The Puffer Forum

I was just wondering if anyone knew of a site that had pictures of internal parasites? I purchased GSPs from my LFS last week, and one of them I bought just to try to save the little guy as he looked terrible. He did okay for about two days then I found him stuck in a plant, I pulled him out and he was trying to swim but was just spinning in circles like a top... I decided to get out the clove oil and let the little guy go in peace (crying the whole time ) So after he was in the bowl for about a minute I noticed this little nasty looking creature at the bottom... It had to have come OUT of my little friend... It kinds looked like mosquito larvae, i looke almost like it had pinchers or something, and it was pretty large (puffer was about 1 1/4 inch) and this worm had to bemore than 1/2 inch long. It was white and just gave me the creeps... I would really like to find out what kind of parasite it was, as I have 3 others that I bought that day, they are just tiny babies and I would hate for them to go through what that little guy did... Two of them are eating great and get BIG fat bellies after feeding time, the one other is eating but is not getting the roundness afterwards. I did get these little guys from the nastiest pet store in town, I am trying to do what I can for these little guys, I have plans to give one of them to my niece for her birthday in November and I want to make sure I am not giving her omething that is going to get sick and die on her.

Is it too late to ask for a pic, or drawing of this creature?

Hubby sent it to fish heaven with little guy... It looked like mosquito larvae... a lot like this:

http://www.jeff-productions.com/Bettas_ ... ae_rgb.jpg

larvae can't be found INSIDE fish, can they?

Yicks...

Was the puffer in saltwater? There's a chance it could have been some sort of pod or something if it was.

I can't think of any sites with photos like that I don't think...

Allrighty... I have been keeping the other three little guys with much success until yesterday, when one of them did the same thing (spinning) as the first little guy. He died rather quickly. Today, I lost one more. I am at a loss as to what the problem is as all my params are perfect

Am 0
Ni 0
Na 0
PH 7.6

And I did a routine water change last Thursday, but I did not raise the SG this week at all as they are just where they needed to be to be introduced into one of my other tanks (they are currently housed in a 30 gallon QT) There are a few guppies in this tank as well that are thriving, so I don't know what the heck it is. I hate to see the little guys suffer. I put in some jungle tabs just in case it was something like gill flukes etc, as the little guy did seem to be breathing a bit heavy. It is frustrating to not know if it was something I did or if it was out of my hands. The other little guy seem s a little of kilter as well, so I am waiting to see what develops with him. It figures I just got them done with QT and they die. But I guess it is better now than after they were in with other fish.

Sorry to hear about your loss, I woud think about using another LFS if I were you. I would have taken the fish back and asked for an explanation. As far as the odd behavoiur goes I wouldn't like to comment without a picture of the offending alien as it could be a number of parasites, however I'm not sure if its possible that the larvae could latch on to your fish and this would cause them to swim in circles. If it were these larvae that you mention I can you be sure they were not attactched to the outside of your fish?

Start soaking their food in levimisol or gel-tek quick cure px - preferably overnight in the refrigerator, to make sure a lot absorbs. If one puffer in your tank has IP's, all are infested, to some degree, so treat everyone. Neither good water parameters nor treatments added to the water generally effect internal parasites. It's just a matter of how long before the parasites are so plentiful and large they overpower the fish, unless they are treated. Shakespeare was the lone survivor of a group of several GSP's with IP's I treated.

Okay.... The one puffer that I have left out of the bunch is only using one of his gills. I have tried salt dips and I have been using Jungle Parasite Clear Tank Buddies tablets (Active ingredients: praziquantel; N-[[(N-Chlorophenyl)amino]carbon 1]-2,6-difluorobenzamide; metronidazole; acriflavine.
) to treat the tank for what I can only assume is some kind of gill parasite. I have done two treatments over the last week, but he is still using only one. It seems that right after I administer treatment he is able to use both, but the next day is back to one. He is not showing any other signs of distress other than the fact that he will only eat prawns from Walmart. He does not eat any of the snails that have started multiplying in the tank (although he is very tiny, he may not be able to eat them) Today he was curled up on the bottom of the tank... I am not sure if I should just continue with the Jungle Tab treatment or do something else. Is there anything I can do that might soothe his red inflammed gill? He is still using both of his fins, but his one gill is very seldom open. I tried to look for anything hanging out but was unable to see any parasites. Any help would be awesome.

You could try an external parasite remedy - the jungle tabs are the type for INTERNAL parasites you need to soak the food in(no matter what the directions say, that is the only vector likely to have any effect). It sounds more like it might just be sore to me. Perhaps just a week or two with no jungle tabs, and some pimafix in the water.

Red gills can also be gill burn. Are you pre-mixing the salt really well in advance?

I have some premixed for my next water change, I did not start doing any treatments until I noticed his gill was already red and inflammed and he was not using the other one, so I doubt it could be that problem. The Jungle tabs say they are for external parasites including gill mites/lice. So, just stop doing anything a nd wait to see if he gets better then?