The Puffer Forum

Water Parameters:
ph- 7.4
Amonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20-30

Tank size & inhabitants:2 DPs, 3 Amano shrimp. 42 litre tank. (I'm in the UK)

Feeding- bloodworm, daphnia, crushed snails and brine shrimp as treats.
Waterchanges- 10-20% every 3 days
Products- None

Changes:None.

Cycle & set up time: Tank was fishless cycled, which I kept ticking over for a couple of weeks until the puffers came into stock. levels were absolutely fine when I put the puffers in. Weekly checks have never shown any change in parameters from the ones listed above. tanks been set up about 3 months now.

Hiya! Hopefully the above is enough information. Only 1 of my puffers appears to be ill. She's always been skinny, but I didn't want to treat because I read puffers can be sensitive to medication and I wanted to give her a chance to put weight on by herself. (I was hoping it was the stress of al the moving). She has a brilliant appetite, is always roving round the tank investigating something. Her poos are normal, which is another reason I was hesitant to treat, no signs of IPS in them. but it's gone on too long now and she's starting to lose more weight.
The problem I have (the articles in the library are fantastic, I have read them) is that I'm in the UK and I don't know what the equivalents would be over here and I don't want to put something my LFS told me to use in the tank, they're really nice there, but I've just got a gut feeling over treatments they recommend. Anywho- to stop me rambling.

This- http://www.kusuri.co.uk/shopping.php?class_id=117
Is the only thing I've found that says specifically that it's ok to use with puffers and I would really appreciate it if someone with some knowledge would take a look at it and say whether it's ok to use. (Or possibly recommend something better that I can get in the UK).
Sorry for going on. Thanks for reading.

You would be best to contact the manufacturer as with puffers it is best to treat their food. It seems impossible to get the correct treatment here, however there are members who if paypalled will ship the correct treatment

Stephny691 wrote:Water Parameters:
ph- 7.4
Amonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20-30

Tank size & inhabitants:2 DPs, 3 Amano shrimp. 42 litre tank. (I'm in the UK)

Feeding- bloodworm, daphnia, crushed snails and brine shrimp as treats.
Waterchanges- 10-20% every 3 days
Products- None

Changes:None.

Cycle & set up time: Tank was fishless cycled, which I kept ticking over for a couple of weeks until the puffers came into stock. levels were absolutely fine when I put the puffers in. Weekly checks have never shown any change in parameters from the ones listed above. tanks been set up about 3 months now.

Hiya! Hopefully the above is enough information. Only 1 of my puffers appears to be ill. She's always been skinny, but I didn't want to treat because I read puffers can be sensitive to medication and I wanted to give her a chance to put weight on by herself. (I was hoping it was the stress of al the moving). She has a brilliant appetite, is always roving round the tank investigating something. Her poos are normal, which is another reason I was hesitant to treat, no signs of IPS in them. but it's gone on too long now and she's starting to lose more weight.
The problem I have (the articles in the library are fantastic, I have read them) is that I'm in the UK and I don't know what the equivalents would be over here and I don't want to put something my LFS told me to use in the tank, they're really nice there, but I've just got a gut feeling over treatments they recommend. Anywho- to stop me rambling.

This- http://www.kusuri.co.uk/shopping.php?class_id=117
Is the only thing I've found that says specifically that it's ok to use with puffers and I would really appreciate it if someone with some knowledge would take a look at it and say whether it's ok to use. (Or possibly recommend something better that I can get in the UK).
Sorry for going on. Thanks for reading.

I would be more then happy to send you whatever meds you prefer. contact me by Pm and we can go from there.
It does sound to me like parasites I would recommend using medicated food or soak their food in jungle clear if you can find it.
If not, there are lots of options in the states, just research the different meds and let me know which one you want.
I would recommend malachite green I'll only ask for the cost of the meds+shipping. I'm not looking to profit, only save a sick puff.

As for the med you linked to ... I have never used it myself, but it seems like it might work.
I would need to see a list of ingredients to be sure. No Copper!

I'd ask RTR though to be sure.

