The Puffer Forum

Hello! So recently my sick puffer passed away, I believe from some type of parasitic disease (He was treated for it). Anyways, I plan on getting another fish or puffer. I am going to reuse everything from before but I rinsed off all of the substrate, rocks, plants, and filter pad, as I didn't want any loose parasite to be transferred to the new tank. Is the BB gone now from these things? I wasn't even thinking about it when I was doing it. I do have filter media in from a different tank, and I also have a dead piece shrimp to spike the ammonia levels. Thoughts?

Personally I would've disinfected everything before setting it up again. I would not use the same substrate if I suspected parasites. Especially something that didn't react to the initial treatment.

Personally I'd do an overdosed treatment while there's no animals in there. Something anti-fungal, ant-iparasitic and anti-bacterial. Filter over a lot of carbon afterwards and only then recycle the tank

Ok, probably should have went here first. I talked to the LFS where I got my puffer and they said by just rinsing everything off and letting it dry would kill the parasites. That’s what I did. I just wasn’t sure if BB could dry out or not. Probably a noob question lol.

Also, I am almost 100% positive it was intestinal worms. So wouldn’t it need a host in order to survive? My tank will have been empty for 1 month. So wouldn’t that cause the parasites to die, in case they survived being dried out.

If it was 100% certain IP then I can’t help but wonder why the treatment didn’t work, or was the fish simply too far along to be saved?

I would expect parasites to die in a dry environment without a host, yes.
But If I’m not mistaken some types reproduce with eggs, I don’t know how long those can remain dormant (for example in the substrate) and which conditions they need to do so.

I am by no means an expert in these matters, and I might be a bit overly cautious because I feel a lot more personal attachment to my puffers I’ve had for only a month than the tetra’s that've been with me for years…

I’d certainly keep a very close eye on any new fish, and refer to the library and hospital section the moment you see anything suspicious!

Yes, even though I only had him for about a 3 weeks, I was already so attached to my puffer. I treated him with metro, and praz, which is what the vet recommended. I am assuming they were already too far along by the time I got him. I treated with all the correct doses, and he just couldn’t handle it anymore. I am still so sad about the loss.