Burrfish (Added Picture)

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Just looking for advice on treating a Burrfish for internal parasites. I know Burrfish so often have IP and it can be hard to treat but I want to give it a shot with this little guy. My LFS has had him for about 2 weeks and he eats everyday but his belly is sooooo sunken. If he was not eating at all, I would not have even tried this. He is actually extremely active and his colors are bright and beautiful. He looks great besides the belly, so I think he still may be relatively healthy all things considered.

I know I should be looking for mads with Metronidazole and/or Levimasole but Im sure if there is a specific one that someone can recommend and maybe advice on treatment. I have an anti-parasite med by Jungle that is suppose to treat IP but I have no idea how well it works. I don't even remember why I have it to be honest. Must have been years ago. Its just little pellets though and Im not sure he will eat pellets but I could mash them into prawn I think.

Anyways, looking for advice in general...he such a beautiful little guy!

Also, can anyone can tell me where the best place to get meds in vancouver would be? I know I can get Metronidazole by seachem at most LFS but they would not have Levimasole I don't think.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Well she (seems like a girl) ate a whole prawn tonight...which is about the same size she is. LOL. I was amazed that she ate at all the first night in QT, so I just kept breaking pieces of the prawn off and feeding her. Before I knew it, she had eaten the whole thing! I don't think she had ever had prawn before but she loved it. She ate some of the pellet medication I have for IP as well. Im not sure that its the best kind but its a start. Hopefully she will make it through this.

I will try to get some pics soon.

[midgetwaiter]

Treating IP is a tricky bit of business, you have to suppress the parasite without doing damage to the intestinal flora. Levamisole is nice because it doesn't kill anything, it just paralyzes the intestinal tract so the parasite thinks it is in a dead host and lets go, but it's tough to get. Metronidazole is more dangerous but you can get it from Seachem in a powder that's easy to use.

I don't know what's in the Jungle stuff but I would advise caution either way. Don't do this just because of the sunken belly. Wait to see if you can get the fish to put some weight back on without it.

[spoot]

What place is the burrfish at? I've never seen them here in the lowermainland. I just had one shipped in from the east coast, it might have IP's too.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

It was at J&L. She was very active and was eating, so I thought I would take a bit of a chance. Like I said, I was shocked that she ate the first night.

I did find some of the prawn on the bottom of the tank this morning but I think thats because I just fed her too much and she was not used to it. My fault. After eating last night, her belly looked great but this morning its back to how it was and looks terrible.

I don't think I have ever seen a fish with a sunken belly like this.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Treating IP is a tricky bit of business, you have to suppress the parasite without doing damage to the intestinal flora. Levamisole is nice because it doesn't kill anything, it just paralyzes the intestinal tract so the parasite thinks it is in a dead host and lets go, but it's tough to get. Metronidazole is more dangerous but you can get it from Seachem in a powder that's easy to use.

I don't know what's in the Jungle stuff but I would advise caution either way. Don't do this just because of the sunken belly. Wait to see if you can get the fish to put some weight back on without it.

Thanks, great info. I was told that I should be able to get Levamisole from my vet? Does that make sense? I have not even tried yet though.

So I understand not treating right away and seeing if she gains weight but J&L have had her 2 weeks and said she eats every day anything they put in the tank but could never gain weight. Thats probably the reason they even still had her.

The Jungle meds have Praziquantel in them. For some reason though I thought that was more for bacterial problems. I have no idea though :)

So you think I should not treat her yet? I was going to get the Seachem Metronidazole and soak her food in it. I also heard Metronidazole bath can work? I want to be careful, so any advice would be great.

What Im scared of is not treating her soon and having her stop eating. She would not be tough to treat now because she is eating so well and is active. It could get hard if she stopped.

I will take pics later...its very hard to believe this little fish should reach about a foot as an adult. She looks like she is meant to stay small.

Anyone had a full grown Burr?

[WhoPoopWrasse]

If she is in QT you could also use Prazipro...

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

If she is in QT you could also use Prazipro...

Right. I have used this before. I should remove the biological filtration from the QT tank though right?

Seems she has ich too now. Not a surprise there. I don't think I have ever bought a fish without ich...I can't believe some people don't quarantine!

So does anyone know how I should go about treating both of these? I guess one at a time? I would like to go with hyposalinity but I fear that may hurt her appetite and I don't want to do that. Does anyone know if hypo is a bad idea while treating for the IP? My guess is that it would be too stressful.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Can't see her belly in this pic (you can see the ich though) but here she is. I will get better pics later after I clean the glass :)

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/Justinpsmith/IMG_1957.jpg

[WhoPoopWrasse]

From what I know hypo does not stress the fish if anything it's easier on thier systems, I would start the hypo and I will find out about the prazipro and let you know...

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

From what I know hypo does not stress the fish if anything it's easier on thier systems, I would start the hypo and I will find out about the prazipro and let you know...

Yeah I know hypo is pretty easy on fish but I have had fish loose their appetite during it.

[WhoPoopWrasse]

More than probably the fish was getting too sick by the time you started the hypo...

[spoot]

I might be in the same predicament as you GSP. I've seen my burrfish poo once and it was quite stringy and white. I am hoping it is just due to the fact that she came in pretty skinnny. I've already been able to fatten her up and she has a nice belly now. But mine may have ich as well, even thought though the person I got her from kept her in hypo for 2 months. I suspect that the ich was already in the tank and she is just more susceptable.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

More than probably the fish was getting too sick by the time you started the hypo...

