Difficulty feeding new DPs

[Ceej]

He's dying! I just touched him he's barely alive. Dangit

 

[platycrazy19]

Aww! I'm so sorry. I was using tetra parasite guard to treat for IP but it didn't work. I'm actually curious as to what a good medication is for future reference.

 

[jlk]

The best med for treating internal parasites is metronizadole-based food. Metro-meds or Jungles anti-parasitic food are two that are available in the US. Hope this helps! Ceej- i am SOO sorry about your little guy!!!!

 

[Terrance]

Tetra Parasite Guard has metronizadole in it. Be certain to really soak your puff's food for 1 week straight before ruling it out.

Jungle Lab and Prazipro are the two names I often hear about when treating for IP. I have Prazipro.

 

[platycrazy19]

when you say soak the food for one week straight do you mean let the food soak for a week before feeding it to them or feed them medicated soaked food for a week straight?

 

[Terrance]

Let each meal soak for 5-10mins before feeding. Do this everyday for 6-7 days straight.

Snails and worms do not soak up the medicine very well IMO.

 

[jlk]

I would opt for med food rather than soaking- you are losing nutritional value of food by soaking & the exact amount of meds that may or may not be in the food is not easy to determine. Choosing the med food guarentees your fish will receive the full dose of the meds necessary to eliminate any parasites-partial doses via soaking may leave you with med-resistant bugs instead.

 

[platycrazy19]

ok I'm thinking I should treat my other dp still even though he seems healthy because my other one had internal parasites, just to be sure. The only thing thats difficult with the tetra parasite guard is it comes in tablets (one tab for every 10g) so I have a tough time deciding how much water and tablet I should use to soak the food.

 

[platycrazy19]

The only problem with medicated food is getting them to eat it. Dwarf puffers are picky eaters and won't except regular flake food.

 

[Terrance]

Wild caught puffers do rarely go for tablets/pellets/flakes. Plus, these meds do not taste good. Better to trick a puffer into eating medicine by showing them familiar food.

I didn't know Tetra's IP med come in the form of tablets. Are you trying to dissolve it?
My prazipro is in a liquid form. Jungle Lab makes liquid and tablet form.

 

[platycrazy19]

Yeah I was dissolving a piece of tablet in some water and soaking the food in it. If worms and nails don't obsorb meds well what do u suggest. He has been eating brine shrimp well lately so should I soak that?

 

[Terrance]

1. Will the medicine be as effective when dissolved?
2. How to get these medicine into your fish's system?

When in doubt, google to see how other people has treated for IP.
Dwarf Puffers - View topic - Successful Internal Parasite Treatment

 

[platycrazy19]

Yeah I read that thread once before. I guess your right it's diffuclt to tell whether the tetra parasite guard will be effective or not. also I was unable to determine just how much medication is in the tablets. I think my best bet is to buy a liquid form medication. My puffer seems fine for now and I planned on visiting my lfs on monday so i'll wait til then and pick up a better medication. This way I can treat him now to be sure that he is healthy and have a good medication for later in case I need to treat him again. Thanks so much for your help. you have given me some great tips.

 

[Ceej]

Very good tips in this thread!! Hey, Platy. Does your puffer seem to get tired and lazy at night? Tonight mine nestled into a fake plant and won't come out. It's like he's trying to sleep. Where as in my bigger tank, my Rasboras swim 24/7 it seems like. I googled DP behavior, but came up empty. Last night I touched the puffer. If I tried tonight, I probably could have, too. He was swimming around 30min prior when I did a pwc.

 

[Ceej]

Very good tips in this thread!! Hey, Platy. Does your puffer seem to get tired and lazy at night? Tonight mine nestled into a fake plant and won't come out. It's like he's trying to sleep. Where as in my bigger tank, my Rasboras swim 24/7 it seems like. I googled DP behavior, but came up empty. Last night I touched the puffer. If I tried tonight, I probably could have, too. He was swimming around 30min prior when I did a pwc.

Behavior as in the laziness aspect. I found tons on normal behavior during the day.

 

[platycrazy19]

He might be trying to sleep. I haven't seen my dp do that but in my community tank my guppies will rest/sleep in the back of the tank on the ground at night. If he does it during the day I would be more worried.

 

[Ceej]

I thought I did all the research in the world on DP's. I never thought I'd have so many questions after only a few days of having him.

 

[platycrazy19]

Lol I know same here I researched for weeks while I cycled