The Puffer Forum

I bought this fish 2 days ago and put him in a 15g QT and before he even went into the tank I noticed he had the stringy poop. He looked over fed and I noticed the tank at the shop had quite a bit of uneaten krill stuck in the over flow strainer. I think he may also be constipated as I haven't seen him poop and his belly hasn't gotten any smaller in the 2 days I've had him. Today I did offer very little krill and blood worms to see if he would eat as I will need to feed him to treat him. This is what the shop was feeding him. I know he may not eat for a few days and that can be quite normal.

He's had the stringy poop sticking out of his anus for about 8 hours that I know of and I'm guessing it is IPs, but the fact that it is taking so long to pass I think he might be constipated too. He has become a little lethargic and has been sitting on the substrate much of the time. I went ahead and dosed the tank with some IP tabs even though I know it won't be very effective but until he starts eating that's all I can do. His color is great and he looks generally healthy except for the fact that he has started to stay on the bottom of the tank more. This seemed to become more frequent after I added the tank tabs.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... 0493-1.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... CI0467.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... CI0492.jpg

The poop string has actually gotten longer since I took these pics this morning. I want to just pull it out of there. *Just kidding of course*

My question is, is this defenitly IPs and do you think he is constipated? Should I go ahead and treat with epson salt or is there something better for the constipation. I will treat his food with crushed IP tablets and what ever else you guys might suggest. Can you tell by the picture what I should use? Fenbendazole and tank tabs are all I can find locally. The tabs I have are the Tetra brand and seem identical to the Jungle tabs containing praziquantel, diflubenzuron, metronidazole and acriflavine.

Thanks in advance, Jack

Stringy poo doesn't mean he has IP's but it's a great indicator, constipation can cause the poo to get white and stringy too. Seeing that he's a new arrival I'd treat according to the article in the Pedia to make sure. The Jungle Fizz Tabs are what most use.

He looks pretty fat to have IPs. Try adding 1 tbsp Epsom salt/5g for constipation.

I had a new puffer do this once, I believe There is a thread around here somewhere..

Anyway, mine also had that yellow color...and I sort of thought it was him "cleaning the pipes" after being feed minimally at the pet store..

It only happened once or twice and after that his poos were normal..

Here it is

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23550&p=254791&hilit=yellow#p254791

Some shelled peas wouldnt hurt either. Doesnt look like he has IP but IMO it never hurts to treat out of precaution for those. My GSP had white stringy pooh if I fed him shrimp for more then a few days in a row but he was fat and as healthy as can be.

Sounds good guys, thanks for your efforts and I'm glad everybody thinks he is probably just backed up. I'm just glad I could snap some descent pics as text never gets the point across.

I did a 50% pwc to remove some of the IP meds and I will deal with preventative IP treatment later. For now I added the Epsom salt and we will see how it goes, hopefully he has just been over fed. All twelve F8's and ten GSPs in the tank at the shop were fat suckers and this made me fairly confident none of them had IPs.

If the Epsom salt works, this will be the cheapest thing I've ever spent on fish keeping at $1 for a pound of salt.

Please let me know if anyone thinks of anything else and I will post the progress.

Thanks again...

Ok, He still looks just as bloated and spends nearly 100% of the time on the bottom. I've cleared a space in the gravel to be bare bottom so he can decide where he wants to sit. He does come up from time to time looking at the waters surface so I thought maybe he wanted to eat. I offered a blood worm and a piece of krill with no success. I'm not trying to feed him I just want to see if he will try to eat. He's very coherent and his color looks great, I don't think he's in any immediate trouble.

Here's a current pic. In the pics the poop looks yellowish but to the naked eye it looks dull white.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... Poop-2.jpg

Also, do I need to do anything else about the Epsom salt, do I add more or need to do a water change?


*edit*
Here it is, I got it when it broke off. It's about 2" long.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... CI0617.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... CI0607.jpg

This has to be a parasite...I retreated the water.

Ok guys, he seems to have a new problem now. I haven't seen him swim since yesterday and he acts like he can't get off the bottom.

Please take a minute to look at the video.

http://www.youtube.com/user/borderlinea ... ature=mhum

I admit that I was distracted when I bought him and the store had a net in the water and scooped him out before I could make a comment, it was a quick process though. I wonder if he could have some trapped air from this. He seemed to swim perfectly fine beforehand and he seemed to swim fine right after I placed him in the QT. Or, could his possible constipation be pushing on his swim bladder? Or...Could he really be skinny from the IPs and only look fat because of trapped water/air?

The filter is a Fluval 4 and it is set to the lowest flow setting and I have a feeder cone in front of the discharge for diffusion, so I know current isn't an issue.

So far I have added 1 tbls per 5g of Epsom Salt, treated the water with parasite tablets and Ive added a bubble wand 1/3 from the top for extra aeration. The QT tank was set up with a filter, substrate from a another very established tank, as was half of the water.

ammonia/nitrites 0, nitrates 10, temp 79. No salt except the Epson. My PH is 8.0, the lfs's PH was 7.6 and I acclimated him. I haven't had him out of the water and he had a 15 minute easy ride home.

This may not be connected....but shouldn't Figure Eight puffers be in a brackish water aquarium?

Not an air issue from the look of it but sure looks sick. He's trying to swim but can't. From what I'm reading I would do a few 50 water changes and eliminate the Epsom salt for a little while. You could add it back once you see him getting better.

^
Thanks, WC'd the Epsom salt.

Well the fish is excreting something just in front of it's anus. I collected some in a test tube and I looked at it with a 10x eye loupe and it doesn't look like eggs to me. It's brown and kind of flaky looking, the only way I can describe it sorta has the texture of an algae wafer or shrimp pellet that has been in the water a little to long, but much smaller. Could it be rotten eggs, parasites, infection,...?

Pic of it being excreted. You can see it about 1/4" in front of the anus.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... CI0629.jpg


I edited the direct links for the pics in my other posts so the thread isn't so long. The same pics are still there.

I know you haven't had him long--what's he been eating?

Not a single thing since I've had him and the shop said they were feeding BW and krill. I've also offered BWs and krill just to see if he'd eat but it's been a no go. I even dropped in a small snail or two but I removed them when it was a no go. I was hoping he would eat so I could get some IP meds in him and I still have meds in the water.

Dad, Why do you recommend to remove the Epsom? Poor thing really looks swollen with something.