Wasting away GSP
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 9:35 am
Long time lurker here and totally hooked on puffers so I want to get over this learning curve and need some help with my GSP:
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
SG: 1.008 / 14
37 gallon with one goby and two crabs
Feeding [ see below ], 30% weekly water changes, Super Ich cure, Melafix / Pimafix, Metroplex. Epsom salt. 3 yr mature tank.
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Recently had a 3y old Figure8 pass away due to IPS. Spent the last month of his life in a quarantine tank. Picked up his replacement GSP who I'd say was a lot more mature (bigger) at LFS where water and feed parameters matched my tank. He had a little ich at store but I figured some Super Ich would do the trick.
For a week, he ate like a king. Shrimp, bloodworms, muscles...anything. I had a few snails in there too but not consistently since they are hard to get around here.
And then just like the figure 8 he one day abruptly stopped. Instead of eating, his favorite pastime / full time job is going up and down the tank up and down...all....day....long.
Into a quarantine tank he went. I put black cardboard around the tank and this helped some with him stopping the up and down glass surfing. Have tried a variety of treatments, one a week to see what works and nothing. 50% water changes in a 10 gallon every three days. I'd like to get the Metroplex in him but since he's on a hunger strike no dice. I simply take the dose, dissolve it and then hope and pray. Even if I get the tweezers out and hold garlic soaked shrimp in front of his face, its almost like he can't see it.
Only success I've seen is after dosing with Epsom on a clean tank (no treatments) I can get a 2-3" clear white worm looking thing out of him. Its like super thin and then has bumps in it like a knotted string would. I don't think I've ever seen this guy make a regular poop. So far he's passed three white think sickly gross looking worm things.
So here are questions:
Is there a one stop fits all best solution for IPS that the board likes?
Is his stomach so full of worms that he can't eat even though he's hungry? How many worms are in these guys?
Why could I get him in the tank and have him eat like crazy and then suddenly stop?
Should I let him get the "concave" stomach ( like Figure8 did) and then freeze him (after putting to sleep with tooth ache stuff) or at this point is there a chance he can turn around? I'd rather him not suffer if its a lost cause then keep thinking about what I could do more for him or if I need to do less.
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
SG: 1.008 / 14
37 gallon with one goby and two crabs
Feeding [ see below ], 30% weekly water changes, Super Ich cure, Melafix / Pimafix, Metroplex. Epsom salt. 3 yr mature tank.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Recently had a 3y old Figure8 pass away due to IPS. Spent the last month of his life in a quarantine tank. Picked up his replacement GSP who I'd say was a lot more mature (bigger) at LFS where water and feed parameters matched my tank. He had a little ich at store but I figured some Super Ich would do the trick.
For a week, he ate like a king. Shrimp, bloodworms, muscles...anything. I had a few snails in there too but not consistently since they are hard to get around here.
And then just like the figure 8 he one day abruptly stopped. Instead of eating, his favorite pastime / full time job is going up and down the tank up and down...all....day....long.
Into a quarantine tank he went. I put black cardboard around the tank and this helped some with him stopping the up and down glass surfing. Have tried a variety of treatments, one a week to see what works and nothing. 50% water changes in a 10 gallon every three days. I'd like to get the Metroplex in him but since he's on a hunger strike no dice. I simply take the dose, dissolve it and then hope and pray. Even if I get the tweezers out and hold garlic soaked shrimp in front of his face, its almost like he can't see it.
Only success I've seen is after dosing with Epsom on a clean tank (no treatments) I can get a 2-3" clear white worm looking thing out of him. Its like super thin and then has bumps in it like a knotted string would. I don't think I've ever seen this guy make a regular poop. So far he's passed three white think sickly gross looking worm things.
So here are questions:
Is there a one stop fits all best solution for IPS that the board likes?
Is his stomach so full of worms that he can't eat even though he's hungry? How many worms are in these guys?
Why could I get him in the tank and have him eat like crazy and then suddenly stop?
Should I let him get the "concave" stomach ( like Figure8 did) and then freeze him (after putting to sleep with tooth ache stuff) or at this point is there a chance he can turn around? I'd rather him not suffer if its a lost cause then keep thinking about what I could do more for him or if I need to do less.
