# Skinny Puffer



## saykota (Sep 30, 2006)

I have a green spotted puffer fish in my 10 gallon tank. He's not any bigger then 2 inches. Well the past few weeks hes been acting way differn't. There are times we think he is dead. He'll be sucked to the filter then a little later be swimming around. Besides this he has now lost a lot of weight. It actually looks like hes shrinking, or shriveling up I love this little thing but i feel bad for him. I need to know if he is dying or sick or being normal. I don't know. If it helps I have a pleco and a dragon fish in there with him. All have gotten along fine for several months before this... please help me!

Deborah


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

feed him freeze dried plankton, they love it  throw some smal snails in there for him to eat, that may cheer him up and put some weight on him....


zig


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

First, your overstocked. GSPs need a minimum of 30 gallons. And they are brackish fish, it needs marine salt in the water as well. _Was your tank cycled? How long have you had him?_

Sorry, Girth, very few puffers will eat freeze dried food. It needs snails, shrimp, krill (occasionally, not a staple as it can cause constipation), silversides, mussels, clams, and other seafoods. Fresh or frozen are best.

However, it doesn't sound like its very healthy and if its losing weight, chances are good that it has intestinal parasites and needs to be treated. Gel-Tek Ultra Cure PX or PraziPro are the best, but any medication that contains both metronidazole and praziquantel will work. The food must be soaked in the medication, treating the water isn't good enough. To entice him to eat, try soaking his food in a little tank water with a couple of fresh garlic slices.


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## saykota (Sep 30, 2006)

Well my puffer passed away last night. :sad: 

My question now is should I still give the other fish the medicine for parasites before I add any other fish back in or would they be okay?


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Sorry to hear that. Yes, all of the other fish need to be treated with the medication for at least 7 days as they have all been exposed to parasites if that's what he had.


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

you really should have him in a 29 gal. Just feed him extra for about a week or 2


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## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

TigerBarb12 said:


> you really should have him in a 29 gal. Just feed him extra for about a week or 2


The poster reported that the fish is deceased a couple of posts above this one (in this thread).


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## Mazzy (Dec 16, 2006)

I'm sorry to hear about your puffer. But before you put chemicals (meds) in your tank... what were you feeding him? and how long had you had him? was his stomach sunken in a little when you bought him (if you haven't had him very long)?
You may not need meds. I am anti-meds myself but to each his own. But what I"m getting at with the questions is this... if you just got him, he may not have been healthy to begin with. Puffers go through a lot to get to our tanks. Secondly, if you were feeding him flakes, then he simply starved to death and does not have parasites.
Hopefully you get a chance to read this and awnser the above questions before you spend the time and money on meds you may not need to be adding to your tank.


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## lochness (Jan 10, 2006)

I am sorry as well for your loss.

I agree with Mazzy, esp since plecos are a bit sensitive to some meds as well. Very good questions Mazz.


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## saykota (Sep 30, 2006)

Thank you all for your posts!

I've had him for about 4-5 mths and this last month he started getting sick. I did not add any other fish in my tank. it's just been the 3 of them for that long. And no he wasn't skinny at all when I got him. Fat little thing. In fact whenever he ate he would gorge himself so it looked like he would explode. Good eater, till the end. I was feeding it frozen blood worms which he would love, sometimes between feedings I'd feed him freeze dried bloodworms which he loved.


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

It can sometimes take several months for the effects of IPs to rear their ugly heads. While I am totally against using unnecessary medications in tanks and almost always recommend against it if at all possible, in this case, since IPs are rather common in puffers and by the time the effects are seen it is often too late, I would go ahead and medicate their food. It won't hurt them if they don't have IPs and will help them if they do.


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