The Puffer Forum

I have a Fahaka puffer around 3-3.5" TL.

He eats, still active, comes to the front of the tank. He's not that interested in food as he used to be, but still eats freezedried krill. Right now he will just eat one piece of krill when he used to eat 3 pieces, and used to be able to eat up to 5 (stopped feeding him that much because his stomach would BULGE from all the krill).

I don't have the water parameters because I don't bother with test kits anymore but I know the water is clean, just did a 95% water change the other day (drained the tank down to about 2" of water (still plenty of room for him to swim around and be underwater, don't worry about it he's still a little guy)) because I was a little behind and wanted to give him very fresh and very clean water to see if its behavior would improve. He was acting this way before the water change so I know that's not the problem. Tank is fully cycled too, I can add a sponge filter from another tank just in case though if you think I should.

I keep the pH the same as my african cichlid tanks, buffered to around 7.8-8.6 using baking soda, lime, epsom salt, and sea salt. I use ClorAm-X as my tapwater dechlorinator. Temperature is around 78F.

The tank he is in at the moment is just a 30g tank but when he gets bigger (about another inch) he'll be getting my other 120g all to himself.


So what do you guys think? Think he's just bored of the freeze dried krill? I don't rehydrate the krill by the way, I keep it dry and crunchy so that it helps grind his beak down and he doesn't seem to mind at all. I do have access to live feeder grass shrimp (about the size of small krill) I can buy to feed him. I also have frozen bloodworms.

He does appear skinny recently in-between daily feedings though. Not emaciated or anything, just not "full". That's what made me suspect that he may have an internal parasite infection but I also thought that he could just be having a growth spurt and his metabolism is increasing.

Anyway...I have Jungle Parasite Clear tablets which have Praziquantel and Metronidasole in it as ingredients among other things. I also have pure Metronidasole, Clout, and QuICK Cure.

Should I treat him for parasites anyway just in case or just try feeding live food or an alternative food first and see how he does? I'd rather treat using the Jungle Parasite Clear or the Metronidasole since those two medications don't harm the biofilter but I am not sure if they are puffer-friendly or not.

Let me know what you all think, I can go and add Parasite Clear right now and just leave it in there for a few days until I do water changes again this weekend. Or if you think I should just try live foods or bloodworms first, or what...

~Ed

First off,....doing a 95% water change is as potentially harmful as not doing them at all. That drastic a change in his water conditions is very stressful.
Second,....not testing the water parameters is just foolish. Saying you know the water is clean means nothing because you don't know that at all. If you can not afford test kits (they are only $6 each) then take a water sample to your LFS and they will happily test it for you. You cannot say that the tank is fully cycled if you don't test the water.

Thirdly, I do not suggest medicating a fish under any circumstances without visible signs or symptoms of disease. That's like giving a child prescription drugs in case they might have a disease. Not good.

Final point,....it is not uncommon for a Fahaka to stop eating, especially if stressed, which I would think yours would be with the drastic water changes. I suggest a regular water change schedule of no more/no less than 50% weeekly and I would skip all the additives except the dechlorinator. A fish will adjust to the pH of your tap water as long as it is kept regular with no drastic changes. My motto is don't monkey with it if you don't have to.

HTH

Here's what I see:
1) When you fall behind on WC, the worst thing to do is an extra large one. 3x 50% in 3 days, would have been much better.
2) pH of 7.8-8.6 is a HUGE jump. It is always best to just keep the pH steady, than worry about it being at a certain number. What is the pH of your tap water? There should be absolutely no reason you need to add those chemicals to your water for this.
3) All he's been eating is krill or have you been varying his diet at all? Krill is a poor staple for any fish but puffers especially, need a big variety of foods.
4) You really need to upgrade him now, not in another inch. If you had a 55g, I'd say to move him there 1st but since you don't, get him in the 120g asap.

I agree with all that's been said, this is more than likely due to stress. Fahaka's, on average, grow about an inch per month if well fed and in the appropriate housing. If I recall you've had this guy for a while? If you've had him for over 3 months and he's small enough to hangout in about 2 inches of water you definitely have a problem. You need to get him in to the 120 asap to give him a real chance at survival and to reduce the damage.