Water parameters 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 10 nitrate ph 8.2
Hi there! Im afraid I have a very sick little puffer on my hands. I was on a waiting list at my LFS for two figure 8's and picked them up a week ago today. They are very small..an inch max. The smaller one (the sick one) is probably about 3/4". The smallest one didn't look right from the beginning..a bit skinny with some grey patches on belly. Im new at puffers and figured he was prob just very young and underfed. He was quite active and ate well for me the first few days (bloodworms) but started looking extra skinny and less lively by Sunday. The other puffer has been doing fine. Upon further research its obvious he has an internal parasite problem. very concave stomach, he mainly just sits at the bottom in one spot but sometimes twitches and makes weird jerky movements. I've had him in quarentine for the past several days and been treating with tetra parasite guard. Been treating the other puffer too just in case. I was soaking the bloodworms in the meds but he's stopped eating now. He's sooo tiny and emaciated . He looks like a tadpole. I just don't know what to do..I feel like he's suffering and is just too far gone but he keeps hanging on..
New tiny figure 8 dying from IP
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: New tiny figure 8 dying from IP
Awww 
Sounds like you treated them correctly, he may just have been too far gone. There isn't much you can do when they stop eating, you can try to force feed them, but that's risky when they are so tiny.
Sounds like you treated them correctly, he may just have been too far gone. There isn't much you can do when they stop eating, you can try to force feed them, but that's risky when they are so tiny.
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BryanG
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 5:27 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: T. Mbu: 6-8"
- Location (country): USA
- Location: Cincinnati
Re: New tiny figure 8 dying from IP
Try treating with Prazi-Pro. It is the only medication that has worked for me. Just make sure you don't over-dose. Good luck.
Also, try adding a garlic additive to the system and to the food as a soak to entice the feeding.
Also, try adding a garlic additive to the system and to the food as a soak to entice the feeding.
Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. - G. K. Chesterton
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
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A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
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suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: New tiny figure 8 dying from IP
Unless you can get the med inside of him, the IPs can't be treated. Sorry to say he sounds like a gonner.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"