The Puffer Forum

1) Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate 5-10, Freshwater
2) 10g - no other inhabitants in tank
3) Last pwc was 90% 2 days ago
4) Tank is new - no changes
5) Tank has been cycled - fishless

Greetings all,
I received my two DPs in the mail today. They are each just over 1/2 inch long. I acclimated them to the tank by floating the bag and adding 5ml of tank water every 15 min. After two hours I added them to the tank. I noticed immediately after floating the bag that one DP was doing well, looked happy and was buzzing around. The other looked thin and moved some, but just stayed on the bottom.

5 hours later, the happy DP ate some frozen bloodworms until he got that nice little round belly. The other one still doesn't move much, rests often on the bottom and on plant leaves, and had zero interest in the bloodworms. This one also looks terribly, terribly thin. Belly is sunken in and her tail section looks really thin. I'm worried about her.

I know that the transit was likely rough and there was probably a fair bit of ammonia in the bag water. Should I just leave well enough alone and see if she gets better tomorrow or is there something I can do to ease things for her tonite?!

Thanks for your help!!

Does it look about like this?

Yes, but thinner.

I tried the soaking bloodworms in pressed garlic trick and got her to nibble at a couple... but nothing I would call "eating."

If you got her to nibble that's good. It could be IP's but probably just lack of food. The one in the pic is mine the day I got her. I set up that cone feeder and let her pick at it all afternoon. Watch her closely because even after eating such a small amount you still should be able to see a change. If you see no change then that could be IP's.

Just spent about an hour wiggling bloodworms in front of her with tweezers. Got her to eat a decent chunk of one. Then watched... her energy level picked up and she started swimming around more. She then ate darn near a whole worm, then spit the casing out. A few minutes later she ate part of another (again spitting the casing out). Then she settled in to some bona-fide glass surfing (though not very fast). She started unclamping her fins some and fanning her tail. She still looks VERY frail... but I'm hopeful she's gonna make it.

Would an IP treatment be in order just in case?

I treat ALL my new fish for IPs. Don't worry, she'll put on weight soon enough. Emaciation is very easy to deal with if they're eating. No worries. If you can get her some live blackworms, she'll put on weight so fast it'll make your head spin.

And feed several times a day. When I first got mine I was feeding three times a day.

Good to hear you little DP is eating. When I first got mine they were so small they had trouble eating full length bloodworms. I cut them in half because they would spend so much effort dealing with the skins/casings. If she is really small you might try this.

Good luck!

Flubendazole based meds like kusari wormer plus don't seem to stress fish as some treatments (particularly IME levimisole) can, so I have no hesitation using them on new fish as a precaution.

Thanks for all of the advice everyone, I do appreciate it!!

Update: This morning she was back on the bottom looking more lethargic. She would barely move even when I nudged her with a worm laden tweezer. But she did eat another small part of a bloodworm. She's downright pitiful with her sunken belly. From the top she is so skinny in her tail section she looks like a paper-thin tadpole and her back is in an s curve. From the side, her back looks arched.

This morning the other DP was exhibiting a noticeable sunken in belly but still buzzing about the tank. He ate a partial bloodworm... and decided he was too busy to be bothered further.

I started researching IP treatments and decided to start off with some Jungle fizz tabs. The only LFS open this morning (petsmart) was predictably out. So based on some other things I had found on the net I got some dog wormer that contains fenbendazole ( http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/foru ... tanks.html AND http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/154/ ). I know/read that flubendazole is best but it's very difficult to find here in the US, especially on short notice... so fenbendazole seemed to be the next best thing. I used 1/10th of a 1g package and mixed it thoroughly into about 3 oz of tank water, then added it to the tank. I read that this stuff is much better given orally in fish food, I just didn't have time to soak any bloodworms and do another feeding (as it was I was 90 min. late getting to work).

I know that the treatment may have been rash, but I really felt I had to do something quickly. I'm not letting these two guys go without a fight. Tonite I'm going to try soaking bloodworms in the fenbendazole (then some garlic juice) and see if I can get them to eat it. With any luck, they'll pass the IP's quickly and can get on with restoring their weight.

If any of this seems like a first class bad idea, please tell me before I go further!!

No, the treatment wasn't rash. I treat every single new fish for IPs, whether or not they show symptoms.

dont be discouraged if its not quickly solved. Took me close to a month for my fahaka to keep weight on after i got him

If you can get live blackworms, they are a much richer food than bloodworms, easier for the puffers to eat, and the moving about they do really encourages eating.

^^^Amen to that. Thumbelina actually loses weight gradually when she's not on blackworms, but she puts it back on in just a couple days when she's on them. AMAZING how fast fish gain weight with blackworms. My juvie bettas are on blackworms for good growth, and I always give them to sick or underweight rescues.

UPDATE:

Last nite after work I mixed up some more of the wormer med. and soaked some bloodworms in it for about 2 hours. Then I soaked them for about 15 minutes in garlic juice. While waiting for that I did a 25% pwc and cleaned up the uneaten bloodworms. The good news: DP no. 1 (now named Dr. Robert Neville) ate 3 chunks of medicated bloodworm, each about .25 in. long. He spit parts of them out, but I could tell that part of the casings were empty... so hopefully he got some meds in his system. The bad news: The other DP ate nothing and just stayed on the substrate. If I nudged her 3 or 4 times she'd swim off, but she did so in tight circles. With some effort she could move for short distances in a straight line. No amount of wiggling the worms got a response... even if I draped them across her face.

This morning I fed Dr. Neville some untreated worms. He ate two worms that were just under .5 in. long. I used the untreated worms hoping that he won't make the permanent association that bloodworms = meds = yuck! His eating produced the fabled round belly... but his belly disappeared after about 5 minutes. There was no change in the other DPs behavior... but to her credit, she's still alive. I put some bloodworms in front of her with no response. I mixed up some more of the wormer med and treated the tank water.

The question I have now is how long should I treat these guys? In my mind I've planned on three days total as follows: Morning: feed untreated bloodworms and treat the tank water. Evening: feed treated bloodworms only. I've also decided to repeat the procedure in two weeks. Does this sound like a good treatment plan? I'm open to any and all suggestions!

And as always, I thank everyone for tuning in and helping out!

This weekend I'll see if I can find some live blackworms... but there is a dearth of well-stocked lfs's around here...