Maybe but he ate before hypo and right after...I still have him 5 years later :D

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I might be in the same predicament as you GSP. I've seen my burrfish poo once and it was quite stringy and white. I am hoping it is just due to the fact that she came in pretty skinnny. I've already been able to fatten her up and she has a nice belly now. But mine may have ich as well, even thought though the person I got her from kept her in hypo for 2 months. I suspect that the ich was already in the tank and she is just more susceptable.

Yeah since she was shipped, she probably was stressed and the ich had an easy time infecting her. Do you have pics of yours??? I really love these little (soon to be huge) fish!

[WhoPoopWrasse]

well you almost don't have a choice since these fish aren't too crazy about copper!:razz: Give her a try and you'll see if she's affected the same way.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

well you almost don't have a choice since these fish aren't too crazy about copper!:razz: Give her a try and you'll see if she's affected the same way.

Oh I am certainly going to treat her with hypo and something for the IP. Im just trying to figure out if I should do both at once or one at a time. I agree that hypo is generally easy on fish and it shouldn't be a big deal to treat both at once but I just want to make sure.

[WhoPoopWrasse]

me too, I'm waiting for the answer, I'll let you know as soon as I know :biggrin:

[spoot]

I plan to do both at once. I've got lot's of filter media form my ceylon tank that's the perfect sg for hypo, so I'll fish her out soon. Here of some pics of our's:

Acclimating:
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd74/salve_starshine/Our%20pets/DSC_9320.jpg

She dissappoved of the ruler:
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd74/salve_starshine/Our%20pets/DSC_9322.jpg

Scooping her out to put her in the tank:
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd74/salve_starshine/Our%20pets/DSC_9326.jpg

Look how skinny she was, her belly was concave:
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd74/salve_starshine/Our%20pets/DSC_9333.jpg

[WhoPoopWrasse]

Here's the answer I got for you:

I'm afraid I can't directly speak for Prazipro. You should probably get an e-mail off to them.

If it was Praziquantel and it was being fed to the fish (mixed in their food) I know there would be no problem. But if the de-worming is going to be done by adding chemicals to the water, then it is best to follow the recommendation by the product manufacturer.

If the med was added to food and administered, like the Jungle product, then I am confident that would be okay too. But if the product is being added to a hyposaline water -- I don't know.

There is always a possibility that when the water is hyposaline that the product behaves differently. The manufacturer knows best. If you find out for sure, let us know.

Hope this helps!

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Thanks!

That does help. I will do both at once but make sure I stick to meds that are only mixed into food and not the water, which I prefer anyways.

Thanks for getting that info for me, BTW.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

So I was just looking through my stuff and noticed I actually already have PraziPro. Can this be used to soak food in? The directions say it should be used as a bath, so I doubt it but I thought I would ask anyways.

[spoot]

Not sure about it being able to soak into the food, but if you have any freeze dry food, it'll be your best bet of getting the most meds into the fish. Fresh food just doesn't soak up as much as FD would.

[WhoPoopWrasse]

I don't think prazipro is good in the food, you may have to go out and get Praziquantel, :cry: other than that I don't think you should do the bath thing unless you contact the company and find out, how is she this morning?

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I don't think prazipro is good in the food, you may have to go out and get Praziquantel, :cry: other than that I don't think you should do the bath thing unless you contact the company and find out, how is she this morning?

Shes well. I mean her belly is very sunken again even though she ate a lot yesterday but she is very active and brightly coloured. I am trying to feed her small amount a few times a day instead of at once. She just begs for food all day long.

I guess I should go get Praziquantel because I do not want to do medicine baths while she is in hypo. I just want to stick to food.

One thing I noticed is that her feces are "normal" and not stringy or anything. Just like any other fish I have ever had. Is this normal? I thought they usually get white stringy feces?

[WhoPoopWrasse]

I'm not sure if thier poop is normal looking when they have IP. Either way the meds won't be bad for her even if she doesn't have the IP's.
Just keep her well fed do lot's of water changes and she should be fine. Have you ever tried giving her a small open clam, they love that stuff! Just be sure to freeze it first to kill off anything that may be lurking in it and of course thaw it first :razz: :lol:

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I'm not sure if thier poop is normal looking when they have IP. Either way the meds won't be bad for her even if she doesn't have the IP's.
Just keep her well fed do lot's of water changes and she should be fine. Have you ever tried giving her a small open clam, they love that stuff! Just be sure to freeze it first to kill off anything that may be lurking in it and of course thaw it first :razz: :lol:

Yeah I have a freezer full of frozen clams, mussels, squid, shrimp, prawns, ect.

I've had puffers for about 5 years now, so I have figured out what they like. I agree that they LOVE clams!

[WhoPoopWrasse]

Ah, just checking, there are a few people out there that think any fish will thrive on flakes! :mrgreen:

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Ah, just checking, there are a few people out there that think any fish will thrive on flakes! :mrgreen:

Yeah its sad that some fish only ever eat flakes :( Too often I hear of puffers getting lock jaw from an iodine deficiency because of a Krill only diet. It can be fixed sometimes by dosing iodine right in the tank but often its too late and the poor guys starve to death.