Parasite meds

[BeefyG]

Will Jungle's Tank Buddies Parasite Clear work well enough for puffers? If not I need to stop by a store and pick up something stronger after work before I head home. If so, I put them in the tank and also soak their food in it a little bit too, right?

[madugo]

are you trying to deworm your puffer?
if so, just use some metro, dissolve it in a little water, and soak the food in there for a few minutes,
works really well.

[BeefyG]

So buy straight metro? The only stuff I've used before are the tank buddies things you can get at Walmart. One of them has metro in it but I'm not sure on the concentration.

Found it: Active ingredients: praziquantel; N-[[(N-Chlorophenyl)amino]carbon 1]-2,6-difluorobenzamide; metronidazole; acriflavine.

Thats the active ingredients for the parasite clear tabs.

[imagirlgeek]

Be careful with these meds and your puffer(s). They can irritate their skin since they don't have scales. What are you treating them for? Are you being proactive, or do you see a problem?

[BeefyG]

A bit of both. I bought two Saturday and put them in a 25 gal by themselves. I was going to give them a few days to get used to the new tank before messing with the water such as adding salt or meds. One was a little less active than the other but he was eating fine. I noticed last night that the less active one's belly was a little sunken in but the other puffer had a flat belly. It was right before I went to bed so I decided I would do a water change and medicate in the morning since he was still swimming around. This morning he was dead. The other puffer doesn't have a sunken stomach or anything but I wanted to be proactive since I read somewhere that you probably should always deworm a puffer since they are almost always wild caught and could have who knows what. The only "pet" store where I live is Walmart so thats why I'm asking about the tank buddies med specifically.

[Mzungu]

Did you get the puffers at WalMart, as well? What kind are they?

[BeefyG]

Did you get the puffers at WalMart, as well? What kind are they?

Nononononono... I learned my lesson about Walmart puffers after going through a few of them... never again! I avoid that aisle if they have tanks in the store now. lol. These were Figure Eights.

[madugo]

if the condition are really bad..
not suggest to hit the metro right away...
feed them for awhile first..let them know the environment, and reduce the stress first...
sometimes when you get something really week, the stress and the med together can kill them fast..
but as of IP, i think metro is best safe and efficient med to use...
just make sure you know the dose..
you can do either just dissolve them in the tank, or soak the food...
soak in the food would cost less amount of metros tho..
here is a good article i think you should read:

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/hospital/internal-parasites-prevention-and-treatment/

[BeefyG]

Ok, I think I'll try soaking its food in the parasite clear. I'm feeding frozen bloodworms mostly so it won't be that hard. Thanks!

[lilmissruffcountry]

You could also try safeguard liquid dog wormer(I used safeguard for cattle too). 1 ml/cc per 10 gallons. I have used this before on my guppy tanks, shrimp tanks, planted tanks, tubs, snail pens, and even in the communtiy tank which has loaches, and it works, and has not harmed anyone. Dose tank, wait 48hrs, do a 25% WC and dose again...the cloudiness goes away after 48 hours, and most all nasties, if there were any, are gone. I was put back at doing this to my tanks when I first came accross it, tested it on a tank of cherries, trapdoors, and guppies....so far, I have not lost any fish from that dose. And the worms,paracites, and hydra are GONE! Hope this helps.....

[geoff_tropheus]

For external parasites and scaleless fish, I would not use Parasite Clear in your aquarium. The mixture of Parasite Clear is 50% Metro and 50% Praziquantal. Prazi is really hard, just like Malacite Green is as in CLOUT, which is 50/45 Metrodiazonal/Malachite Green. Malachite Green and Prazi will kill scaleless fishes.

For scaless fish and external parasites I would most likely just use Sodium Chloride Salt or there is a lot of Talk that Jungle's Ick Guard 2 which is for scaless fish, would also work on external parasites. But I have never tried this.

[geoff_tropheus]

Being that Littlemissruffcountry has tried it with Loaches, which are scaleless, then I would try what she suggested.

[imagirlgeek]

I've used meds on puffers that specifically say Do not use on scaleless fish, BUT ONLY when extreme measures were needed, and ONLY in a supervised bath.

[BeefyG]

I tried the Parasite Clear the next day after my last post. I had gone back to the store to get another puffer because I really wanted two and I wanted to med both at the same time. That night the old puffer had started getting a black belly so I decided to start medicating the next day. He was doing OK before I left for work. He had passed away when I got home. The new puffer however looked fine and is still alive. I did a big water change and I'm hoping this is done but I think this officially puts puffers on the list of fish I don't buy anymore. I appreciate all the input everybody. I know there is a lot of information on thepufferforum but perhaps a sticky could be made in this forum for basic puffer care including meds and the dentistry thing? I just think it would be beneficial to others who are new to puffers.

[Joe Reborn]

I have owned Green Spotted puffers before (which i bought at Walmart) and when i first got them, they looked bad but with good water conditions and aquarium salt they grew to be very pretty. After about 8months of me having them i gave them to a friend who now has them in a Full Marine tank and they a so Pretty. Long story short all i would use on these little fellas would be Aquarium salt and raise temp, and if it gets bad just use some Epsom salt to flush anything internal. Has worked for me and it was stuff i already had. I am not a big believer treating fish with Harsh med.s sometimes the Harsh med.s on a weak fish will put them into the grave faster than just letting them fight off whats wrong with them. Also you said that the figure eight had black on the belly area which is caused by stress. Maybe the other more happy one was picking on the weak fella if you want to have more than one in one take make sure you include lots of hiding spots and silky plants as these plants will not hurt the puffers. Hope is helps you. And good luck with your Figure Eight Spotted Puffers, very nice fish with Tons of Personality.