a house! If they don't get along (they lived together in the supplier's tank for about 5 months), I'll sell one.

If your puffer has camallanus worms the ultra cure px won't help it. Please look at the pictures in the link I posted above. Also do not use any equipment from the qt in any other tanks you have. If you do you will need to treat all your tanks. Make sure you wash your hands each time you put them in the tank. Humans can also get these worms. They are very nasty worms and need to be treated correctly to get rid of them. The treatment can be harsh but it works. Please don't try to remove them, it will harm the puffer.

edmlfc1 wrote:If your puffer has camallanus worms the ultra cure px won't help it. Please look at the pictures in the link I posted above. Also do not use any equipment from the qt in any other tanks you have. If you do you will need to treat all your tanks. Make sure you wash your hands each time you put them in the tank. Humans can also get these worms. They are very nasty worms and need to be treated correctly to get rid of them. The treatment can be harsh but it works. Please don't try to remove them, it will harm the puffer.

Great pictures! No, it does not look like camallanus worms, thankfully! I'm sorry you had such a terrible ordeal with them.

Glad to hear that. Annabelle has fully recovered. She is gaing weight and doing very well. I don't regreat a thing with it as long as our experience can help others. Hope your little guy also has a speedy recovery.

I don't have anything constructive to add, but I just wanted to say good luck!

You might want to eventually rethink the tank size for 2 of those monsters. Great info stickied in the Giant Puffer forum & a very good article in our Library on keeping mbus.

Pufferpunk wrote:You might want to eventually rethink the tank size for 2 of those monsters. Great info stickied in the Giant Puffer forum & a very good article in our Library on keeping mbus.

1000 gallons it is, then. Good to know, punky!

hilltopperpete wrote:

Pufferpunk wrote:You might want to eventually rethink the tank size for 2 of those monsters. Great info stickied in the Giant Puffer forum & a very good article in our Library on keeping mbus.

1000 gallons it is, then. Good to know, punky!

It's 1,000 gallons for *one*. That translates into 2,000 gallons for two.

I'm thinking it might not be unreasonable to fit two in only a bit over 1000 - I'd like to see what flashdan thinks would be good for a pair...

I was thinking that, too, since isn't it mostly a stunting worry, not so much the bioload?