The Puffer Forum

Hello! I have a lone Figure 8 Puffer in an 18 gallon tank. I got him a day ago from a LFS. My Figure 8 Puffer has a strangely lumpy stomach. Is this normal? Is it just malnourished or is it something to be concerned about? I am concerned that it has internal parasites. However, its feces are a normal looking black and it has a very healthy appetite.


Thanks in advance!

Hopefully he just hasn't eaten since being caught. You should still treat for IPs.

What are you feeding him? Be sure not to overfeed the skinny guy...It'll be tempting.

Is his new home/tank established and cycled, or is it also new?

Good luck

Thanks! What would be the gentlest treatment for IP?

Although the tank is new, my LFS was kind enough to provide me with half a filter from one of their established tanks. Will that be okay? I do a 10% water change daily.
The Figure 8 was cooped up in a tank with around 20 GSPs. I couldn't bear to leave it until I got a tank fully cycled.

That's exactly how all my puffers look after they've had a good meal!

IDk about the tummy, but get some melafix for the poor guy, his fins are in tatters.

Puffers are not like other fish, and folks new to them have a lot to get accustomed to. As part of being capable to puff up, puffers have no ribs - this means that their bellies look funny since they lack the abdominal muscles and bones of other families of fish. Individual meals show up as discrete lumps in their GI tract. It is rteally easy to tell that a puffer is or is not eating. That is, as PP said, the way normal puffers look.

HTH

Before I knew not to feed malaysian cone/trumpet snails to my GSP, I have him a few of those,because that was what they were eating tons on in the tank at the LFS. He also had that same stomach,because I saw him eat them whole, which was a bit scary. He might have eaten some of those and mine had no problem digesting them.

I used PraziPro which you can find on Amazon or in any good fish store. It's very safe. It's not a bad idea to just treat for IP when you get a new puffer.

Thanks for all the awesome advice! It's good to know there's probably nothing wrong with it. I'll be picking up some Melafix and PraziPro. I soak its food in Prazipro, right?

Directions say to add to tank. That's what I did

PufferMe! wrote:Directions say to add to tank. That's what I did

No... this is not very effective for IPs... IPs = Internal/intestinal parasites, meaning that dosing the water won't affect them; the fish won't absorb any meds if you dose the water. Dosing the water is strictly for external parasites, such as flukes. Soak the food for about an hour and add garlic juice for flavor if necessary. Just dose melafix as directed. I successfully treated my f8 with prazipro doing this.

Is it okay if I soak live snails in PraziPro? Will the snails absorb any medication? My puffer refuses to eat anything but snails.

TheMockumentarist wrote:Is it okay if I soak live snails in PraziPro? Will the snails absorb any medication? My puffer refuses to eat anything but snails.

I've used snails but I smash them first. Get the puff to get used to eating a few smashed snails beforehand.

Yes you can but the med will kill the snails.