The Puffer Forum

A couple weeks ago I noticed my 2 DPs were getting pretty thin between meals. I though I just wasn't feeding them enough, but it turns out they have IPs. I have been treating them for 9 days, with jungle parasite clear and they keep looking worse everyday. I'm not sure what else to do...

How are you treating them? Are you following the directions and treating the water? If so, that doesn't work. You need to soak their food in the medication, they have to ingest it. Treat for at least 7 days. You can use the same medication, just break off a small piece of the tablet and dissolve it in a little tank water, then soak the food in that.

I've been cutting off 1/4 tablet, dissolving it in a cup of water, adding food and letting it soak overnight in the fridge.
Today has been the 10th day of treatment.

Maybe try concentrating the medication by using less water. Several people I know use just a small jigger type container. Alternatively, you could get something like Gel-Tek. Both contain praziquantel, metronidazole, but I find Gel-Tek easier to use.

I use the Metronidzole and Levimasole mixture and only dissolve the meds in about a teaspoon of water, to make sure a good amount soaks into the food.

Are your puffers actually eating the food? It tastes horrible so I usually have to fast mine for a few days so they'll gobble it down, bad taste and all.

I'm using around half a cup of water, I'll use less this time. They eat the food as if nothing was done to it.

The meds are probably so watered down they aren't doing any good then.

I'll use just enough to cover the tablet this time.

They're still not better. But they have not lost any of their apetite. I starting treating with metro this weekend, hopefully that will work.

At least they still have an appetite. That's the important thing.

Maybe you could try dips in medicated water as well.

A while ago Jread of Dwarfpuffers.com and I had come to the same conclusion about treating DPs with internal parasites:

Seperating off the sick into their own tank and feeding them as much as a couple times a day with live blackworms until their bellies appear "full" seems to clear up the condition in a week or two. No medication is neccessary. All it takes is a source of live BW and DPs willing to eat.

This is great news, because I have never seen a fish willingly eat medicated food. IME they would starve first.

I've treated fish with medicated food and not had any starve. I don't see how stuffing a puffer with food will do anything to rid them of IPs though. That just doesn't sound logical at all to me.

Well I don't have access to BW so I can't try it anyways.
Could someone elaborate on the medicated dips?

If heavily feeding the puffers cures the problem with sunken bellies, perhaps IP's was a wrong diagnosis and they were simply starved and needed a lot of time to fatten up?

Good point nick.