You should always treat new fish that you get from lfs because they have central filtration and what 1 fish has most fish will catch. But anyways, do you have access to jungle internal parasite remover? its what most people on this forum use and I am in the process of treating my puffers with it and have been having great results.

Thank you for that lovely offer cyberbob. I went into my LFS as a last resort and they gave me some of the stuff posted in that link and some of the stuff that they get given by prescription to try. So if they don't work, I will be pming you

There seems to be a real lack of treatments for this kind of thing in the UK. Or at least a lack of treatment suitable for puffers!
The other puffer is absolutely fine thankfully and the skinny one has eaten some bloodworm soaked in garlic, it must have made it tasty enough for her to put some effort into eating. So fingers crossed the Kusuri and metromizole (totally the wrong word I know, but I can't for the life of me remember the proper word) will work!

Thanks everyone. Will let you know how it goes.

Stephny691 wrote:Thank you for that lovely offer cyberbob. I went into my LFS as a last resort and they gave me some of the stuff posted in that link and some of the stuff that they get given by prescription to try. So if they don't work, I will be pming you

There seems to be a real lack of treatments for this kind of thing in the UK. Or at least a lack of treatment suitable for puffers!
The other puffer is absolutely fine thankfully and the skinny one has eaten some bloodworm soaked in garlic, it must have made it tasty enough for her to put some effort into eating. So fingers crossed the Kusuri and metromizole (totally the wrong word I know, but I can't for the life of me remember the proper word) will work!

Thanks everyone. Will let you know how it goes.

I'm here if you need me

Just a note about treating parasites ...
For most diseases & treatments, I would usually recommend a hospital tank.
But, for parasites I usually recommend treating the entire tank.
Preventive for the ones that aren't showing any signs. I also treat the entire tank for ich.
Also, garlic seems to be a puffer magnet. If they aren't eating the medicated food, try garlic.

G'Luck
Keep us posted on the poor lil guy.

do not get malachite green this is the wrong stuff..........................wtf cyber

pm me and i will put you on to someone who will get you the correct thing, dont want to publish their name as they will do this out of kindness and i dont want peops to take advantage we dint want to upset anyone after all

bertie 83 wrote:do not get malachite green this is the wrong stuff..........................wtf cyber

Sorry, wasn't thinking. I would use malachite for most fish, but not puffers. Scaleless .. burn skin ... bad
still new to puffers, but am learning. good catch bertie

But, I'd still be willing to get whatever you want and ship it for ya.
here's a good site with some info for ya You might have heard of them
library/hospital/internal-parasites-pre ... treatment/

thats ok. just dont give answers unless 100% please. just think before you post. now then who recomends what? just the pros to answer< let us know whats best

bertie 83 wrote:thats ok. just dont give answers unless 100% please. just think before you post. now then who recomends what? just the pros to answer< let us know whats best

I'd like to consider myself a "pro" when it comes to fish in general, just not puffers (yet).
I've kept fish for 20+ years. And I've managed to keep some alive for 15+ yrs hehe.
I do often have to learn the hard way through trial and error though.
But as the years have passed, that seems to be less and less
I always think before I post though, just wasn't thinking what effect it would have on scaleless. I knew about inverts, but forgot that puffers were scaleless for a sec there. Malachite was my "goto" for years. It just came out of my fingers before I could stop them. Bad Fingers! Bad!

How is Malachite green supposed to help with parasites? Read that article yourself, Bob!

Pufferpunk wrote:How is Malachite green supposed to help with parasites? Read that article yourself, Bob!

I can't seem to find any mention of malachite in that article
Prolly cause it isn't used for puffers though.
I already said I made a mistake. Why would you feel the need to rub it in more PP?

If you are referring to why I would use it in the past:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/malachitegreen.htm

I used to use it to treat a wide range of ailments, but those fish were not puffers.
I would usually use a hospital tank also. Can't afford to mess up on the dosage, nor would I want to kill off all bacteria.
Sometimes dip, sometimes just preventive (low dosage). But, it always did a good job if used properly.

Again, for anyone reading this ... NOT FOR PUFFERS, it burns their skin.

It is not an anti-parasitic though.

It is not an anti-parasitic at all though.