The Puffer Forum

So i picked up the Jungle medicated fish pellets at my LFS to treat my cutcutia for internal parasites. The darker one is putting on weight and looks really healthy so i'm not too worried about her, but the lighter colored one is awefully skinny so i'm thinking there might be some parasites in her. Here is a journal over my dosing and what i've done so far. Any tips anyone might have would be very appreciative! I have searched the forum but most of the threads say they found worms in the fish poop.. i have not found such a thing. So i am wondering if i am dosing enough..

I opened up a cube of blood worms- added it to tank water with 4-5 pellets in the water. I let this sit for about 2 hours (sometimes longer.. i try to get the pellets disolved for the most part). I then feed my two puffers these bloodworms (usually have a few worms left which i throw in the tank later that night. I repeated this process for 4 days. (the bottle says treat for 4 days straight, wait 3 days and repeat. Repeat process for 4 different 4 day dosings)I then have waited 3 days and i started dosing again yesterday. My puffers eat the bloodworms up just fine but do not touch the disolving pellets. Like i said, the female appears to be coloring up nicely and is plump-might even be filling up with eggs by the looks of her- but what i think is the male is still pretty skinny before eating. How long until you guys saw worms in the stool? Do you think i am dosing enough? Should i add more than 5 pellets? Did i even buy the right stuff?

1) Water parameters: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, 20ish nitrate, pH 7.8-8.0
2) Tank Size: 10g for now because i'm treating both tetraodon cutcutia for IP. They are divided by a tank divider. They are about 1.5 inches long. I have a 38g cycling for them atm
3) I have discussed the feeding (i try to give them homegrown snails 2-3 times a week too)- i change about 25%-30% water every Saturday. I use Prime when i do water changes That's the only chemical i've ever used.
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so: No changes in the last week. I got the fish about a month ago
5) How long the aquarium has been set up?- its been set up Since April. I cycled it using danios before i knew about the fishless cycle (which i did with my 37g)

I'm not familiar with anything called pellets. It's Jungle Fizz tabs Parasite Clear, looks like pinkish Alka Seltzer. Break off a piece, marinate food with some crushed garlic in a small amount of tank water.

Sounds like medicated fish food? It might work, as some of the meds may get re-absorbed into the worms. Better to use the meds directly to the worms though.

Pufferpunk wrote:Sounds like medicated fish food? It might work, as some of the meds may get re-absorbed into the worms. Better to use the meds directly to the worms though.

So can I assume that when my fish stops looking skinny and puts on some weight it will be fine to stop?

aka- that's the ultimate goal and there really aren't any other sure signs that the fish is IP free... right?

Correct--assuming this is the correct med to combat this IP.

I accidentally bought the medicated fish food first. My puffers would not eat it at all.Picked up the fizz tabs and dissolved the fizz tabs in a bit of tank water and soaked pieces of frozen shrimp, a bit of crushed garlic. I soaked over night and they gobbled it up!

There you go.

Well i ground up the medicated food and i'm soaking the bloodworms in it for a few hours before feeding. They eat the bloodworms just fine! I'm going to try this for another week and see if Fluky starts putting on some weight. If still skinny by next week i will buy the fizz tabs.

thanks guys!

P.S. I can't find the fizz tabs anywhere local and shipping online is more expensive than the actual tabs! Hince why i'm going to try waiting it out first..