Lonely Puff’s eating problem.
Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 4:36 pm
Tank Parameters: ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10 -taken today.
Inhabitants - 4 Dwarf Puffers, 3 Amano Shrimp, 4 Khuli Loaches
Water change once a week - 10 gallons (35 uk gallon tank)
Feeding: alternate live/frozen food (today white worms grown by myself), brine shrimp, blood worms, daphnia, snails, frozen blood worms, frozen mosquito larvae (they decline everything else frozen). Half a pleco tab/couple of carnivorous wafers daily for Khuli’s, but they eat the live and frozen food too.
Water additives, Prime when changing water.
Filtration, a trickle filter with a Purigen pad, also a large sponge filter.
Tank was bought from a friend, cycled. It had been running for 6 years but he was giving up. I took it, rehomed the two really healthy fish, quarantined it for a fortnight after removing and cleaning the gravel and doing general maintenance. At that point water parameters were fine so I brought my puffs home. Rehomed one male, so now have two males two females.
Problem: my subservient male, known as Lonley, has been fine up to the last couple of weeks, he doesn’t look ill in any way but has slowly reduced his eating, and I suspect he may have a tooth problem. His mouth is slightly open and a tiny bit offset, he’s stopped eating anything but the smallest of morsels, he’s searching for food but then doesn’t eat. His belly’s hollow, Podgy Puff has started constantly chasing him (although they previously each had a territory and rarely clashed). Even the girls have been chasing him today, and he’s gone very very pale. They were wormed when I got them and all seemed fine afterwords.
Is a tooth problem likely and is a tooth trim possible on such a small fish? I could try but am afraid I would injure him. Alternatively if he’s just being bullied I could move him to another small tank where I have ten chilli rasboras quarantining. There is a small population of tadpole snails in there, some very tiny. I also feed them micro worms, which he might attempt to eat. The rasboras are going to go into my shrimp tank, I hope to move them next week.
Any suggestions?
Inhabitants - 4 Dwarf Puffers, 3 Amano Shrimp, 4 Khuli Loaches
Water change once a week - 10 gallons (35 uk gallon tank)
Feeding: alternate live/frozen food (today white worms grown by myself), brine shrimp, blood worms, daphnia, snails, frozen blood worms, frozen mosquito larvae (they decline everything else frozen). Half a pleco tab/couple of carnivorous wafers daily for Khuli’s, but they eat the live and frozen food too.
Water additives, Prime when changing water.
Filtration, a trickle filter with a Purigen pad, also a large sponge filter.
Tank was bought from a friend, cycled. It had been running for 6 years but he was giving up. I took it, rehomed the two really healthy fish, quarantined it for a fortnight after removing and cleaning the gravel and doing general maintenance. At that point water parameters were fine so I brought my puffs home. Rehomed one male, so now have two males two females.
Problem: my subservient male, known as Lonley, has been fine up to the last couple of weeks, he doesn’t look ill in any way but has slowly reduced his eating, and I suspect he may have a tooth problem. His mouth is slightly open and a tiny bit offset, he’s stopped eating anything but the smallest of morsels, he’s searching for food but then doesn’t eat. His belly’s hollow, Podgy Puff has started constantly chasing him (although they previously each had a territory and rarely clashed). Even the girls have been chasing him today, and he’s gone very very pale. They were wormed when I got them and all seemed fine afterwords.
Is a tooth problem likely and is a tooth trim possible on such a small fish? I could try but am afraid I would injure him. Alternatively if he’s just being bullied I could move him to another small tank where I have ten chilli rasboras quarantining. There is a small population of tadpole snails in there, some very tiny. I also feed them micro worms, which he might attempt to eat. The rasboras are going to go into my shrimp tank, I hope to move them next week.
Any suggestions?