converting fresh to brackish and ultimately marine.

[Alyxx]

I would go ahead and pick up some prazi to eliminate any potential parasites before they have a chance to get bad.

 

[smomus]

When I started out I bought four, and one of mine died in the first couple weeks. Remember, these are wild caught fish, so who knows what salinity they were captured in or shipped in. Also, they have a tendency to come in with internal parasites, which is why deworming them upon getting them is recommended. I treated the water with ParaGuard by Seachem and treated their food with prazipro for a week or so. I don't think the ParaGuard is necessary if you get the prazipro, but I did it anyway because I had it on hand. I didn't do both at the same time, though. I just used the ParaGuard in the water for the recommended period of time then fed them the soaked foods.

I did not know this! Is prazipro something I can find at Petsmart? If not should I get paraguard instead?

 

[Alyxx]

You can get it in some pet stores, either as prazi pro for fish or sometimes you can find praziquantel dewormers in the bird section, the active ingredient is used in dewormers for many animals. I got mine off of eBay. You can treat the water, but it is more effective if you soak their food in it, plus that makes a bottle go a lot longer while doing more work. For internal parasites it really helps if they eat it. You can find premedicated foods in pet stores, but you just try getting puffers to eat pellets, lol. If they don't want to eat the medicated food, try adding some garlic supplement to the food while it soaks. This stuff smells funny so I'm sure it doesn't taste all that great. I used frozen bloodworms and just added a few drops to the water I was defrosting them in and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes before dropping them in the tank. I treated for about 5 days in a row like this. I didn't see them expel any worms but it gave me peace of mind that they didn't have any parasites. It also doesn't interfere with the beneficial bacteria like antibiotics do.

 

[smomus]

Thank you! Thus is the dewormer I've seen others talk about where you can get the canine kind I think. I'll look tomorrow!

 

[Alyxx]

No problem! Yeah, just look for praziquantel as the active ingredient. Doesn't really matter what animal it is marketed for as long as that is the only active ingredient. Although I don't think you would want to try the flavored tabs I've seen online for dogs and cats. Even if they ate it those things would likely wreak havoc on water quality, lol. If you aren't seeing any symptoms and don't really need to have it NOW I would look online. I think I got my one ounce bottle for maybe $7 with free shipping, and for treating food the tiny little bottle is more than enough. I can't find it in town at all, so I'm not sure how much it goes for in the average LFS, but I'm sure it's similar or higher. Despite living in a decent sized college town I have one dedicated fish store, Walmart, and a terrible pet store that may carry it but you couldn't pay me to spend money there. Plus, all of their stock appears to be either ancient or from a fire sale, yet overpriced.

 

[Nimo]

Gonna do a 50% water change today, no salinity increase yet just big water change. Mixed water for it yesterday so will just have to heat a little of it up to bring it up to tank temp.

I am also gonna go ahead and pick up meds for parasites today and start treatment. The two remaining puffers are not showing any signs of illness but just to be safe I am going to treat them any way.

 

[Nimo]

Ok, 50% water change completed kept salinity at 1.002. Next water change will go up to 1.004. as long as the nitrates hold for a couple days. I want to wait till Wednesday to up salinity again

 

[Nimo]

Lost another of the 3 puffers today, I didn't get the parasite meds quick enough. I did get it today and started treatment for the one remaining puffer. I also ordered 2 more puffers. As soon as I get them they will be treated in QT before put in main tank. Planning to do another 50% water change tomorrow. Might do as much as 75%. Got nitrates running between 20 and 40, gotta get them down.

 

[Nimo]

75% water change and increased salinity to 1.004. Took out some of the filter media used to seed the tank in hoops that will help keep the nitrates in check. Will test water again in a bit to see if the water change and removal of that media got the nitrates to an acceptable level. Also I have soaked frozen blood worms and night crawlers in parasite meds for feeding. I hope this gets my little guy healthy again.

 

[smomus]

I'm sorry you lost another one! Is your last one not healthy either?

 

[Nimo]

He seems fine bit the other two did also and died over night, no signs of any thing wrong with their body ate their dinner and dead the next morning.
The remaining one seems to be doing ok. He is eating good and not curling his tail like he was when in plain fresh water. And seems happy with the water change and increase in salt. He had a couple blood worms soaked in meds. this morning for breakfast and 4 snails for lunch, will give him some brine shrimp soaked in meds for dinner. I have a couple black mollies in the tank with him for now they get along fine I am also giving them medicated pellets so I am hopeing to have a happy healthy tank.

 

[Nimo]

Ok up date! I have brought salinity up slowly the tank is now at 1.008. I just finished a 50% water change.Before water change it was at 1.006.
I added 3 more puffers last week, I now have a total of 4, they are all being treated for internal Parasites. As of now they are all still young 1 inch down to about 1/2 inch so they are getting along really good. I am watching for aggression and it will be addressed if it becomes a problem.
I love these little guys they are so fun to watch, the largest one likes to have a back rub lol I put my fingers in the water and he comes up and rubs his back against them lol.

 

[Nimo]

Up date. My puffers are doing great! I have brought the salinity up to 1.012. So far I have had no issues with ammonia or nitrites, have had a few issues with nitrates but have gotten that under control with more frequent water changes.

 

[Nimo]

I haven't up dated for quite some time, I have brought the salinity of the tank to full salt water over the last few months. I lost some of my puffers along the way but I have 2 happy healthy puffers as of now.
I have to get them in a bigger tank but as I only have 2 now the requirement will only be at least a 60 gallon. I will be moving them as soon as I can get a big enough tank for them. For now they seem to be happy and healthy in the 20 long that they are in, neither of the two are more than one inch long so I think they are ok for now. I have had no aggression issues between them they seem to like each other for now they hang out together eat and even sleep together. These guys are so fun they remind me of little pups begging for attention and treats. They love to be talked to and even have a back rub. I can put my fingers in the tank and they rub against them like a cat or dog loving the attention.